Video Games Live (VGL) is a concert series created by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall.[2] The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects,[3] as well as several interactive segments with the audience. Incorporated in 2002, Video Games Live has performed over 500 shows internationally.[4]
History
October 24, 2008 Video Games Live performance
Video Games Live was founded by video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall in 2002, and the duo formed Mystical Stone Entertainment, the business that runs VGL. Tallarico and Wall took three years planning the first show, developing the technology needed to synchronize lights, videos, effects, and the concert itself.[5] The technology for communicating between the person running the concert, the conductor, and their performers was also developed.[3]
The concert debuted on July 6, 2005 at the Hollywood Bowl, where the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra performed to an audience of 11,000 people.[3] Three concerts were held the first year. In 2006, the concert re-launched with an 11-show world tour.[6] The concert was expanded to 30 cities in 2007 and 47 cities in 2008, and over 50 cities in 2009. More than 300 shows were held between 2009 and 2016.[7][8][9] In 2010, Jack Wall left Video Games Live to pursue his game composing career.[10]
The pre-show event features a costume—or cosplay—contest for people dressing as video game characters. Another contest has concert-goers playing classic games, such as Frogger or Space Invaders, or musical video games, such as Guitar Hero. The winner of these contests is taken up on stage during the show, and plays the game in front of the audience and along with the orchestra.[17][18][19]
The concerts often feature solo performers. Martin Leung, who became known on the Internet for playing video game songs on a piano while blindfolded, routinely performed during the concerts between 2005 and 2012.[20][21][22] Also discovered on the internet, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Laura Intravia appears at the shows often, as well as Lindsey Stirling, Malukah, Peter Hollens, and brentalfloss.[23][24] VGL occasionally features local video game cover bands like The Megas and Random Encounter. During performances Tallarico plays guitar for some segments, from worldbeat-like folk for Chrono Trigger to heavy metal for Final Fantasy VII and themes from Castlevania. Large screens are set up behind the symphony and synchronized to the music. In general, the visuals are from the video game the song being played. However, there are non-video game films presented to connect the music to other areas: for Medal of Honor, a series of video games devoted to military combat, the screen shows real films from World War II, and for Disney’s Kingdom Hearts, the historic Disney films the game is based on are screened.[25][26]
World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade – "Black Temple"
World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade – "Legion"
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – "Nightsong"
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm – "Opening Cinematic"
World of Warcraft: Legion – "Canticle of Sacrifice"
World of Warcraft: Legion – "Trailer"
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria – "Heart of Pandaria"
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria – "Serpent"
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria Cinematic
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor – "Cinematic"
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor – "Malach Angel Messenger"
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor "Magnificent Desolation"
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - "Invincible"
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - "Main Title"
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - "Opening Cinematic (Arthus)"
Xenoblade
Zelda – "Main Theme"
Zelda – "Medley" featuring Lindsey Stirling
Zelda – "Lullaby" featuring Jillian Aversa
Zelda – "The Celtic Link"
Zelda – "25th Anniversary" featuring Laura Intravia
List of Video Games Live Interactive Segments
Frogger
Guitar Hero III – "Hold the Line" by Toto
Guitar Hero III – "The Pretender" by The Foo Fighters
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith – "Sweet Emotion"
Guitar Hero: Van Halen – "Jump"
Ralph Baer – Brown Box segment
Space Invaders
List of Video Games Live Soloist Segments
brentalfloss - 2-2 Mario Blues
Dee Baker - Classic Arcade
Dee Baker - Gears of War SFX
Dee Baker - SFX
Ellen McLain - Portal: Still Alive
Ellen McLain - Portal 2: The Turret Opera
Koji Kondo - Mario Medley
Laura Intravia – Mario Medley
Laura Intravia – Zelda Flute Link
Lindsey Stirling – Zelda
Malukah – Skyrim "Dragonborn Comes"
Martin Leung - Advent Children
Martin Leung - Angry Birds
Martin Leung - BioShock "Cohen's Masterpiece"
Martin Leung - Chrono Cross
Martin Leung - Dragon Quest
Martin Leung - Earthworm Jim
Martin Leung - Final Fantasy Medley
Martin Leung - Mario Blindfolded
Martin Leung - Monkey Island
Martin Leung - Namco Compilation
Martin Leung - Rare Software Medley
Martin Leung - Tetris
Martin Leung - Warcraft II
Martin Leung - Zelda
Peter Hollens - Portal 2
Random Encounter – Final Fantasy
Random Encounter - Zelda Medley
Richard Jacques - Out Run
Riva Taylor - The Creed (Assassin's Creed Unity)
Vertex Guy - Contra
Albums
