Concerts

Game Music, Indie Music

rePLAY: Symphony of Heroes Concert Tickets Are Now On Sale

June 24, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | Comments Off on rePLAY: Symphony of Heroes Concert Tickets Are Now On Sale Share this

Are you a fan of symphonic game music? If so, you should check out the recently announced rePLAY game music concert tour. This concert series, titled rePLAY: Symphony of Heroes, features music from Halo, Guild Wars 2, Journey, Final Fantasy, Shadow of the Colossus, and many other great games. This program will be touring the US, Canada, Mexico, and England. The concerts will begin early next month in Houston, TX, followed by a concert in Los Angeles, CA.

The rePLAY: Symphony of Heroes concerts follow a format similar to shows like Video Games Live and Distant Worlds. A full symphony orchestra performing game music while footage of the games are shown on an overhead screen. This tour’s theme will be based around the hero’s journey, the monomyth narrative structure identified by Joseph Campbell. Each selection of game music will represent a chapter in the hero’s journey. The concert will also feature narration by Nigel Carrington, the narrator of the game Dear Esther.

The concert dates and locations are as follows:

Houston, TX (July 5, 2014)
Los Angeles, CA (July 6, 2014)
Toronto, Ontario (September 6, 2014)
London, England (September 26, 2014)
Montreal, Quebec (October 4, 2014)
Austin, TX (October 19, 2014)
Monterrey, Mexico (October 24, 2014)
Mexico City, Mexico (October 26, 2014)
Boston, MA (November 21, 2014)
Atlanta, GA (January 17, 2015)
Grand Rapids, MI (February 7, 2015)
Portland, OR (March 6, 2015)
Phoenix, AZ (June 5, 2015)

Tickets are currently on sale for most of the concert locations and dates. If you’re a lover of game music and symphonic performances, definitely give this concert series a look. More information on the rePLAY: Symphony of Heroes concerts can be found on the rePLAY website.

Source: rePlay Symphony
Chip Music, Game Music, Indie Music

PAX East 2014 Music Guests Announced

February 15, 2014 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this PAX East 2014 Music Guests Announced

This week Penny Arcade announced its concert line-up for the upcoming PAX East 2014 convention. The event, as usual, will take place at the Boston Covention & Exhibit Center from April 11-13. Each of the concerts, the first on Friday and the other on Saturday, will feature performances by three different groups. A number of previous music guests will be returning to perform this year, including Metroid Metal, The Video Game Orchestra, and Anamanaguchi.

The PAX East 2014 concert roster is as follows:

Friday Night

-Bit Brigade
-Metroid Metal
-Anamanaguchi

Saturday

-MC Frontalot
-The Doubleclicks
-The Video Game Orchestra

It looks like it will be two nights of great music for PAX East attendees this year. A few of us from Original Sound Version will be checking out the concerts as well. Information on events, guests, and hotels can be found at the PAX East website. For those of you who were not able to grab tickets for the event, the concerts will be streamed live on the PAX Twitch stream. The event is less than two months away. Which bands are you looking forward to hearing?
Featured, Game Music

MAGFest 12: Mini-Musical Review

January 9, 2014 | Brenna Wilkes | 3 Comments Share this MAGFest 12: Mini-Musical Review

MAGfest has once again come and gone from our lives for another year. For the 12th year in a row, the music and gaming festival has managed to bring a variety of people, bands, and cultures all together in one place and blown the roof off the Gaylord National Harbor. New faces graced the stages, huge surprises were unveiled, and an excited energy permeated the halls of the convention center and hotel alike. Now that it’s over and things like PMD (post-MAG depression) and MAGPlague have settled into the hearts (and lungs) of many ‘fest-goers, it’s time to remember some of that excitement and good feelings that MAGFest always seems to create.

(more…)
Game Music, Indie Music, Reviews

Boston Plays Indies (Concert Review)

October 22, 2013 | Michael Hoffmann | 1 Comment Share this Boston Plays Indies (Concert Review)

On September 14, the MIT campus hosted the second annual Boston Festival Indie Games. The one-day event featured games by local independent developers, talks by people from the game industry, and viewings of gaming documentaries. To end the event, a concert was held at the Middle East Downstairs, a small music venue just a few blocks away from the MIT campus. This concert, titled Boston Plays Indies, featured music by Deadbeatblast, Control Group, DJ Cutman, and the Video Game Orchestra. I had the chance to see the VGO (Video Game Orchestra) perform before and I was also familiar with the work of DJ Cutman, but I was not as familiar with either Deadbeatblast or Control Group. Having some idea of what to expect, I entered the club and took my seat for what ended up being a great evening of music.

