About Video Games Live
Video Games Live is a concert series created by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects, as well as several interactive segments with the audience. Incorporated in 2002, Video Games Live has performed over 500 shows internationally.
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. The technology for communicating between the person running the concert, the conductor, and their performers was also developed.
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. Three concerts were held the first year. In 2006, the concert re-launched with an 11-show world tour. 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. In 2010, Jack Wall left Video Games Live to pursue his game composing career.
Each concert is performed by a local symphonic orchestra and musicians. Video Games Live has performed for millions of people across the globe, including in the Middle East, China, South Korea, Japan, Europe, South America, and Australia. In 2015, VGL performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with more than 200 musicians on stage including the Colorado Symphony and Choir. In 2016, 2 shows were performed at the Bird's Nest National Olympic Stadium in Beijing to over 30,000 people. Tallarico chooses different songs for each show, based upon the area's favorite game series and by asking fans at future venues what songs they would like to hear. Over the past decade, Video Games Live has performed with symphonies including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Qatar Philharmonic.
Video Games Live features more than 175 unique music segments from video games of all eras, such as Final Fantasy, Halo, World of Warcraft, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Legend of Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, and Metal Gear Solid. Other segments feature retro arcade games such as Tetris and Donkey Kong. Video footage of each game is shown during its segment, and this is often accompanied by special effects.
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.
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. 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. 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.
Map & Directions To Venue
