Long time no see (or write). The NYC concert was held at Mason Hall at Baruch College. The concert was originally scheduled for Feb 2016 but due to VISA issues, both Nobuo Uematsu and Hiroyuki Nakayama were unable to arrive in time so they had to reschedule to Sept 2016.
They're wrapping up with the concert tour at NYC / LA.
Spoilers:
I've previously been to Distant Worlds, so I thought it was going to be more or less the same structure. Boy was I wrong. The show was very entertaining. Nobuo and Hiroyuki were both on stage doing Q&A and they had a great sense of humor. They talked about how they met, why the Piano Opera series was created, what their impressions were of each other. So to give some background, Hiroyuki loved games when he was a kid. However, he had very strict parents that forced him to play the piano. His parents only allowed him to play games after he finished two hours of piano practice each day. Hiroyuki also said that he started to play final fantasy music in school as a performance and it helped him become very popular -- especially with the ladies. Eventually he got noticed (NOTICED BY SENPAI) and they met somehow (details I forget). When Nobuo and Hiroyuki met for the first time, Nobuo thought Hiroyuki was a very serious guy (that is not the case). Hiroyuki's impression of Nobuo? He said: "KAMI-SAMA!" and the crowd burst out laughing without the translator needing to say anything.
The reason why Piano Opera came to be was because the piano collections sheets had already existed, but Nobuo wanted to take it up a notch and make a more complex version for ambitious piano players. Hiroyuki came into the picture and arranged the Piano Opera collection, which was a more complex and harder to play variant of the original score. We also found out what each person's favorite song was, Nobuo's was Melodies of Life, Hiroyuki's is Dancing Mad. Oh yeah, there's no recording of any kind, that's why you cant find any videos on Youtube. Everyone present was very respectful and did not cheer or shout when the pianist was still playing. In fact, we all held our breath and remained still throughout the show. It's definitely different from Distant Worlds in that aspect.
Songs played:
Prelude
Ami - VIII
Words Drowned by Fireworks - VII
Festival of the Hunt - IX
Town Medley (I,II,II)
The Man with the Machine Gun - VIII
Kefka - VI
Opening ~ Bombing Mission - VII
Cosmo Canyon - VII
Troian Beauty - IV
Theme of Love - IV - as background music during Q&A
A Melodies of Life - IX
Dancing Mad - VI - FULL 6 MINUTES NONSTOP!!!
Force Your Way - VIII
Clash on the Big Bridge - V - the big finale
Security was tight as hell too. They had at least 5 NYPD officers managing the line. There were about 150 people who had VIP tickets, and it was a brutal wait. The spot where we waited had no AC, so we were all drenched in sweat while we waited an hour in line to finally meet Nobuo. I had practiced some Japanese so I can say some words of appreciation when it was my turn. Funny how everything I learned just goes out the window when it was my turn. They surprised me with "NICE TO MEET YOU" and I immediately forgot how to say anything in Japanese. :-[
The CD I brought was for Nobuo to sign. They gave out a free picture. VIP holders also received an exclusive sampler CD.
Hope you enjoyed reading about my concert experience!
