For a second year Winnipeg has hosted Video Games Live. This event is presented by Future Shop so unless you have been living under a rock you should know that VGL is a groundbreaking event celebrating the music of video games. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and choir are accompanied by synchronized video, lighting, special effects, crowd interactivity and live action. The 3-day festival, which includes two nights of concerts surrounding a guitar hero showdown where on July 6th, 7th, and 8th.
Lots of people came down to enjoy the unique sounds and colorful scenes, and it left every ones ears satisfied. The next stop on the list is New York and then onwards to Japan. This event is known world wide and always has a massive turnout. So if Video Games are your game, then you should check this event out next time it comes through the city.
It is definitely a concert worth seeing covering such themes from Super Mario all the way to World of Warcraft and Halo, Final Fantasy, and Starcraft. On day 1 the concert material and jokes were pretty much the same as last year except they added 3 new songs which where Mega-Man, Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger. With that being said i would still watch the same concert over and over its so good. July 6th marks a special day for Tommy and Jack because Video Games Live premiered with a sold-out concert on July 6, 2005 at the Hollywood Bowl.
This year VGL also had a Guitar Hero tournament on day 2. Which was amazing as the winner got to show off their awesome skills and play along up on stage during day 3. The song of choice was Areosmith – Sweet Emotion and the reason for that song is that Tommy Tallarico is Steve Tyler’s cousin. The two finalists were so close in score that they were both invited to play on stage. Before the finalists came on stage the local band Mode 7 took the stage and did so video game covers. After that we were treated to a Q&A session with Tommy Tallarico, Jack Wall and Martin Leung. The Q&A session was mediated by Taryn Brenner. One important fact we found out is the if it was for Taryn Brenner, VGL may not have happened this year in Winnipeg. She helped coordinate and convince the WSO to host VGL again.
So far after day 2 everything about this event is a gamers dream right down to the costumes seen before and after the concert, but wait there is a day 3. Even after working 2 jobs and making time to go to the first two days by day 3 i was running on no sleep and fueled by energy drinks and anticipation to see the second concert performance of VGL. This time there was more new content and jokes while still playing the classics. Some new songs they played included Starcraft 2, Halo 3 ODST, Mass Effect, Need For Speed: Undercover (featuring Splitting Adam). Splitting Adam appeared in person for both shows and the creator of the first pong was live via Skype for both shows.
The whole experience was just so amazing its hard to put it all into words. You need to go next time they come to town and experience the raw emotion and excitement in person that VGL brings to the table. Now i leave you with some pictures from all 3 days and the opening video that VGL played for both shows.
LeetStreet Boys – Yuri The Only One
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=189QSTKC5no
VGL Day 1
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VGL Day 2
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VGL Day 3
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