July 11, 2006
Video Games Live Announces Festival Activities
For First Ever Video Game Concert in Houston
Record Setting 132+ Musicians To Perform On
Stage
Renowned video game composers, Tommy Tallarico
and Jack Wall, announced the pre- and post-show festival events planned for the
July 14th Houston, TX performance of Video Games Live™ presented by the Houston
Symphony Orchestra. Created and produced by Tallarico and Wall’s production
company, Mystical Stone Entertainment LLC, Video Games Live™ features music from
the most popular video games performed by top orchestras and choirs around the
world, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized
lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists and unique interactive
segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience.
This special performance taking place at the
renowned Jones Hall on Friday, July 14th will be the first time video game music
has been performed in Houston and will consist of over 132+ musicians making it
the largest on-stage video game performance in history. To commemorate the
event, Video Games Live™ is pulling out all the stops and opening the doors
early to present a pre-show festival from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. which is FREE to all
ticket holders. Tickets ($21 – $66) are on sale now at the Houston Symphony
website
here, or by calling (713) 224-7575. Group sales of 10 or more: (713)
238-1435.
The pre-show festival will include a competition
sponsored by RedOctane featuring the yet to be released Guitar Hero™ II. Other
playable games on site (presented by Game Crazy) consist of top selling hits
from the Nintendo GameCube™, Sony PlayStation® 2, Microsoft XBOX® & 360™ which
include Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Halo, Dance Dance Revolution,
Burnout Revenge, Dead or Alive 4 & Fight Night. Other pre-show festivities
include a costume contest where audience members will come dressed as their
favorite video game characters to compete for a THX approved 5.1 speaker system
from Logitech. Finalists will be judged on stage by the audience.
Other prizes throughout the evening include a
$2,500 Ferrari laptop courtesy of AMD which will be given away on stage during
the Interactive Symphony segment, starring one of the most beloved classic
arcade games of all time, Frogger, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Two audience members will compete for 90 seconds while the orchestra plays
along, changing the musical score on-the-fly depending on what the contestants
are doing on screen. This unique interaction with a live symphony has only ever
been attempted and performed at Video Games Live™.
The audience will also be treated to a special
solo performance by pianist Lee Ann Leung who will be premiering her special
Final Fantasy® piano arrangement at this concert, performing over ten Final
Fantasy® favorites.
The post-show meet-and-greet where fans can
interact with renowned game composers and designers will consist of industry
luminaries who have worked on projects such as Halo, Warcraft, God of War, Myst,
Splinter Cell, Metroid Prime, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, EverQuest II, Earthworm Jim,
Unreal, Guitar Hero, Baldur’s Gate, Quake, Doom, Brothers In Arms,
Counter-Strike, Half-Life and many more!
And speaking of industry luminaries, Video Games
Live™ will be giving away a piece of video game history. A unique autographed
program with over 30 of the most famous video game designers and composers will
be given away to one lucky winner by filling out an entry card at the costume
contest booth during the show. Names include creators Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear
Solid), Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog), Nolan Bushnell (Pong, Atari), Toby Gard
(Lara Croft, Tomb Raider), Bill Roper (Warcraft), celebrity Elijah Wood and MANY
MORE!
Video Games Live features music and exclusive
synchronized video from popular franchises such as: Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal
Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, Castlevania®, Kingdom Hearts,
Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron, God of War™, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising,
Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six®,
EverQuest® II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20+ games
from Pong® to Donkey Kong® including such classics as Dragon’s Lair, Tetris,
Frogger, Gauntlet, Space Invaders & Outrun!
Other locations currently on sale include:
Chicago, Indianapolis, Toronto & Los Angeles (Hollywood Bowl). A complete list
of tour dates can be found
here.
