I should admit right away that I don’t play video games. I think they’re a silly waste of time and I often stereotype gamers as pale dorky recluses who probably have poor social skills and sometimes sad little lives. Harsh? Well, at least I’m honest.
How in God’s name, then, did I find myself at a Video Games Live concert on a soggy Saturday night? And what’s more, actually enjoying the spectacle?
Video Games Live is a captivating cocktail of sounds, lights, and visuals, with a competition thrown in here and there for good measure. Video games are projected on a giant screen set above musicians frantically bowing and blowing and thumping and trying to keep up with the story above. As Riley noted in his review of the Seattle show earlier this year, “A few of the musical offerings were unexpectedly affecting in their orchestral beauty, at times almost transcendent.” This event was an ideal opportunity to highlight the magic of the Oregon Symphony (and the Portland Youth Choir) to community members who, and perhaps I’m being presumptive, would not otherwise have ventured into the gilded Schnitz. Transparency, one of my favorite words and something to which I aspire in work and relationships, was approximated here as the veil of video game music was lifted and the audience was given a peek into what hard work it really is to create all those boinks and bonks.
Highlights of the Portland show included: Civilization IV; Legend of Zelda; WarCraft; the ping pong video game from the 1960s, Martin the blindfolded pianist, the itsy bitty Zelda who won the costume contest; and, last but definitely not least, Perry the guitar hero champ.
