Video Games Live !

I went to Montreal last weekend to see a show about video games music.

While it may sound weird and geeky, this is an amazing show, even for people that don't like video games that much. We're talking about an orchestra of around 20 musicians plus a choir of 6 men and 6 women. Mostly classical instruments were used, except an electric guitar near the end.

Imagine revisiting you childhood memories with such classic as Pong (yes Pong... somebody was just doing the bouncing sounds as the ball went on and on), Donkey Kong, Mario, Zelda, Pac Man... And that was just the beginning.

Of course there was also music from recent games and what a selection ! Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Halo, World of Warcraft, Civilization IV, Kingdom Hearts, Beyond Good and Evil, etc.

The Metal Gear Solid part was one of the best as the music for the game has been known to be one of the best game music ever. And the orchestra captured the feel of it perfectly.

One nice surprise was Martin Leung, reknowned for his youtube video of him playing Mario Bros songs on the piano, while wearing a blindfold. He performed a medley of Final Fantasy songs as well as his trademark, Super Mario Bros, Level 1-1, blindfolded. He is an amazing musician with a lot of talent, that's for sure.

The show was created by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. I never really like Tommy when he was doing his show Reviews on the Run (that's when I first heard of him). Seemed a little too elitist to me. But the guy sure knows his music, as he's been a video game music composer for more than 15 years.

The show is coming back next year, make sure to get tickets this time !