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Fall and Winter Dates added for Final Fantasy Concert Series


Distant Worlds
The next round of dates for Distant Worlds and A New World were announced late last week, carrying us largely through the fall for the former and into early 2020 for the latter. It's been since January and November respectively since we got new show information, so some of these new dates might be up your alley. For Distant Worlds:
  • Seattle, September 11 and 12
For A New World:
  • Austin, October 4
  • Oklahoma City, October 5
  • Quebec City, November 23
  • Kansas City, January 17, 2020
Tickets are on sale for all of these shows.

I'd also missed that ANW released a second album of recordings at the start of the year. I saw a tweet the other day mentioning that the album would also be appearing on streaming services soon, but I don't yet see it on my Spotify. Keep your eyes out if you've read this far.

Source: Distant Worlds, A New World

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Rangers51

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Rangers51Comment 1: 2019-08-20 13:43
Rangers51 There aren't really enough dates to justify a whole new post here, but I did just see that there are two more Distant Worlds cities added for the near future: September 14 has two shows in Chicago at Symphony Center, and Orlando will have a show on March 14 of 2020. Tickets for Chicago are on sale now, which might well appeal to a couple of known Chicagoland CoN members. smile.gif
AltheaValaraComment 2: 2019-08-20 17:51
AltheaValara We’ve had our tickets to the afternoon Chicago show for months now! As usual, I will post a review after the show. They’ve released a partial line-up, and they’re going to be doing a lot of FFVII tracks. This doesn’t excite me; I’m not a huge fan of FFVII or its music (don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad! It’s just not a favorite of mine). Plus, I’m pretty sure they featured FFVII at another one of the concerts I’ve been to, so this just feels like a repeat. I’d rather hear something new, you know? I can understand hyping up VIIR, but what about the VIII remaster? That comes out September 3rd.

Still, I am looking forward to the concert, as it’s always a good time. I’m a bit sad that there’s an informal meeting for FFBE players happening that day, but they scheduled it for people going to the evening show so the meetup is happening while i’ll be at the afternoon show. So i’ll have to miss the meetup, darn.
AltheaValaraComment 3: 2019-09-15 02:35
AltheaValara Back from the 3p.m. show! It was a good time, as always. We had our regular seats: second to last row, waaaay up in the Gallery. Not only are these some of the cheapest seats in the house, you don't have to go down stairs to get to them. Mom has trouble with stairs in high places--she gets vertigo.

We looked at the merchandise but opted not to buy anything, mostly because the line was really long. The prices were much more reasonable than the Kingdom Hearts concerts we went to last year.

There didn't seem to be as many cosplayers this time, but I did see a few. Saw a Tidus and Yuna enter as I was waiting for my mom to finish her cigarette. Also saw an excellent female Auron. There was also someone in white mage robes in the gallery.

Shimomura-san came out on stage with Arnie Roth at the beginning of the concert, and got a huge cheer. I'm tickled that I can now saw I've been at the same venue as two of my three favorite composers. If I had had the money I would had splurged for the meet and greet, but as mom was buying, the cheap seats it was.

They opened, fittingly enough, with the Prelude. I think they had new video for this one; it felt fresh, but if course I've now forgotten what it showed.

They then launched right into Apocalypsis Noctis. Last time I heard this in concert was shortly after I had heard the song for the first time, and I was mesmerized. It was just as much of a thrill to hear live again! It have me chills.

Then Arnie did his introduction thing, telling a bit about the history of the tour. I think he said it's been twelve years since the first one. That does sound right to me, but man, where does the time go?

He ended his introduction by saying they had an important piece to play, and we were all laughing because we knew what was coming from previous concerts: Victory Fanfare!

Next up was XV's Somnus. I thought I heard a sour note or two from the soloist violin, but it could have been my imagination. I'm so used to the soundtrack version that any deviation feels off, you know? Anyway, even with the questionable notes, it was lovely. I wouldn't mind hearing it with the lyrics one of these days.

Then Susan Calloway came onstage and sing XIV's Dragonsong. I haven't played the game yet, but I'm well familiar with this song from one of the DW CDs, so I was happy to hear it. She did a fine job.

I think the last Chicago concert featured FFVI, IIRC. Arnie said that after that concert, Uematsu-san added another VI score to the orchestra's repertoire, so we were treated to it next: Searching for Friends! It was fun to watch the video during this song. I really appreciated the arrangement, too, though I lack the words to explain why.

Then it was one of the very first songs they ever played in concert, VIII's Man With the Machine Gun. This OST is a favorite of mine, though I think this track is just okay. But it was a crowd pleaser, and as I had brought my Rinoa doll with me, I was happy to hear FFVIII represented.

Then RIKKI came out on stage and sang Suteki da Ne. I honestly think I do prefer the Japanese version, which she sung. I've heard Susan do the English version, but I don't like the phrasing in it.

Next Arnie asked if there were any IX fans in the house. Big cheer! They played Festival of the Hunt, which was fun. I would have liked the drums to be even louder than they were, but that is a minor quibble.

For the last song before the intermission, Susan came back out to sing Answers. And EVERY TIME, the audience applauds before the song is over. I admit this irks me, and it's got to be awkward for the performers. My mom really enjoyed this one, as she applauded enthusiastically.

The second half of the concert opened with the FFVII Remake trailer from TGS. No music played during it, just what was already part of the trailer.

Arnie then said they were going to pay tribute to the original game for the second half of the concert. This was a bit of a lie because during the first song ,(Opening - Bombing Mission) they played footage from the remake.

Next was the Main Theme of FFVII, followed by JENOVA Complete. I really like the latter, so enjoyed that.

Next was the expected Aerith's Theme. This is not a favorite track of mine. They did a good job with it, but... Yeah, I could have done without it.

Then it was Cosmo Canyon, at Uematsu-san's behest, followed by Cinco de Chocobo. I understand why they play Cinco in concert, but I much prefer Electric de Chocobo.

Next up was JENOVA, which is a favorite of mine (yes, I can have favorites from this game even if the game itself is not a favorite).

Then he introduced One Singer Angel, which had the audience laughing because we had an impromptu singing lesson for it, heh. I was glad this wasn't the encore. I'm so very tired of it being the encore.

That was it for FFVII. The credits rolled during the Main Theme of Final Fantasy. It wouldn't feel right of they ended the concert without playing this in some version.

They did two encores: Zanarkand ( okay, I like this song but I'm getting tired of hearing it) and the Battle Medley that 's featured on Distant Worlds III.

So! A good time, but nothing really new. Being that Chicago is Arnie Ruth's hometown, I was hoping we'd get a surprise new arrangement of...something. I didn't have anything in mind, but I wanted a surprise. Oh well - we still had a good time, and would go again.
St KhaelComment 4: 2019-09-18 22:41
St Khael I think my friends were the Tidus and Yuna bawling in their seats. x3 I saw their photos on my facebook and then put two and two together when I just saw your post. Small world. Now I have to go poke said friends in the side.

They said it was absolutely magical. I'm so glad you had a good time!!
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