I knew quite a few people with the expensive VIP tickets for extremely good theatre seats and the later meet-and-greet and autograph session. I pumped them for all the information I could get…
So apparently, had I been quick enough to splurge on the $160 tickets, I could have had a couple things signed by Nobuo Uematsu and Arnie Roth as well as get a handshake and a photo with them. The best I could do was hand my Final Fantasy VI CDs to one guy in hopes that he could sneak an autograph for me. Alas, they had rules about only allowing so many things signed per person, and I lost out.
My other friend, meanwhile, made out very well as he brought out his old weathered t-shirt. It was a simple photo t-shirt with a picture of himself and a couple other people in cosplay, but what made it special was that the back of the shirt was a years-long collection of autographs from (now) Nobuo Uematsu to the Wonder Girls. Well, he had Uematsu sign right next to Utada Hikaru’s signature and left a very happy little man-child.
But his story isn’t even the best… now again, I need to reiterate that this didn’t happen to me. This happened to a couple friends of mine. And for this, I shall be eternally jealous.
They were late to the concert, missing the first two sets and only coming in during the Final Fantasy I-III medley. To their initial horror, they found that people had taken their beautiful third-row center seats; to their later joy, they found that the two were in fact Nobuo Uematsu himself and a colleague of his!
Well, Uematsu and the other man apologized profusely when they learned what had happened. Still, they made a deal that they would just switch seats, and my friends accepted Uematsu’s seats further to the side. I got the impression they didn’t mind very much about all that.
During the meet-and-greet and autographs, Uematsu recognized them in the queue. Along with signing their CDs and other items, Uematsu and the other man gave them another gift: the tickets for the stolen seats, autographed and with “sorry!” and “sumimasen!” written on them! Further, the other man – likely his manager – gave them another “gift of apology”: a preview CD of Uematsu’s new band, The Earthbound Papas!
So jealous. Oh well, maybe next year.
In all, it was a fantastic night. Being a retired band geek, I was again reminded of how much I miss high school band, playing my trumpet in the back row just ahead of the percussion section. Because of that, I also had enough of an ear to catch the points where the orchestra found itself out of time with itself. My one friend proposed part of it could be that the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is currently off season, and that he was disappointed that the Vancouver Opera Orchestra performed instead. But really, it wasn’t going to be a deal-breaker for very many people. It wasn’t perfect, but no performance is. And as it stood, the Vancouver Opera Orchestra did a fine job.
I’m pretty sure I now have a new concert I shall always try to make whenever they tour through my city. That said, should Distant Worlds: The Music From Final Fantasy ever come by any of you, I wholeheartedly recommend checking it out. It was worth it.
And it will remind you why game music is such an important part to the whole industry. In turn, that will remind you why we love it so much.
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