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If you've never done one of these - and are offered the opportunity (even it if only pays a few hundred bucks and is a hundred or more miles away) you should accept the gig. You'll be in for an experience like no other.

What these do is cover the music from various episodes of legacy versions of the show's title's video game (the one I just did was "Sonic Symphony") from when the game was first created (typically decades ago) to the current version. These shows are always nearly completely sold out, and with just about the only advertising necessary being word of mouth amongst the local gaming community (and sure, the show has a website and schedule, but - basically - the gamers all tell each other about them, and anticipate them for months and months). To gamers, gaming is (at least it seems to me) their version of religion, whereas their daily life is (at least, I would tend to suspect - as with the Society for Creative Anachronism aka SCA) considered by them to be synthetic, and gaming - to them - is likely considered by them to be their reality.

As a contracted musician, you'll show up in the afternoon, the rehearsal will be three hours and will feature one run-through of each tune (this show: a couple dozen). There will be a 30 minute break (rather than typically the 15 or 20 required) whereby they will ask the musicians to use the extra minutes allotted to review any "licks" which individual musicians executed incorrectly on the read-thoughs.

After reading though each chart (which typical cover one, two, or three legacy - or current version - game on-screen episodes), there's a dinner break and the show. Last night's was 2-1/2 hours, with screaming/hollering/cheering - and hundreds of constantly-waved colored lights - throughout (as if a rock concert).

In fact, AFTER intermission we were fronted by a 4-piece rock band (drummer, guitar, bass, girl singer), which was needed to cover the more recent versions of the "Sonic" video game.

You play a bunch of VERY loud donuts, VERY loud rhythmic licks, a lot of low stuff, and it's pretty relentless (I actually had ONE tacet tune)...Did I mention that it's LOUD ?

The last fifteen minutes featured an (again) quasi-religious "unplugged" closing, whereby the rock band and the conductor gathered in the middle of the stage - with one mic and only a 12-string guitar) sang a few of the "songs" from some of the versions/episodes of the game, and the audience sang along.

We played in a 2500 seat (very nice) hall called the "Tennessee Performing Arts Center (Nashville). I'm sure the tickets were not cheap, and I'm sure they filled at least 2000 of the seats.

I've done "Zelda" (and other) video game orchestra concerts before...They're all just about sold out (full house).

The individual parts look like a bunch of nothing, but (actually) some of the stuff is "nearly music" and (via uber familiarity) the crowd goes ABSOLUTELY wild when each number starts (with - of course - the correct corresponding version and episode of the game on the giant screen).

lights:
They seemed to coordinate the colors of their lights, based on the game version and episode...As an example, one had a "star" theme, and they all turned on their (no color) white lights, etc.

Most of these pictures were taken by their own publicity photographer last night (which I gleaned from social media), and were during the last fifteen minutes unplugged "religious service" closing portion of the concert.
I managed to take one through the plexiglass sound shield.

Oh yeah...Every player had the click - with verbal cues or rehearsal number chimes - and an earbud.







Rather than paying a zillion bucks to park in a garage in downtown Nashville (and then walk three blocks with a tuba), a trombone buddy of mine (playing the show) lives there, his wife is a hospital administrator, and we were able to have her shuttle us to the stage door, and we texted her when it was drawing to a close and she picked us up again at the same place.

yeah...I'd seen these images before, but I knew ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about the game nor the name of the character.

Sounds like an experience every tuba player should have once. Hey, it’s gainful employment!

York-aholic wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 8:10 pm Sounds like an experience every tuba player should have once. Hey, it’s gainful employment!

If the preacher and organ grinder get paid, I get paid.
As far as these religions are concerned, I see them as less harmful than many.

Anime orchestra concerts are similar. I recently played on a concert with the music of One Piece, with the show playing behind us as we played the tracks. The concert was in a massive theater as part of the annual anime convention here. It was packed, and there was indeed rock concert-level roaring applause after every tune. No click or in-ears though, and we had lots of action. Interestingly, the 3rd trombone part (what I was playing) was for bass and tenor, not just bass.

One positive thing which was a result of this concert was an improved relationship with a couple of horn players.

The two hired for the show and I all play monthly in a freeway philharmonic. They are WAAAAAAAY over on the other side of the stage (freeway phil), they take their breaks stage right, the trumpets and low brass take their breaks stage left, and we rarely speak...but - sure - are courteous.

With this video game concert, the brass lineup was a straight line: tuba/2 bones/2 trumpets/2 horns.

I still didn't sit with those horn players, but much closer than usual...

ADDITIONALLY (for some inexplicable reason ??) their mic was in my click and my mic was in their click...

I can hear them playing at freeway phil concerts (they're fine Nashville-based freelancers), but - because the freeway phil basically plays in a barn ("civic center") they really never hear much of me. With me in their earbud, they could hear that (not only does that old man play the tuba reasonably properly, but) fairly aggressively, as well...so (now) I believe they actually respect me as much as I've been respecting them.

ex. of comments from them during breaks: "You're really 'driving the bus', over there...It's actually helping us more than the clicks." ...etc.

bloke "good to not only be courteous, but also friendly - as well as having one's colleagues respect (particularly once one has reached a certain age, whereby Americans tend to associate 'old' with (not just incontinent , but) ' incompetent'."

Finetales wrote: ↑Sat Nov 16, 2024 9:32 pm Anime orchestra concerts are similar. I recently played on a concert with the music of One Piece, with the show playing behind us as we played the tracks. The concert was in a massive theater as part of the annual anime convention here. It was packed, and there was indeed rock concert-level roaring applause after every tune. No click or in-ears though, and we had lots of action. Interestingly, the 3rd trombone part (what I was playing) was for bass and tenor, not just bass.

I did one of these, three tunes with a jazz group in Cincinnati doing the music of Cowboy Bebop. It was a short show and benefitted the high school. It had a very unique crowd and had the best jazzers in the area, and some schmuk playing tuba.

During the shutdowns, a cellphone video someone took of the show was posted on YouTube, video went viral with over a million views, currently at 4 million views. A euphonium friend in Texas who is huge into Japanese anime and music saw it and thought that was me, 150 pounds before and was right.

Ironically, I was called for 1 piece, which had a small NOLA brass band hit, but I asked if I could double the bass bone part on the others because it was fun and I wanted to make the trip worth it, even if it meant two horns.

https://youtu.be/QNs6PJyLgwU?si=ABDEMQzLEgsd-vaj


Before anyone claims orchestras aren’t dying, it’s events like these that show that music is changing. As music once was performed in the courts to dance, on barges, in parlors of the rich and fancy, music adapts and changes to fit its audiences.

As fun as it is to play Prokofiev for a half empty hall, I would rather play stuff like this for a full house of people who are normally not concert goers.

Some of Mozart's operas were geared much more towards the so-called commoners (though still his genius was employed)...and etc., etc.