So praise Uematsu and Arnie Roth, I got into the very first 30th Anniversary concert at Sydney, and it was just as magical as I thought it'd be! (I mean, anyone who's in Skype or Discord probably knows how I was gushing for the last couple of days.)
A whole bunch of new songs, and a heckin' great time. Managed to snag myself the Distant Worlds IV CD. They ran out of the tour artbook and the T-shirts super fast, I'm kicking myself for staying in my seat during intermission
Main things I noticed during the evening:
The security for the venue was super tight. I had a bad feeling when I went on the facebook page for the venue and saw other events lined with comments complaining about the long delays. Post-Manchester it naturally made sense for the heightened security but it didn't stop the 40-minute delay from wearing on our anticipation (and they opened the gates for checks about two hours prior, as well). They were only passing people through 4 security gates and even they had to concede and open up another with a bar scanner. I lucked out and managed to sneak my (shitty) recording equipment through the makeshift queue
(I thought the problem with my recordings would be the battery life or memory space, turns out it ended up being my phone automatically stopping recording from overheating, fuck
)
So I didn't realise but Roth introduced the orchestra as 'the Distant Worlds Philharmonic Orchestra' and 'Distant Worlds Chorus', which sounds like they have a dedicated touring orchestra. I guess that's p. cool since they've always seemed to have albums recorded by orchestras on loan, so at least the live performances will have consistency. One or two of the albums are kind of subpar compared to the others.
NEW SONGS EVERYWHERE. Mainly why I bought the new CD (ed: bolded the new songs)
Surprisingly, no solo vocal performances. Eyes On Me, Kiss Me Goodbye, no Answers. Nothing of the sort, only choral music at most. I guess Calloway couldn't make it
In order of performances:
Prelude - I've heard this a million times but actually being there and watching the big screen play dumb nostalgic videos makes me tear up for real
Battle Medley - This one's pretty familiar as well, nothing new. The brass section for this piece (and a whole bunch of other ones throughout the night) weren't quite on point, which is a bit disappointing
The Oath (FFVIII) - Fucking awesome. Roth said it was the first time they'd played it in concert. One of the highlights of the evening, a huge standout from the new repertoire. One of the longer pieces, but as an Uematsu arrangement absolutely inspired.
Fang's Theme (FFXIII) - Out of all the XIII pieces they introduced to the concert, I like
Fang's Theme the most (besides Fabula Nova Crystalis) - it has the most interesting theme (and uses multiple themes, really) and is the most substantial arrangement. The only album version available is the
Returning Home album, which I'm to be honest is kind of subpar. So I'm glad to have listened to a performance of it that isn't shit
Searching For Friends (FFVI) - Another brand-new track (Roth says it literally came in 'days' ago), this one's also another keeper. It's a little lighter in tone than I expected from the arrangement at the beginning but it works well and with Uematsu's touch it's still a really enjoyable piece. The gameplay footage on-screen really shines and evokes the turbulence of emotion that happens during that sequence.
It's also not on any album yet (even the new one), which is a fucking bummer
Theme of Love (FFIV) - Not much to say about this one, it's an absolute classic and one that's been done for years. Still as good as the first time it was done way back in... 2002?
Torn From The Heavens (FFXIV) - This is the song that singularly made me fall in love with A Realm Reborn (that Prelude motif tho!), and it touched the nostalgia nerve just as easily as the original did all the way back. It's a great piece by Soken but the orchestra slipped at a few spots and I really wish there was more of an...
