WARNING: Insanely long, epic blog approaching!

As some of you might know but probably forgotten, last night was the night (Friday 13) I went to see Video Games Live. Video Games Live is a live orchestra that plays many a great pieces of video game music, and should not be missed. Let me tell you that last night was one of the best nights of my life; It's that good of a show. If you ever get a chance and want to remind yourself why it's so awesome to be a gamer, see this performance. I'm going to give a play by play to the best that I can remember of last night, so that you know what a great experience it truly is. Buckle up, this could be long.

First Off, at the concert hall a preshow was being held, with games and contest alike. My friends and I arrive there at around 7:00, knowing full well that the concert didn't start until 8:00. While exploring the booths in the lobby, I notice there weren't quite as many as I would've thought. A bunch of TV's were set up on the left side, every one of them playing Little Big Planet.

Right in the centre of the hall was a table covered with merchandise: T shirts, keychains, and even air fresheners! Not being one to miss out on some cool swag, I bought myself a T shirt. You can't see on the back, but it says "World Tour: 2009-2010".

Also, while I was in line to buy my shirt, another kid ahead of me is also buying a shirt. There were about three different WOW shirts on display: an Alliance, a Horde, and a Lich King. He's trying to buy the Alliance shirt and dorkiness ensues.

Douche: "I want the Alliance Shirt, Extra large"

Merchant: "Which one?".

Douche: "The Alliance shirt" (points to shirt).

Merchant: "This one?" (looks at wrong shirt).

Douche: "No! I want the Alliance shirt, I said it three times already!"

Merchant: "Well I'm sorry, but I don't know that "The Alliance" is!".

Lastly, over on the right, a Guitar Hero competition was being held. This was where it was the most crowded, so me and my friends just chatted near the T Shirt table until the Concert was about to begin. We each had our own music that we hoped that the concert would play; I mentioned how badly I wanted to hear the Metal Gear Solid theme. The time around then was 7:50, so we separate and find our respected seats.

"Wow! I'm in the fourth row!" I thought as I took the seat it said on my ticket. I couldn't believe I was right in front with a great view. I look back and see one of my friends two rows behind me, and I knew that another was close by as well. While the final preparations were being made for the orchestra, a video played on screen, showing an anime music video about video games. Cheesy, but funny. When the video ends the lights dim, and the first thing we see on the screen is a giant display of PONG. The ball hits back and forth, each time hitting the paddle, making a loud "Ping". From this we get an assortment of many old music themes from the days of the NES, including Donkey Kong, Duck Hunt, Gauntlet and Tetris.

At the end of the segment, we can hear a Codec ringing. Audience laughs as the composer picks up. "This is Solid Snake" we hear from the speakers. "Is any one out there?". At this the crowd goes nuts, cheering and clapping. "That's what I thought. Enjoy the show". Right after that humorous skit, Tommy Tallarico, one of the organizers of VGL, comes out and thanks the audience for coming. Tom talks a little bit about how the show came to be, and how they want to change the world of music with video games. You can actually see his introduction here. He then thanks everyone, and introduces the first real song of the night...Metal Gear Solid!

Alright, kicking off things with a bang! Already I have a wide grin across my face, listening to the music fill the room. The one song I wanted to hear most, and they use it for the first one! "This is going to be a fantastic night" I think to myself.

Metal Gear ends, and immediately after I was pleasantly surprised to hear the music of Bioshock!

The music and footage reminded me just how eerie this game is, with the violens being particularily noticable in this piece.

Tommy comes back on stage and tells the audience how they got in touch with Blizzard to go down to South Korea and promote the upcoming game, and the next theme, of StarCraft 2!

I haven't played any of Blizzard's games, but I do know now that they have some wicked tunes packed into those RTS's and MMO's.

After that, they kept things rolling by playing the music of Civilization 4!

In this piece we got to hear the chorus really stand out for the first time, with a soloist doing a really good job as well. It's another game I've never played before, but it sounds like it has a great fan base.

My mind is a bit fuzzy after this (the brain can't handle too much awesome in one night), but I'll try. I believe after Civ 4 Tom came back on stage to introduce Martin Leung. Now for those of you who don't know who he is, he's that guy on Youtube who can play the Mario theme on the piano, blindfolded! I guess he made a deal with VGL and he's touring with them, which is awesome. Anyway, Martin came on stage and played a bunch of short Final Fantasy themes on the piano. That guy has some mad skills.

Martin leaves the stage, but Tommy doesn't come back. Instead, the musicians begin to play again. And what they play folks, is a few of the greats from Super Mario Bros!

