Crashing PlayStation in Concert

On 30th May 2018, Poly and I attended the Royal Albert Hall for PlayStation in Concert. Hosted by video game music guru, Jessica Curry (of Everybody's Gone to the Rapture and Classic FM fame), the evening saw the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of London Choir play many a musical delight from all eras of the Sony PlayStation consoles.

For those unaware, Poly and I met through our mutual love of Crash Bandicoot, back in 2008. Granted, that was the tail-end of the original run for the orange marsupial, but it didn't stop us from discussing all things Crash on a now defunct forum called Crash Mania (the main website part has since been re-vitalised and still continues under crashmania.net). As the PlayStation consoles really were our jam when it came to gaming, and as I'd missed the chance to check out Final Fantasy's Distant Worlds tour when it last came to the UK, Poly had snagged us tickets to the world premier of PlayStation in Concert as a Christmas present. It certainly made me a happy Smaz, as it meant there was a high chance we'd listen to something Crash related together... live!

When the programmed was finally revealed, it turned out our suspicions were rewarded.

PORAYSTASHUN. DOON.

Cut to the evening itself, and it was an absolute marvel. We were so excited, despite the nightmarish travel down to London, and decided to go in formal dress. This was the Royal Albert Hall, after all! Turns out we were over-dressed compared to most others, but hey ho! There was even an Aloy cosplay from someone who'd travelled from Poland! In fact, fans far and wide travelled to the event to fill their ears with PlayStation delights.

As the lights went down, Jessica Curry took to the stage to introduce the event. To say Jessica was charming would be an understatement. She was like someone's quirky aunt who delivered warmth in everything she said. I think everyone in the audience liked her immediately! Then came out the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and launched straight into the original Crash Bandicoot theme.

With those first magical notes came some squeezing of hands and cheshire cat smiles upon our faces. It was breath-taking. The music, I mean, although the hand-squeezing also did that. The original theme then transition into the Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back theme, which is a variant of the original theme with more space-opera vibes. It was wonderful hearing all the extra flourishes provided by the orchestra, but everything ramped up to 100 once it flowed into the Crash Bandicoot 3: WARPED theme. My goodness, that was particularly magical. If there was ever any doubt that the evening would be disappointing in some way, the rendition of the WARPED theme dispelled that with gusto. I absolutely adored the central section of swinging goodness and the flair brought to it by Jim Fowler 's composition of Josh Mancell's original version.

Of course, this was a precursor to everything that followed. Warhawk as jubilant and grand, whilst Resident Evil was much more sombre but just as exciting. Soon, the MediEvil 2 credits theme was transporting the audience to a mysterious and atmospheric world of graveyards and Sir Daniel Fortesque as he attempts to return to the world of the dead. It was an honestly spell-binding piece by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a real highlight of the original PlayStation section. Once Arc the Lad's main and victory themes had been covered with loving care (these guys did play the original tunes for that game, after all!), it was time to move on to the PlayStation 2.

The Mighty Black Box

One thing I loved about the evening was how the orchestra played the console's start-up theme with every section. The PlayStation 2 may have just been an abrupt note, but it was a nice touch, all the same. The PS2 section was honestly my favourite part. The console has a plethora of iconic games and tunes, anyway, but the compositions were so strong during this section of the performance. ICO's Castle in the Mist was haunting, but AMAZING. It was also wonderful to hear You Were There, which is an amazing piece of music, but it's a bit of a shame that the choir wasn't actually around to sing it during this part. The choir wasn't in for the first Act, covering the PS1 and PS2, although if they were, I'm sure it would have elevated ICO's music even more.

After that was the frankly nostalgic hitting Dark Cloud theme. Coming off of ICO's music made it somehow even more exciting, since they're one's much more reminiscent whilst the other's much more adventurous. It felt like hit after hit after hit during this portion, honestly, with each track getting better and better until LittleBigPlanet's The Gardens, which I think ended up being my favourite overall track of the evening. It was played with such enthusiasm from the orchestra and was so full of life that it really stuck with me. Poly and I were quite close to the front stage, meaning I was able to see several members of the violinists jig around with smiles on their faces to this section. It was wonderful seeing how much they enjoyed playing The Gardens, and it was fantastic to hear the jiving impact of it all come together, too.

It's a shame, then, that echochrome's Prime #7 track really brought it all to a halt. When I saw the unveiled programme, I must admit that I was surprised to see echochrome in there, at all, particularly in the PS2 section. In hindsight, I suppose a PSP representative was wanted, but then... I'm left scratching my head to what I thought was a very dull tune nestled in the middle of absolutely amazing ones, almost like it was embarrassed to be with the rest of the roster. Out of everything on display, Prime #7 was the only tune I thought that could do with being swapped out in favour of something else. Everything else was great in one way or another, earning their place, but Prime #7 did not. A better replacement would have been Kingdom Hearts II's Dearly Beloved (opening menu theme) going on into Fantasia Alla Marcia (the main credits theme) - two absolutely incredible PS2 era pieces from a beloved series. It certainly would have made up for the fact that Square Enix wasn't represented at all, not even in the form of Final Fantasy. Imagine opening with Final Fantasy VII's Bombing Mission or ending with One Winged Angel? If it had to be PSP, then Crises Core's The Price of Freedom is an excellent track (but maybe not for an orchestra, thinking about it), although it would be hilarious and amazing to have heard anything from Loco Roco. Oh well, it's my one major nit-pick of the whole evening!

