Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy Review
It had finally arrived, Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy. This is a very special concert as it is rare that it makes it’s way in North America and especially in Toronto so when I had noticed it was coming to Toronto the only thing I could think of was how to convince my wife to go and if Curt was on board. My wife knew of course that this was special for me and of course Curt was just plain down with it.
The orchestra was conducted by grammy winning Arnie Roth and we also had the privilege of having Nobuo Uematsu in attendance this fine night. The concert was of course held in the Sony Center which is pretty much a given and I must say it’s a fantastic place. When we had bought our tickets we thought that they seemed far on the layout plan but hey, who could argue but even the ‘nose bleeds’ were all comfortably close. The seats we comfortable and positioned in a way that even if you had someone tall, you could see the stage no problem and also we were in such close proximity to the stage there was never any eye straining to see what was going on. I was truly impressed to say the least. So on with the show.
Nobuo Uematsu of course was introduced and got a nice standing ovation. He is really why we are all there and that is to celebrate his music. I liked his style dressed in an untucked tuxedo wearing a head bandanna. Yeah, he is a rock star in his own regard. Here is the program as best from my memory since we did not have the program on paper as they wanted thing to be a surprise.
Opening – Liberi Fatali (Final Fantasy VIII)
Arnie Roth then welcomed us and quickly amused us with the Victory Theme which obtained lots of cheering and laughs
Fisherman’s Horizon, Don’t be Afraid (Final Fantasy VIII) – The choir for Fisherman’s Horizon were fantastic. The tones were perfect and it brought many fond memories of Final Fantasy VIII.
Dear Friends from Final Fantasy V, Vamo’ alla Flamenco from Final Fantasy IX – For these two pieces we had a special acoustic guitar player come out and join the orchestra. He was very good especially on Vamo’ alla Flamenco. He kept up a very fast pace which was impressive.
Final Fantasy I – III Medley, Swing de Chocobo from Final Fantasy Series – This was such a fun piece and one that the orchestra was really into. It was pure fan service and the video was totally made as a fan service as well. Kudos to the one who did the video
Opening – Bombing Mission, Aerith’s Theme from Final Fantasy VII
Ronfaure from Final Fantasy XI, Beneath Bloody Border’s from Final Fantasy XIV
Memoro de la Stono from Final Fantasy XI, The Promise from Final Fantasy XIII – They brought out a vocalist for these two pieces. They were really well done and the vocals were very beautiful however on The Promise the song seemed to end before it should have. I am not sure if the vocalist was supposed to trail her vocals past when the orchestra finished or the orchestra was supposed to end on more of a fade out but it just seemed off. The vocalist also left the stage without really soaking in the applause so it seemed like she was upset so it felt very awkward after a rather great performance.
Opera (Maria and Draco) from Final Fantasy VI – This was simply the most incredible piece of the night in my opinion. The singers captured the feeling, the orchestra was totally into it, the video playing was highlights from the opera in the game. This was THE PIECE they wanted to hit right.
Of course we were teased that this was the end. Nobuo Uematsu was brought on stage to take a bow but then Arnie told us that Nobuo would sing. So Nobuo ran around the stage to squeeze in the choir which brought us to the next and truly final piece of the evening.
Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII – This was really well one however I don’t think it was the best I ever heard.
In all the concert was absolutely amazing. I really wish we had more of these types of concerts. I think lots of game music is fantastic and it’s great to see the Final Fantasy series get a well deserved Canadian presentation. Curt took lot’s of pictures so I will try and get him to post some up here.