arrangement touch to it instead of just repeating the song a second time like the original soundtrack. It's the same problem a lot of non-Uematsu arrangements have (including ones from XII and XIII) - Uematsu takes the time to turn Distant Worlds pieces into enjoyable pieces with a second half that really mixes things up, but most other pieces from XII onwards (besides the Uematsu-written XIV ones) don't have much more than a coda slapped on the end. It's actually the same issue I take with
Fang's Theme but that piece is more substantial regardless so I don't begrudge it too much
Also the brass section fucks up again at some pretty key points, which is another minor disappointment
You're Not Alone! (FFIX) - another great classic. I only know FFIX on the surface so it doesn't hold a lot of nostalgia for me, but every Distant Worlds piece I've heard from this game is fucking awesome and this isn't any different
Apocalypsis Noctis (FFXV) - imo one of the best non-Uematsu arrangements and a great pick for the Distant Worlds repertoire. Lends itself well to the format because it was mixed for a trailer, so doesn't blandly loop or anything equally vanilla
. Short, but sweet
Festival of the Hunt (FFIX) - one of the newer additions, a really smooth rendition of
Hunter's Chance. The shaky brass
again brought it down a notch in some parts, but the vital tuba players did hold it together well
Post-intermission
Opening - Bombing Mission (FFVII) - I love this track and it's always great to hear it but I've heard it a thousand times and I don't think I've ever heard a bad rendition of it. Cool that they use FFVIIR footage now though.
Arnie Roth throwing shade on the Remake development time post-performance though, lol
Somnus (FFXV) - the first Distant Worlds performance of the song, apparently. I was really happy to see Somnus stand the test of development time throughout FFXV/Versus XIII's development. I honestly prefer the one with the vocal track, but for the Instrumental Version we actually got a violin performance by Arnie Roth himself, which was fucking tops. He did great, the piano performance was great (kind of slipped up a bit but w/e), the piece is great.
Cinco de Chocobo (FFVII) - I think this is kind of new? Chocobo songs are always a fun part of Distant Worlds, there's always some cute shit going on on-screen and it always gets a chuckle out of the crowd. Footage of Cloud on the World Map running back and forth along chocobo tracks, lol.
Cool 5/4 meter stuff. Fun, p. jazzy, just a rollickin' good time.
Hymn of the Fayth (FFX) - the perfect song for the Distant Worlds Chorus to flex their chops. Short and sweet, obligatory Sending cutscene on screen. Whole audience absolutely captivated. Transitions effortlessly into
Zanarkand.
Zanarkand (FFX) -
To Zanarkand is a fucking rollercoaster of emotion and it never gets old for me. Not much to say about this piece, tbh, they knock it out of the park pretty much every time. Phenomenal as always
Flash of Steel (FFXII) - also listed on album as
Clash of Swords, this is a Hitoshi Sakimoto-ass piece and couldn't be more Sakimoto unless it was
Dalmasca Eastersand. Another new 'premiere' piece for Distant Worlds, it's a super fun listen and even has some nice little flourishes in the second half that take it a little step above the usual non-Uematsu arrangement.
The brass kept making tiny slips here and there, by this point it was bugging me pretty bad.
Cosmo Canyon (FFVII) - the Eastern instrumentation flair on this track is a breath of fresh air for the repertoire and I'm so glad that Uematsu added this one. It's toe-tapping fun and is another great, varied arrangement by Uematsu. Instant favorite.
Dancing Mad (FFVI) - this is one of the two classics that I
never get tired of hearing from Distant Worlds (the other being
Zanarkand). It's always a tremendous piece to listen to and when they have the endurance to nail it, it's one of the top highlights of the repertoire. This song I'm always hankering for especially because the organ solo has always been a stress point for the performance and it's interesting to see how it turns out. I've heard some especially
terrible organ sections in the past and it's always marred otherwise generally great performances. No two renditions of this piece ever seem the same.
Thankfully the guy on the night did a great job. Played on tempo, barely had to slow down, handled it really well. One person in the audience clapped for it - it annoyed me a bit but I couldn't disagree. Overall another high note, and I would have been satisfied if it was the last performance of the night.
Theme of Final Fantasy - yeah it is what it is, it's fine. Credits on-screen, show's over, booooo
One-Winged Angel (FFVII) - They do that whole thing where they try to engage the crowd for the encore, it's super cute and Uematsu on stage joking around and standing with the Chorus is really lovely. That said, I've still heard the song a million times before and the audience seemed a bit fatigued (it was about 11.10pm at that point) so yelling "SEPHIROTH" at the top of our lungs didn't seem like the best thing. Still, its a nice song I guess.
The orchestra sat down for a second encore but Roth/Uematsu didn't come out for another, the cockteases.
