The Dear Friends: Music from Final Fantasy concert did not take long to inspire the first ovation of the night as the crowd noticed Nobuo Uematsu coming into the concert hall, and taking a seat in the last row of the front orchestra section. What followed was a rising ovation as the crowd showed their respect and appreciation for the much beloved composer.
The concert opened with a powerful rendition of Liberi Fatali from Final Fantasy VIII. The performance of the orchestra was excellent, but the choir’s balance was a bit lacking as a result of badly placed microphones in the choir section making them very difficult to hear.
At the conclusion of the first performance, the M.C of the evening walked onto the stage: None other than James Arnold Taylor, the voice actor for Tidus from Final Fantasy X. Taylor then introduced the next three songs to be performed with flawless execution by the orchestra; Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X, Terra’s Theme from Final Fantasy VI, and Theme of Love from Final Fantasy IV. Performed at the 20020220 - Music from Final Fantasy concert held in Japan 2 years ago, the three renditions were exactly what you would expect from these fan favorites.
The M.C. then introduced a renowned guitarist featured heavily in the next two songs on the program, which were Dear Friends from Final Fantasy V and the upbeat Vamo’Alla Flamenco from Final Fantasy IX. “Love Grows”, the instrumental version of the vocal track Love Will Grow from Final Fantasy VIII closed out the first half of the concert prior to intermission.
The second part of the concert started up with Aeris’s Theme from Final Fantasy VII, followed by Not Alone from Final Fantasy IX, and Ronfaure from Final Fantasy XI, a completely new orchestral arrangement that has never been performed in prior concerts. James Arnold Taylor then made his final appearance of the night by introducing the last three songs and thanking everyone for coming. An exceptional Final Fantasy I-III medley then nearly stole the show when the crowd started cheering as the first few notes of the Chocobo theme began in the middle of the arrangement.
Nearing the end of the concert, the audience was treated to a sneak peak of the music from the upcoming Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children DVD movie. The song was typical Uematsu and the composition was solid and creative, but did not have the same impact as the other songs in the concert because there was no sense of nostalgia attached to it. The concert then came to a close with the classic Final Fantasy Theme; a fitting way to end the first U.S. Final Fantasy concert.
The crowd then showed its appreciation to the conductor and the Los Angeles Philarmonic Orchestra with a well-deserved standing ovation; before going completely nuts when Uematsu was introduced on the stage to say a few words about his views on music, the importance of this first concert on American soil, and to give his thanks to everybody who attended. Uematsu then introduced two very important “friends” of his: Yoshitaka Amano – Character designer of many Final Fantasy games and Hironobu Sakaguchi – Director and creator of Final Fantasy series, and once again the crowd responded with a deluge of applause at the sight of this famous trio on the stage. Amano and Sakaguchi then said a few words before all three exited the stage to more applause.In response to the cheers the conductor came back on the stage and the orchestra started playing One Winged Angel from Final Fantasy VII, as the crowd once again erupted in appreciation of this unexpected “encore”.
It was an incredible experience, and a wonderful concert that everyone enjoyed tremendously. The success of Dear Friends was a big step towards acceptance and recognition of videogame music on this side of the Pacific. Hopefully this concert will pave the way for more events like this in the future, and given the tremendous success of this first experience there is no doubt that we will see more like this again in the future.
by Eric Farand