After that aura of magnificence, Tommy comes back and says that they have two more songs to go before a quick intermission, but before that, he'll pick a person from the audience to play a live game of Space Invaders! He ended up choosing this dorky chick who said she never played SI before (audience didn't take too kindly to that...). The orchestra played the music as the girl played the game, who ended up loosing all her lifes before the performance ended. Epic fail.

Tommy returns, and tells us that the next song was the second most requested song for VGL for the longest time, and that they finally added it to their set list. I'm talking of course, about Metroid!

Another pleasant surprise! I was in awe when the blue light passed over the entire theatre, and the sci fi music of Metroid actually translate into the performance better than I anticipated. Bioshock and Metroid were my two things I didn't really expect coming, but I'm glad they were in the set list!

So, what theme are they going to leave us out before the a quick intermission? Well, none other than the theme of The Legend of Zelda!

I'll admit it, I became a little teary eyed when I heared this one. It was perfect. I was fearing that only a few major titles were going to be in this, but already we have Metal Gear, Metroid, Mario and Legend of Zelda! What's going to play in the second half?

The break didn't last long, hardly fifteen minutes. Before I knew it I was back in my seat, ready for more. Good Ol' Tommy boy came back to the stage and introduced a band called Splitting Atom, who did music for Need For Speed: Undercover. This one I was a bit skeptical about and feared that they couldn't keep up with the orchestra. Luckily though, the band actually performed very well and the audience seemed to take a liking to them.

It was at this point that Tommy announced the winner of the Guitar Hero competition, who actually got to go up on stage and play Guitar Hero in front of every one. He had to play "Sweet Emotion" on Hard and get 200 000 points to win a prize. He stepped it up though by saying he wanted to go on Expert. He did well but came short (around 174 000) but they gave him the prize anyway.

After congratulation him, Tom asks the audience if they like Disney. The crowd cheers frantically. He then asks if we like Square. We all know where this is going, and yell like crazy. He asks us to scream out the game to the next song, which the audience obliges and blurts out..."Kingdom Hearts!"

A series of shots from many Disney movies play throughout the piece, creating a magicial atmosphere around the giant room.

Immediately following, the orchestra kicks up the epic by playing the theme to Warcraft!

I tell ya, the last minute of this song sent shivers down my spine. The presentation was just fabulous.

Tom once again reappears to us to tell us about the next piece. He tells us that this one like Metroid has also been requested many times, and how it has only been added to the set list last week, and that this'll be the second time they played it. The crowd went balistic as Tom screamed out that they were going to play the music to Chrono Trigger!

Tom and the composer, Jack Wall, did a Guitar duo and did an amazing job. Thanks to someone in the audience, you can actually watch it here.

Next, the audience was glad to welcome back Martin, who came back to do what he's famous for: He played an assortment of Mario music blindfolded! I seriously have no idea how he does it. "That guy must be a robot" Tom says.

Tom dissapears for a brief moment but quickly returns with an electric guitar. "We are going to play some Halo!" he cries and the audience applauds, though I hear a few booes hear and there. What I found extremely funny though, was that as soon as Tom mentioned Halo, a whole bunch of ten year olds several rows behind me started to chant "Ha-lo!Ha-lo!". Way to prove the stereotype kids.

Tom rocked it out on the guitar, and the whole place was booming. He and the composer bowed and the orchestra stood up. The audience gives a standing ovation as they leave the stage. Im thinking to myself "no wait, it can't be over!". Almost immediately the crowd starts to chant "One More! One More! One More!".

And of course there was more. They returned immediately. Tom asks "so you want more?". We are raving with excitement, clearly giving our answer. "How would you guys like to hear some more Final Fantasy?". Everyone is shouting from the rooftops. Tom contemplates out loud with the composer which Final Fantasy should they play. With the audiences help, they decide on...wait for it...Final Fantasy 7, One Winged Angel!

Luckily, this one as well, was recorded, so you can experience what I saw last night. "Sephiroth!"

And guess what? There's still one more! Tom tells the audience that ending with One Winged Angel would be too obvious. So they tell the audience that they're going to play one more song for the night. "It's an oldie but a goodie...the one...the only...Castlevania!"

The song ends, and all you can hear is applause. Everyone is clapping and standing. Tom and all the orchestra take a bow and everyone goes insane. "Thank You all very much!" Tommy finishes. "We hope to see you again sometime!". The lights go up, and I realize I just saw some of the best two and a half hours of my life.

Thanks for reading, and as you might figure out in the links, I live in Kitchener Ontario! Now you know. Again, see this live if you ever can. I guarantee you will have the time of your life.