Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY Tickets

Nobuo Uematsu is in a small handfull of contemporary composers that could be argued as being the greatest of our time. Unfortunately, John Williams will probably have more support as he has the backing of Hollywood and the like- but as any fan of the Final Fantasy series knows, Nobuo is up there with him, regardless of how many are familiar with his music. I attended both Friday and Saturday nights, and the shows were different enough to make it worth going both nights. Several select tracks were performed both nights, but obviously the good ones worth seeing twice. The only negative comment I might have is that Arnie Roth, the conductor, paused too many times to have the orchestra stand, bow, and wait for applause. And much of his commentary was kind of pointless- it would have been much better to just let the orchestra play the music with minimum intermission. Friday he seriously paused after every other song to have the orchestra stand and bow. Saturday he sometimes let 3 songs go, or two really long ones before doing so. But anyway, if you're a fan of the video games, then obviously you know what you're getting. It was great to hear the full orchestra as opposed to the MIDI I've heard in the past. And on the screen, there were a couple times where they had gameplay video at opportune moments to catch a few big laughs from the audience (About 3/4 of the time it was CG or characters wandering the worlds).

This was my third time seeing Mr. Roth and Uematsu-san perform music from Final Fantasy. Each time has been a joy. I took my children (9,7) and they had a wonderful time as well. The new arrangements from FF13 and FF14 hold up well next to the older music, but the highlights remain "Aerith" and "One-Winged Angel."

My son recommended this concert as he is a huge fan of Final Fantasy. He lives in Seattle and my husband, daughter and I drove from Iowa to visit him. We took a side trip to Vancouver so that we could see this show. It was wonderful and we enjoyed ourselves very much in spite of the fact that only my son has played the games. the length was just right, neither too long or too short. The symphony did a great job!

This concert was utterly amazing. The music brought tears to my eyes and will do so to any true Final Fantasy fan! Seeing the great Nobuo Uematsu in person was great, he sat and watched the concert in the audience with everyone else!! He came up on stage to perform one song, sadly, not Zanarkand...I only wish I had VIP tickets so I could have attended the meet and greet, where many got their prized CDs autographed. The only reason I don't give the concert a perfect score is because there was no music from Final Fantasy XII, which I love and has phenomenal music, otherwise it was perfect, I wish it wouldn't have ended, but kept going all night long!!

The reason for which I saw the concert was to hear the beloved music of my childhood performed live- and in this respect the show was OUTSTANDING- beautifully played pieces and talented performers. However, the beauty of the evening was marred a bit by the, well, quirkiness, of those attending the show. It certainly didn't feel professional, and perhaps I should not have expected the audience to behave as such, but I found the strangeness of the people around me took away from my enjoyment of the music. I also feel that the big screen cut scenes could have been so much more effective than they were. The games are full of beautiful cut scenes and such, but the music was often paired with random battle scenes. The pairing of audio and video was absent, as video didn't much even relate to the emotion of the music being played. Overall I truly truly enjoyed the music, which is the essence of the concert, but other distractors in the form of oddball audience members and average video lowered my enjoyment of the show a bit.

This was one of the best concerts i've been to. I've gone to Video Games Live and this concert was simply amazing. I felt like I was reliving my childhood in 2 hours. Then after the concert I got to see Arnie Roth and Nobuo Uematsu after the concert! They were super chill after the concert and allowed an autograph and a picture.

Very nice seats, very friendly crew. View was fine. Loved everything about it.

The Orpheum theatre in Vancouver BC was beautiful. Arnie Roth was lively and entertaining. Nobuo-san was funny, humble, and in the audience right across the aisle from me! Needless to say, the music was incredible. Most of the old favorites along with an audience karaoke version of One- Winged Angel. The meet and greet was definitely worth the extra money. I adored every minute of this show!

I wish we could have gone on all night with these orchestral performances of Final Fantasy music. The crowd was wonderfully enthusiastic with the solos and the symphonic arrangements. Uematsu-san's keyboarding along with Arnie Roth's violin soloing was deeply touching. The encore of One-Winged Angel, having the audience sing as the chorus went amazingly well.

The show got off to a bit of a weak start, since Liberi Fatali is not what I'd use as an opener/warm up song. That being said, it was a very complex warm up song, and the night only got better from there. The strings played beautifully, and while it took a while for the horns/brass to really get into it, they came into their own before intermission. The choir's singing was fantastic, though the female vocals soloist was overwhelmed by them at times, by not fault of the choir. Aside from a few slip ups, everything played was absolutely fantastic, and the inclusion of composer Nobuo Uematsu for the final piece was both amusing and wonderful to see. Among really notable highlights were a beautifully done Aerith's theme, the north american premiers of Clash on the Big Bridge and Blinded by Light, and the updated Final Fantasy 1-3 medley (which now includes the song Final Fantasy instead of Chocobo's theme.) I got exactly what I came for and was rather unhappy the night had to end, though it ended with an impressive bang. Overall, the show had beautiful music, the video work combined with the conductor's own amusing demeanor kept the audience laughing, and even my guest who's never played a final fantasy said the show was enjoyable. I eagerly await them returning to Toronto some day, if we're ever so lucky.

I waited almost 10 years for this event and it didn't disappoint! If they come back I'll defiantly go see them again.

I would have to say, that this was a fantastic concert. Mostly due to the fact that everything that Nobuo Uematsu has composed has been quite fantastic. Coming from someone who is classically trained and has a good music background, I would have to say some of the performance was a tad lacking. You could definitely tell the songs that they play all the time and which ones they needed more practice on. Just because of this doesn't make the concert not a five star. The performance overall was awesome though. It did have some corny moments, but what do you expect. I travelled from Michigan to Toronto to see this, and will definitely be traveling to Chicago for the next show.

Inspirational, nostalgic, and awestruck. Will attend again in Australia and London finance permitting.

Arnie Roth and Nobuo Uematsu delivered one of the best orchestrated concert I've ever been too! It was well worth the trip coming up from NYC to Toronto!

Great choice in music and wonderful scenes on screen! Brought back great memories. It was also a great treat to see Nobuo Uematsu!

A must-see event for any fans of the Final Fantasy franchise, fans of Nobuo Uematsu, or just someone looking for something different. Arnie Roth, a Grammy Award winning artist, has a way of bringing energy to a classical music event that you just won't find anywhere else. From the moment they open the doors there's a very tangible energy; the excitement and anticipation of the fans is unreal, and you instantly know you're in for something great. As for the performances themselves, every show is a little different. Each show features a new orchestra, new choir, and new soloist; each of which brings something slightly different to the table. Each and every show has the same effect, however. A classical music concert with fans so passionate you'd think Daft Punk was playing. One of the shows I went to there was a standing ovation after every piece. I've been to see the Distant Worlds show over 5 times now in the past 2 years, and I'm planning on attending 3 more next year. If you haven't seen the show, it's a must-see experience. If you've already seen a show I recommend going again. Arnie has quite the repertoire of pieces to choose from, so no two shows are exactly the same.