HOLY SH*T IT WAS AWESOME!!!
Initially I thought to myself, "Umm yea, okay, whatever … sure, I’ll go" when Adrian (my brother) ask me if I want to go and see the Twilite Orchestra concert. The conductor, Addie MS supposedly was "poisoned" by his son, Kevin Aprillio, with a CD of Final Fantasy (a playstation game) music, composed by Nobuo Uematsu. Inspired and awed by the music, he decided that it’s perfect to make a concert with the theme, to bring classical orchestra music closer to young’uns.
I like the game, the story’s good and it’s kinda cute. I remember coming home from school, plop down in front of the TV, lying on the carpet, sleeping to the music of the game. It’s very soothing, and it helps that I’m not the one playing it, Adrian does it for me (ho ho ho).
I didn’t expect much of the concert. I was curious to see if my favorite tune (Chocobo) would be played or not (Adrian always says "No Way!" everytime I asked, he he). I was quite entertained with the cosplay people, even Memes (Addie’s wife, a well-known singer) dressed up as Yuna from FF X. Cloud from FF VII (dubbed "Hairspray Man" by my brother, LOL) won the contest. The earth (or Terra, LOL!!!) is crying right now due to a new tear in the ozone layer caused by the 4 Aquanet cans used to create the hair.
After an hour of waiting in the front door (well, the only door available, actually) and much pushing and shoving from people … we finally sat down in our seats. We received a concert program, and it doesn’t include any music list. I thought that was a little weird (later on, I thought it was clever. It left the audience curious and quite surprised when unexpected pieces was played). Close to 9 pm, misteriously (at least to me, ha ha, I didn’t pay much attention) and quietly, the orchestra members had taken their seats and the choirs are climbing up to take their position. Hoooo … I started getting chills (partly because the section we were sitting in was very close to the air condition). ^_^
The Opening Theme from Final Fantasy started playing, the crowd goes wild … yet the orchestra hasn’t even begun to lift their instruments!!! HAHAHA … That was quite cute … But then … "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec" OH MY GOD!!! LIBERI FATALI!!! It was beautiful! The choir, the orchestra, the music itself is pure genious. MAGIC … that’s the one word that can describe it. I cried … tears streamed down my eyes. It surprises me! I never thought hearing music from a game can move me so much, but it did!!! Admitedly, I cry while watching movies and especially Korean dramas, even reading novels (HA HA HA, ok ok, I’m sappy, what can I do??) but while listening to an orchestra? That’s a first!
When Terra’s Theme, an old "forgotten" music from FF VI, played … the audience let out a "little" gasp (including me). I was expecting music from FF VII onward, so this was a nice surprise.
At intermezzo, a group of 5 guys with horns started coming out to perform Chocobo’s theme. I cheered and laughed, it’s my favorite tune!!! When I had my first Nokia handphone, I made a Chocobo ringtone. He he he. It was way back when Nokias only had yellow or blue backlight. HA HA HA. The crowd really got into it and clapped along, it had a little comedic skit near the end when the tuba(?) player seemed to have a little problem with the instrument. Heh heh. Then they exited stage left and the fans applauded loudly.
Performances by the special guests were very good. Arina (Mocca) performed a song from FF IX and Eyes on ME from FF VIII. It was allright. Sherina wore kimonos and performed songs from X and X-2 that I’m not familiar with, but I really get the emotion and was very impressed with her voice. Piano performance of Aerith’s Theme by Jessica was allright … Kevin performend Tatakau Monotachi from FF VII - Advent Children … WOW is the right word to describe it. Impressive! He surely didn’t get to perform on stage purely out of nepotism, I’ll give him that. And then … there’s Wasabi … what? was? that? … How anyone thought of any importance for them to perform is beyond me. It was forgetable, awful and best left out of the program and changed with other music from Nobuo sensei’s vast collection.
Putting silly nonsense behind (namely WASABI), the choir section stood up … I freaked out!!! Then they performed Divinity (Advent Children) … Wow, even though I didn’t really know the music, again, it brought tears to my eyes (what can I say, I love me some good choirs). After that, the Final Fantasy theme began … I cried yet again and was quite worried when the conductor exited the stage. When he came back with much cheering from audience, I was ready for something very special ….
ONE WINGED ANGEL … OOOHHH MMMYYYY GAAAWWWDDDD … Hysterical is putting it mildly!!! I screamed from the top of my lungs and lost my voice. IT WAS AMAZING!!! "Estuans interius ira vehementi Estuans interius ira vehementi Sephiroth SEPHIROTH!" And the crowd goes wild, jumped up and down, roared and cheered, and the uber geeks (like me ^_^;) cried tears of joy. It was a beautiful moment. There really should’ve been an encore performance, without the band. ARGH!!!
There were a few things that could use improvements. Wasabi should be striked out from any future performance(s), they performed 3 blunders … The venue should be upgraded. I heard Balai Sarbini in Plaza Semanggi has very good accoustic, I wouldn’t mind paying RP 500.000 for an orchestra concert. The bazaar was too close to the entry, therefore cramming people that lined up to get in and causing little kids to be squashed up by the pushing and shoving. Sound mixing was poor. The sound engineer appeared to have dozed off and somehow realized their mistake and fiddled with the mixer and unsuccesfully attempted to fix the guitar volume when Wasabi performed J-E-N-O-V-A. This problem again arised when the band performend with the orchestra in the middle of OWA. Agh … luckily when that part was over, the orchestra picked up the broken pieces and lifted up that song to what it’s supposed to be.
Overall, I really enjoyed the concert. Props, kudos, cheers and all the best for Mr. Addie MS and Twilite Orchestra, the choirs, the guest performers. They really did a good job (sans Wasabi and the sound engineer). After all, it’s the first time ever doing a concert for the young audience like us, and they did give us satisfaction. Special shout out should go to Kevin for introducing his father to the music of Final Fantasy and Nobuo Uematsu. Without Kevin, there wouldn’t be a Final Fantasy concert, and let’s hope there will be more in the future. Heh heh heh. ^_~
I’m really thankful for my brother and my cousin Niki for "dragging" me to this madness. It was the best Rp 200.000 that I have ever spent in my whole entire life.
-L
Reminder: If you missed the concert or if you’re really uber geeky (like me, meh heh heh heh) and want to catch an "encore performance" … The taping of the concert will (supposedly) air at JakTV tonight (Monday, 31 July) at 9.30 pm. So watch it if you’re currious as to why am I acting like such an idiot … har har har … ^_^;