Video Games Live, Volume 1, a recording of various segments from multiple shows, was released on July 22, 2008. The music on the album was performed by the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra (except where noted), and was released by EMI Classics.[32] It debuted at #10 on the Billboard Top 10 for Classical Music Crossovers. It was also named 2008 Best Video Game Soundtrack from both IGN and G.A.N.G.[33][34]
Video Games Live: Level 2 was released as a DVD, Blu-ray and CD on October 19, 2010 by Shout! Factory.[35] This was a live recording which coincided with their national television special on PBS. The music was performed by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (except where noted), and debuted at #8 on the Billboard charts, at a live show in New Orleans.[36][37][38]
Despite the success of the first two albums, the large upfront costs of hiring so many musicians and renting out studio time made it unattractive for record companies. Video Games Live: Level 3 was released in 2014, and was funded by 5,679 fans on Kickstarter, beating its goal of $250,000 by $35,081. Unlike the previous albums, this one was recorded in a studio featuring a full orchestra, a 60-person choir, a full rock band and video game composers from around the world. Each segment was personally arranged and orchestrated by their original composers and input from the game designers, developers, and publishers was used, some of which were invited to play in the record themselves. The album was the third-largest album funded on Kickstarter at the time. Level 3 was recorded in a studio with over 175 musicians, primarily the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Emmanuel Fratianni and mixed at Skywalker Ranch by Leslie Ann Jones.[39][40] The album featured compositions and performances by Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill), Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid), and Jillian Aversa (God of War and Halo). It also had performances by Laura Intravia ("Flute Link") and Chris Kline (Vertexguy). The album also featured a live version of Portal's "Still Alive" performed in Chile, in which the audience can be heard cheering, chanting, and singing along.[41][42][43]
Video Games Live: Level 4 was released in 2015. Like Level 3, it was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, and passed its goal of $150,000, to reach $187,646. Also like Level 3, it was performed by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus and conducted by Fratianni. As a bonus for exceeding the financial goal of the Kickstarter campaign, VGL released Through Time and Space: Chrono Piano Album concomitantly. It features music composed by Yasunori Mitsuda for the games Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger, with the piano versions arranged by Laura Intravia (also providing vocals) and performed by Brendon Shapiro.[44][45]
Video Games Live: Level 5 was released in 2016. VGL also used Kickstarter, raising $264,931 through 3,658 backers. VGL worked with the Prague Philharmonic with Eímear Noone conducting and Leslie Ann Jones engineering at Skywalker Ranch. As a bonus for exceeding the goal, the project includes a documentary on the making of the music, plus added tracks. The project involved another piano album, Shall we Play? Majora's Mask Piano Album, featuring music from Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, arranged by Intravia and performed by Shapiro.[46]
PBS Special
The April 1, 2010 New Orleans (Level 2) concert was taped and broadcast on July 31, 2010 on PBS. The special was later released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2010 and contains additional segments, behind the scenes footage, making of Video Games Live, interactive angles, exclusive game developer and composer interviews, and special never before seen game trailers. The PBS special appeared in the United States, and was also broadcast multiple times on Sky Arts TV in the United Kingdom and other European countries.[47][48]
Legacy
Video Games Live has been praised for bridging the generational gap by showing older generations that video game music is not just "bleeps and bloops".[49] Wall and Tallarico saw the concert as a way to show "how culturally significant video games and video game music are in the world today."[citation needed] Tallarico often contends that, were Beethoven alive today, he would compose music for video games as a comment about the relevance for new media on the classical music artform.[3][50]
VGL also aims to show video gamers how moving classical music is. As Emily Reese, a host for Classical Minnesota Public Radio, noted concerning a 2010 VGL show, "89 percent of attendees had never been to Orchestra Hall for a classical concerts [...] and fifty percent had never even stepped through its doors." By performing with local orchestras at each location, Tallarico hopes VGL encourages video gamers to attend more classical concerts. He comments that parents often send grateful letters about their children picking up a musical instrument after a concert.[51][52][53]
When the show is performed in Brazil, it is subsidized by the government for getting young people involved in the arts.[3] In March 2016, VGL was placed in the Guinness Book of World Records for two accomplishments: the most number of shows by a symphony (357 at the time), and another for largest audience to ever watch a symphony show live (752,109 people in Beijing, China in 2015, despite the venue only having 2,700 seats).[54]
