VGL

Wow.

I have to say I was truly impressed with last night's Video Games Live performance. I'm sure we all imagined a large group of teenage to middle-aged men who had not left their parent's basement since the release of Halo 3. (or Call of Duty 4 depending on your cup of tea) As we arrived (we being myself and my Fat Angry White Kid brother themilton) I was actually worried that I was under dressed. As you can imagine there were few college students dressed to kill, but I was a little worried to see some of the older crowd dressed as if they were going to a run of the mill symphony performance.

There was nothing too eye-catching about the display tables set up outside of the main auditorium which could be attributed to either my arrival only half an hour before the scheduled start time, or just an over all lame guitar hero competition with no one playing on expert. The merchandise table did make me a little jealous and sad that I had not brought cash. The Advent Rising CD seemed to taunt me from the table.

The first arrangement was a little too old for me... Recognizing only the sounds from pong and joust. I was a little embarrassed. The lighting tricks were annoying. You see, someone decided they were too cheap to spring the extra 6 bucks to not be in the balcony, and the lights seemed to be pointing directly into my eyes. I was surprised, to say the least, that these light bursts were not met with screams as those who had seen no light for such a long time met sudden death. I found myself hissing as some sort of monster whose life was in danger. (that last statement is neither here nor there)

Of the music I have no real complaints aside from being a little disappointed with the Metal of Honor arrangement. I think it was a great idea to incorporate the footage from the history channel, but the music selection I did not think was the best they could have done given the extensive soundtrack for the Metal of Honor games. To play a Zelda arrangement without including the Ballad of the Windfish is borderline heresy, but the rest of the arrangement was good enough to fend of the urge to truly gripe about the absence of the BEST SONG OF THE FRANCHISE.

Martin Lueng was an excellent addition to the program. Other than his small stalling each of the two times he played the Final Fantasy fanfare music it was probably the best thing I have ever heard out of a piano. His follow-up Mario brothers bit was equally as comical as it was talented and impressive.

In my opinion the reaction sparked by the frogger competition was ridiculous. There were more cheers and screams for the "Ogden frogger champion" than for the performers or music itself.

Tommy Tallarico kind of confused me with his first guitar. It looked like a toy, but he played it well. The encore was a little strange and seemed to be scripted. To be honest I don't think the reaction by the audience deserved an encore even though we all wanted it.

Tommy ended the show by saying "See you next year," a comment that I believed caused many of the people in the audience to feel something warm and special that they had not felt since playing Dead or Alive volleyball.

To the whole VGL crowd, I honestly hope you get a better reception at Abravanel Hall; you deserve it. I can only hope that unlike the prospect of a promised Advent Rising trilogy which failed to deliver that Tallarico is true to his word and we will, indeed, see him next year.

fawk_novat0