I can’t believe it was 25 years ago that I first sat in front of my Nintendo Entertainment System and popped in a brand new role playing game: Final Fantasy. Back in the day, I was hooked on role playing games. When one of my closest childhood friends and I got a game like that over summer vacation, we had a challenge with a local video game rental store. If we finished it in a week and proved it with maps so he could help his customers out, we got the game rental free for the week. If we didn’t, we had to pay. It was a nice deal for a young kid.
Final Fantasy was the 2nd game we finished that way (the first was Legend of Zelda), and that franchise has stuck with me ever since. From the gameplay to the visuals, which just got more and more stunning with each iteration, to the music which was so suited to the game (and a soundtrack of which is on my playlist for my drive to work)… This was a franchise that truly stuck with us, and very few games such as this had the longevity to stick around for so long.
25 years later, it’s still going strong and to celebrate the anniversary of the game SQUARE ENIX has announced a live concert in Chicago, Illinois on December 7 celebrating the music that originated from Final Fantasy.
On December 7th, at the Akoo Theatre (formerly the Rosemont Theatre), GRAMMY Award-winning conductor Arnie Roth and the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra and Chorus will be performing a special one night engagement in celebration of the FINAL FANTASY 25th Anniversary! Hopefully you took advantage of our press announcement and picked up your tickets already. If not, we have some news updates about the concert that we know will get your feet moving!
The concert is packed with amazing tracks from famed series composer Nobuo Uematsu like FINAL FANTASY VII: One Winged Angel, FINAL FANTASY X: Zanarkand, and a new version of FINAL FANTASY VI: Opera “Maria & Draco” Additional surprise medleys are also planned, but it’s no fun if we spoil all of them for you!
Additional compositions from other acclaimed composers are also on schedule; such as FINAL FANTASY XI: Vana’diel March by Naoshi Mizuta and FINAL FANTASY XII: The Dalmasca Estersand by Hitoshi Sakimoto.
Susan Calloway is also in attendance to sing the vocal themes FINAL FANTASY XIV: Answers and FINAL FANTASY VIII: Eyes On Me, a rare treat that no fan will want to miss!
In advance of the main concert an exclusive preview performance of intimate chamber music arrangements of music of FINAL FANTASY takes place at 6:40pm in the lobby of the Akoo Theatre – featuring Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth performing live! This special up close and personal appearance will feature Nobuo Uematsu (keyboards) and Arnie Roth (violin) as soloists performing FINAL FANTASY VI: Dark World. The chamber music also features a new Chocobo Variations medley.
For more information, head over to the official Distant Worlds website at: http://www.ffdistantworlds.com/
Square Enix Members will be on-hand so look forward to more announcements as we get closer to December! We’re celebrating this once-in-a-lifetime event in style, so don’t miss it!
I don’t live in Chicago, but this almost makes me wish that I did! This would be an amazing concert to attend surrounded by some amazing music. Very few games take it to the level that Final Fantasy does for their musical score and to be there and experience it live…
What are your thoughts? Does the musical score of a game make it that much better for you, or is it all about what’s on the screen? Chime in below!
Chicago…may have to plan a road trip….tickets are a bit pricey though…
Is that contest for real? You would never see something like that nowadays lol