Shadow of the Colossus came next, featuring lots of tracks in one amalgamation. Thankfully, it worked wonderfully, and I'm really glad not just one track was chosen from a game that has some incredible pieces of music. The suite blew me away. They were so expertly performed and would have perfectly rounded off the first Act of the evening. However, there was one last surprised in Moss: Quiet as a Mouse... with a Sword, which even though I'm never going to be able to play it (VR specific games just aren't my thing), the music was vibrant and well worth listening to. It was like the icing on the first half's cake.

Gr3atness Awaits

After an interval of expensive ice cream, Jessica Curry took to the stage to read out some Twitter tweets of the event. Oh man, they were hilarious. It was kind of like Jessica Curry does stand-up, but involving the entire audience. It was very welcome, though, and included someone who stated they'd propose to their girlfriend if they played the Uncharted theme at some point - a tune not on the programme. Hmm...

The PlayStation 3 section was great, with the Choir of London joining the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) on stage. It launched with Killzone 2 and ended with The Last of Us. The thing is, whilst not bad in any way, it was certainly the most going-through-the-motions section. I think Wonderbook: Book of Spells may have only been in there because of Jim Fowler being the original writer of the tune, but it was still a magical piece to listen to. I think The Last of Us suffered a bit, even if it was a welcome addition to the concert, as it was clearly not intended for an orchestra. The original track is very... acoustic and minimalist. I think RPO still delivered the best they could from the source material, however. The real highlight of this section was Journey: Apotheosis, however. Wow. Just wow. It's also wonderful to hear a smaller game get some focus, too, as the soundtrack to Journey is on another level.

4 The Players

Bloodborne's The First Hunter was pretty eerie, but Horizon: Zero Dawn's two tracks were simply mind-blowing. It's kind of funny, because I never paid much attention to Horizon: Zero Dawn, but hearing both Years of Training and Aloy's Theme made me want to play it. So I did! But I have a thing about big birds in games. They really freak me out, so once those mechanic maniacs entered, it was time for me to stop... still, I wouldn't have touched it at all had it not been for these amazing pieces. When I heard their in-game versions, I found myself humming along to them, too. I heard them once in-concert and they stuck with me. That's some amazing work, RPO.

Jessica Curry introduced her own work for The Light We Cast from Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. It somehow made ICO's music sound lesser in comparison, despite having the same sombre beats, but I suspect it was because the Choir of London was now bringing The Light We Cast to life from its vocals. This was hands-down a stand-out piece from the PlayStation 4 section.

The Order: 1886 was a mysterious experience, but still amazing, whilst I must admit I was intrigued by the tune from Blood and Truth. Titled Ryan Marks, it was a yet-to-be-release game and music that was actually really mysterious and awesome. Members of the development team were in the audience, vocally cheering the orchestra before and after, so kudos to them for having their music realised in such a large and epic way!

But of course, God of War had everyone cheering. The Main theme came on and everyone was super excited. Vocalised by the choir and played by RPO, it was a real chanting treat, even if I honestly thought a lot of the other tracks were... well, better! It was still excellent, none-the-less, and a lot of people have a place in their hearts for ol' Kratos. It did get everyone's adrenaline pumping, though, ready for the incredible The Last Guardian's music. Sweeping, melodic and dramatic, it was a wonderful way to end such an auspicious concert, one full of plenty of love.

Then Uncharted: Drake's Theme played.

Unlisted in the programme, it was a tune that's instantly recognisable and widely loved. Despite never having liked Uncharted very much compared to developer Naughty Dog's other endeavours (Uncharted 2 aside), I also love the Uncharted theme. RPO sang that theme through jubilant trumpets and sweeping strings, bringing the audience to applause.  And also possibly a marriage proposal for that guy. It was INCREDIBLE. Also, a wonderful encore ending to the concert.

All Wrapped Up

Jessica rounded off the show with a joke about achievements being unlocked, which was... well, people loved it, but my immediate reaction was "But that's an XBox thing! PlayStation uses trophies!" Oh well, I think the sentiment was there!

Poly and I massively enjoyed the event. We came out of the Royal Albert Hall on a high, only to be immediately swept off our feet for an on-camera interview with some guys at PlayStation. I was trying to figure out if I'd seen them before, like if they were part of PlayStation Access or something, but they were unknown to me. Still, we gave them a quick interview where were mostly high off our tits from the event, so it'll likely look like we're bouncing off the walls should it ever be released. I never saw it on YouTube, so I do wonder what it was recorded for... then again, there were cameras on-stage. I suspect the event was recorded, but any released content remains to be seen...

Will PlayStation on Concert ever perform again? Well, given all the seats had sold out and everyone enjoyed the event, here's to hoping it will! Hopefully, it will have a few changes to include Square Enix, whose absence was felt, but the rest was a grand treat for PlayStation fans everywhere.

#playstationinconcert