The stage set up was nicely done, complete with a large screen that would play footage of the video games whose music was going to be featured during the show. This has become a staple feature at Eminence concerts since 2005. The media presence this time around was much more profound than before as there were plenty of photographers and video cameramen. This time they had full access and we saw one cameraman actually up on the main stage taking footage of the musicians. The attendance was quite good this time around especially considering the high price point of the tickets.
The PALGN staff had the best seats in the house, in case you missed us we were in row FF. Once we were all seated there was a sudden drop of silence, anticipation was building up, the musicians were getting their instruments ready and the show was finally ready to roll.
A great night was ahead of us.
The concert opened up with an arrangement from Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3. The piece was a powerful one and captured the intense and epic feel of a large scale war. It is interesting to note that they introduced music from two other war themed games as well, Ace Combat 6 and Gears of War 2. These themes were played quite excellently and were certainly a lot more aggressive, darker and battle centric that the other music we heard during the show.
We were treated to a large selection of anime music this time around. Some of the selection was similar to what we heard in previous Eminence concerts, such as ‘Song of Storm and Fire’ from Tsubasa Chronicles and music from Studio Ghibli classics such as My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke. However, to our pleasure these tracks were completely rearranged and sounded much different and superior to what we heard in previous concerts. Eminence had succeeded at giving new life to their classics.
The Totoro arrangement sounded absolutely cheerful and uplifting at many parts. The Princess Mononoke was very long length this time around but the progressive nature of it kept things fresh and interesting throughout. The Song of Storm and Fire received a huge pop from the crowd when it was mentioned by the MC (Terrence Trankiem) and fans were treated to a much darker and deeper arrangement of the piece. We were also treated to some new anime music as well, with the arrangement for Death Note being the one we were most excited about given the popularity of the series worldwide.
We also listened to some music composed by Cris Velasco, this music came from God of War II and Darksiders. Interesting to note that both games are based on mythology and the music captured the essence. Both arrangements were very epic, dark and doom impending, delivered with great energy by the Eminence Orchestra.
The talented Eminence Symphony Orchestra.
The Chrono Cross soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda has always been praised by gamers all over and Eminence has always played music from it. In the past we have seen ambitious renditions of ‘Scars of Time’ and the rendition of ‘Radical Dreamers’ they did at their Destiny concert was also masterfully done. In The Night in Fantasia 2009 we witnessed what arguably was the their very best arrangement from the Chrono Cross soundtrack. The piece was essentially Radical Dreamers with some parts of Scars of Time perfectly fused, and it was one the most stellar performances of the night because never before had we witnessed these two breathtaking tracks come together with such explosion and epic awe.
Moving to a much more recent yet highly acclaimed composition, a piece from Sony’s AFRIKA was performed for our listening pleasure. The piece was conducted by none other then the composer of the AFRIKA soundtrack himself (and special guest of the night), Wataru Hokoyama. He stated before the performance that the piece intended to capture the essence of life, and what we heard did exactly just that. It was certainly quite different from the other pieces we heard during the night and it was accompanied by impressive footage from the game itself. The whole performance, both visually and musically, was very well done.
Inon Zur has made quite a name for himself in the past several years and we recently had the honour of interviewing him. That night we listened to suite from Prince of Persia, which captured the action and romance that prevailed in that game and was beautifully performed. It had a strong Middle Eastern vibe, a style much different to what we normally hear in Eminence concerts and so that performance certainly added variety. Aubrey Ashburn also came on stage to deliver a hauntingly beautiful vocal performance, the track she sang to came from Dragon Age: Origins. Seeing that we are all very excited about this upcoming Bioware video game, it was an absolute joy to hear something from a game that we are looking forward to.
Soul Calibur IV holds a special place in the hearts of the Eminence team as this was one of their many recording projects. The arrangement we heard was delivered as powerfully as they did for the studio soundtrack but this time we got to enjoy it loud and live.
Aubrey Ashburn.
Kow Otani and Aika Tsuneoka have been heavily involved with Eminence for several years now. In Japan they are also well known by their band name ‘Hyper Little Toys’. The Shadow of the Colossus soundtrack has always been a favourite of the Eminence team and tonight they gave us an exclusive performance of a new arrangement. This arrangement featured Kow Otani on the piano and Aika on vocals. The arrangement had pieces from the entire soundtrack and so it was a good representation. Aika delivered strong and energetic vocals and the arrangement sounded very ominous and haunting at the start, it was very different from what we were expecting and this new approach really impressed us. It then soon started to sound a bit more familiar but there were plenty of new dimensions to it. Kow Otani did a fantastic job on the piano and he, Aika and the Eminence Orchestra made a fantastic team on stage.
In case you didn’t know, IdolM@aster is a very popular arcade and Xbox 360 title in Japan where gamers manage the careers of fictional pop idols. The Japanese pop centric soundtrack was composed by Go Shiina and when we first heard that Eminence was going to play a song from the game, we were curious as to how they were going to transform an upbeat Japanese pop song into an epic symphony piece. To our pleasant surprise, they did a fantastic job with such an unlikely song. The performance featured the beautiful Chiaki Takahashi on vocals, and not only did she look absolutely stunning but she delivered a pop star quality performance that received a tremendous ovation from the audience.
Chiaki Takahashi.
During the concert, guest musicians came up to share a few words. A fun running joke was their thoughts on the recent dust storm that Sydney experienced. Chris Velasco put it nicely when he said “You mean Total Recall?” and Wataru Hokoyama received a huge pop when he said “I thought this was a normal Sydney morning”. The guest composers were received with great applause and there were plenty of good laughs. Chiaki Takahashi and Go Shiina received heaps of laughter courtesy of their fiery sense of humour. Steve Jablonsky unfortunately could not make it to the concert and instead recorded a video message for the fans.
Wataru Hokoyama.
After all those great performances and speeches, the time came to finally wrap things up. While it seemed that Gears of War 2 was going to the last performance of the night, head violinist and founder of Eminence, Hiroaki Yura suddenly pulled a bandana out, followed by the rest of the Orchestra and everyone knew what was coming. The Metal Gear Solid performance was spectacular, similar to what we heard in past concerts and was faithful to the spectacular original score. The performance was absolutely electrifying and was the perfect finish for the concert.
So there you have it, our experience at A Night in Fantasia 2009. Eminence founder Hiroaki Yura deserves praise for holding and organizing this grand event, as a violinist he did a fantastic performance. Philip Chu skilfully conducted the concert and the entire Eminence Orchestra was absolutely phenomenal as each performance was mind blowing. We certainly had the time of our lives and we hope those who attended felt the same. We are already looking forward to the next A Night in Fantasia!
*All photographs are courtesy of Evan Stubbs, TindrumFire Photography
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