It's almost fitting that we went to this concert on Father's Day. I should have invited him, but I don't think he's really a fan of the music. I've always credited my dad with getting me into video games. He was the one who insisted that we buy a NES and SNES and he had an old Commodore 64 lying around. I have many fond memories of puzzling through various games with him and my brother. Even though his reflexes aren't nearly as good as they once were, he still really enjoys playing Zelda games. He has finished Link's Awakening and both of the Oracles games so many times - probably because they're on the Gameboy, so he could play them without disturbing anyone else. He has some of the newer games, but he gets my sister to do all of the boss battles and some of the more timing based jumping puzzles because he can't move fast enough anymore.
MrFodder is a huge fan of the music from the game. I think it's pretty great, but the last one I played was Wind Waker, and most of the songs I like are from Ocarina of Time (which is my favourite Zelda game), so I can't really comment on the music from the later games. Given all of that, going to this concert seemed like something we had to do.
I was completely blown away by the concert. I think it's the first time that I've nearly been brought to tears by music.
The concert mainly features music from Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild, with a few songs from Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past. But what made it memorable was the visual component of the show. There was no time for daydreaming about the conductor, most of the music was accompanied by gameplay footage, and whoever put the whole show together must have really loved Zelda because the music fit the footage so well, and a lot of the footage wasn't just of the game itself, but lots of the memorable moments in the games, as well as little things that people who have played the games too many times will remember (though they didn't feature the overly verbose anti-TL;DR owl from Ocarina of Time). Many times during the performance, I had to remind myself that there were people playing live; I just got completely lost in the visuals and the music.
They had a few pre-recorded segments with Shigeru Miyamoto, Eiji Aonuma, and Koji Kondo, who all spoke about the influence music has had on the games, and how the games and the music have evolved alongside each other. In Ocarina of Time, music played an important role in the story itself, as it also does in future games, with songs being used to unlock certain events. Kondo-san also spoke about how the music can evoke emotions in you, particularly when you've just accomplished something big.
I love the themes of the game. I really wanted to dance to Zelda's Lullaby at our wedding, but Lucy said it's too slow and boring.
*spoiler alert*
I don't know if this is reaching or not, but you can hear the notes from Zelda's Lullaby (YouTube link) in Sheik's Theme (also a YouTube link).
I think the overworld themes are great.
Before it started, MrFodder and I were talking about some of the songs, and I mentioned how I hated the Ocean Theme from Wind Waker (another YT link). Not because it's a bad song, but because I hated sailing so much in that game, that hearing the song makes me so sad. But I love the shop theme from Ocarina of Time (yet another YT link). We were both talking about which is more likely to be played, and unfortunately only MrFodder was right.
The music did evoke a lot of memories - some of them funny, some of them epic. I remember first finding out that Sheik is Zelda (yes, I was one of the idiots who didn't pick up any of the clues beforehand, and so it was a shock to me). Also that boss music from A Link to the Past, especially when you fight Ganon. The first seven notes are enough to send shivers down my spine, because you hear that music going into every boss fight, but you can just feel that this is the boss fight.
I really enjoyed the concert, and although I do think a lot of the songs are great in their own right, the concert is probably more suited for people who have actually played the games.
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