Between their stops in San Francisco last week and the upcoming show at Comic Con this coming Thursday, Nobuo Uematsu and the Distant Worlds team took a break from the show in Los Angeles at the Royal/T cafe/art gallery/book shop (yes, it’s a strange place) for a special Distant Worlds II record release party. While Distant Worlds hasn’t been to Los Angeles yet (there were hints that a show might be coming next year), over 100 fans turned out to this special event to get signed CDs, posters, and photos with Uematsu and Arnie Roth.
It was a very successful event I’d say, and we have a gallery from the evening’s festivities, including shots of the line that started a whole hour and half before the doors opened, some FFXIII cosplayers (I guess it doesn’t matter that Uematsu didn’t score FFXIII), and of course Uematsu’s latest beer-themed apparel. I even asked Uematsu about The Last Story and his “Best of” album that he mentioned in the past.
All of this and more after the jump.
I’ll start with the text-based stuff before getting to the photo gallery. When I asked Uematsu about The Last Story, I got: “I’m unable to comment at this time.” I think that’s a pretty strong indication that he may be involved, but we’ll cut him a break this time and simply say “maybe” at this point. Regarding his “Best of” album, there seems to be a number of issues with putting this together and getting it released, but he didn’t elaborate. I’m still looking forward to it though.
Also of note was the fact that Dog Ear Records brought some merchandise along to the event, selling copies of The Black Mages III: Darkness and Starlight CDs and DVDs. They were selling for full Yen-to-Dollar conversions though, at $50 for the DVD and $30 for the CD.
Now, on to that photo gallery! Enjoy, and let us know which shots are your favorites. What do you think of the FFXIII cosplay, and how about that complimentary cupcake display?
I gotta say, I’m a little ashamed of all the FFXIII fans that this year’s Distant Worlds has been attracting. At the San Francisco concert, I would hear whispers of people around me not knowing anything about the other games. It was rather infuriating. Hopefully the music will coerce them into actually enjoying the series rather than rallying around a single game THAT UEMATSU DIDN’T EVEN COMPOSE FOR.
Then again, the royalties go to Squeenix, so I guess it doesn’t really matter. I just find it a bit disrespectful.
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@ M Lane
I agree with you. I was at both nights of the SF concert and it’s sad to say that the enthusiasm of the audience wasn’t like last year’s concert, or even the Chicago concert I went to back in December. Nobuo even had to walk on stage to encourage everyone to sing along to the lyrics but everyone was generally hesitant, aside from the most rabid of FFVII fanboys. I understand if there isn’t space/time/money for a real chorus, but expecting the audience to do the vocals for One Winged Angel is a bit much.
It’s safe to assume that the majority of the FF fanbase started with FFVII or FFXIII; because of that, they’re set in their ways, shutting their eyes from the rest of the series. There also must have been many like me, who wondered why they payed for two nights, only to get four songs that actually made the difference between the two nights. I don’t regret going to both nights, but this concert should have been ONE night instead of two.
I also went both nights to the SF concert (flew down from Portland, OR!). It was great, though I think the symphony struggled with some of the pieces.
Having grown up watching my cousin play Final Fantasy for NES, and then getting a SNES on my 6th birthday and Final Fantasy II (IV) immediately after, Uematsu’s work has been the one musical constant in my life. Despite how short the meet and greet opportunity was, I think Mr. Uematsu genuinely enjoyed meeting all the fans.
Being that it was a Final Fantasy event, he was a bit stunned when I mentioned having owned Phantasmagoria, and he acted surprised when I praised his work on Lost Odyssey (“Ooh! You know?” he said).
One last interesting note: At the time of the concert, I was under the false impression (thanks to all the internet rumors) that he was confirmed as Last Story’s composer, and so I told him that I was looking forward to it; thinking back, he didn’t react strangely at all. Maybe he’s just been working with the game industry for so long that he’s really good at the whole confidentiality-bit. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the shows. It’s a great tour.
Yeah, I think he’s surprised when fans in the US have his solo albums. Did you happen to get it signed by him?
Regarding The Last Story, he didn’t react strangely most likely because A) he gets people thinking he scored games he didn’t all the time, and B) he’s probably doing the game.