Starting up the show was solo artist Deadbeatblast, a chiptune DJ from Toronto, Canada who’s setup consisted of two Nintendo Game Boys and a set of devices to mix and manage the audio being generated by the two handheld devices. All of the music was original work by the artist. No covers or remixes, but all of it created with the 8-bit sounds available to him on the Nintendo hardware. To describe the music as simply chiptune or 8-bit is too inaccurate and vague. Many of the pieces he performed had an aggressive and experimental sound, similar to what you would hear in industrial genre music. Even with this experimental vibe, Deadbeatblast’s tunes maintained a good steady dance beat that the audience could rock out too. A particular favorite of mine was “Hyperspace”, a piece that started with a simple pattern and steadily built up as he continued to stack more and more music elements into the mix. Pieces took sudden but brief shifts in tempo, incorporated improvised interruptions, and always kept me guessing as to where the music would go next. The performance was full of great rhythms, memorable moments, and some great chiptune sounds. He has definitely made a fan out of me. (more…)
Game Music

VIDEO GAMES LIVE: LEVEL 3 needs your support!

September 5, 2013 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

We really dug VIDEO GAMES LIVE: LEVEL 1 and LEVEL 2, and while both albums had big record industry backing, concert co-creator and composer Tommy Tallarico is trying to bring LEVEL 3 to fans with Kickstarter.

Why take to Kickstarter for a third volume when the first two were industry-supported? That’s because LEVEL 3 caters to hardcore game music fans, featuring music from titles like Shadow of the Colossus, Mega Man 2, and Beyond Good & Evil, which don’t have the mainstream recognition of titles like Halo, Mario, and God of War.

With a week left for the campaign, VGL is getting closer to its goal, but it’s not quite there yet. That’s where you can help. They’re looking for a final push to take them over the top, and in addition to the impending album, the backer rewards for this campaign are pretty awesome (how about lunch with the Blizzard Entertainment audio team and a tour of the facilities?). I just pledged, and encourage game music fans out there to do the same so I can get my Shadow of the Colossus on. Oh, and there will be a remix by electronic artist BT as well (I really am excited about this!).

Chime in and let us know what you think of the effort. Will you be supporting this?
Game Music, Indie Music

“Boston Plays Indies” at Boston FIG!

August 31, 2013 | Patrick Gann | 3 Comments Share this

The Boston Festival of Indie Games (aka “Boston FIG” or just “BFIG”) is going to have an awesome music concert this year. On September 14th at the venue “The Middle East Downstairs,” a cavalcade of awesome musicians will be performing –live– renditions of great indie game music. Performers include:

The Video Game Orchestra
DJ Cutman
Darren Korb (composer for Bastion!)
Control Group (a band featuring Darren Korb)
deadbeatblast (on visuals, etc)

I’d personally recommend anyone in and near Boston attend the entirety of BFIG. But if you can’t make the whole convention, be sure not to miss this exciting concert! We’re not sure what all will be covered at the show, but I would be surprised if we didn’t hear music from FEZ, Super Hexagon, Bastion (obviously), and many more…
Game Music

As I Say Goodbye: Final Symphony Report

June 3, 2013 | Audun Sorlie | 3 Comments Share this As I Say Goodbye: Final Symphony Report

Throughout the years that I have written here, the one thing that became synonymous with my entries onto Original Sound Version was my many reports from concerts across Europe, most notably the productions of the German company Merregnon Studios. As we all develop and grow older, our time and place in life changes and as such, my time at Original Sound Version came to a close with new opportunities a few years ago. However, I never said my good bye to this little place which I called home and cherished, never tipped my hat to those who read my reports and reviews with great enthusiasm and support. So today, I say my good bye with a show that fittingly ended a great era, yet sparks new life into the world of orchestrated video game music.

I say good bye with Final Symphony. (more…)