The evening started off with a meal at Little Tokyo, very fitting. As we were walking around though, I discovered some sad news. Nippon Books is closing and has a 50% clearance sale. That's two bookstores out of business in downtown LA.

After the meal, we quickly walked back to the concert hall. It's about 5 blocks between Little Tokyo. We got to the concert hall at around 6:55, 5 minutes earlier than the time stated on the ticket. We could have just walked in, but noticed that there was a merchandise table with shirts, programs, and something in a CD case. The light was damn long, but we waited. By the time I was at the front of the line, it was almost 7:20. The ushers were announcing that the concert was starting, so a lot of people ditched the line. There was only 5 people in front of me, so I managed to snag some goods.

The program is very nice, as it should be since it cost $25. During my time in line, they announced that they only had small shirts left. Sucks, but I really don't care for clothing. I was eyeing the CD. By the time I got up to the counter, it was revealed that the CD was just a case and it was actually just a calendar. I was about to leave, but I had already waited almost 30 minutes in line, so I bought some. $15 a piece.

So we go inside the concert hall. Our seats were third row from the front, about 1/4th of the way in. For the stage, the seats were spectacular. The only downside was that they had large screen projectors above the stage, which for us was a bit hard to see.

As everyone was still settling in, I looked around the room and spotted a familiar man with a mustache just entering the building on the opposite end of where we were sitting. Nobuo! Only when he walked to his seat did people finally notice him and he got a standing ovation. He was accompanied by a few people (family members?) and they were all dressed in traditional yukatas, tabi, and geta.

The concert started at 7:30 with the orchestra tuning, followed by Liberi Fatali from FF8. When the music started playing, I suddenly realized how horribly inadequate my home theater sound system is.

After the forceful intro (scenes from the game were shown on the screen), the voice actor for Tidus came out to MC. He starts off with the words "Listen to my story..." but to no avail. I don't think anyone really knew who he was. The only place I've seen him before is from the FFX International bonus DVD, but if I didn't watch that I probably wouldn't have known who he was anyway. He does a self intro and introduces the songs as well as the next three.

The next song was Zanarkand from FFX. Instead of having a mostly piano tune, it involved a lot of the orchestra. After that was Terra's Theme from FF6, probably the best song to be orchestrated. And the song to end the trio was Theme of Love from FF4.

After the intermission, James Arnold Taylor (Tidus) came back with some comments. It was also at this time that I noticed the little cue card guy in the front row. You would expect Tidus to have rehearsed his lines, but maybe he's just shy in front of the camera. He was introducing Vamo' Alla Flamenco but had to look at the cue cards to say it was from FF9.

The next three songs were Dear Friends from FF5, Vamo' Alla Flamenco from FF9, and Love Grows from FF8. All the songs were great, the first two featuring the guitar. I thought the guitar was a little soft, but that's probably because there's no mic to amplify the sound.

Intermission and Nobuo gets a standing ovation as he walks back into the seating area.

Tidus comes again and introduces the next three songs, Aeris's Theme from FF7, Not Alone from FF9 and Ronfaure from FFXI. Not Alone seemed to be a very strange choice out of the three.

Tidus then makes his final appearance as he introduces the last three songs. He cracks a dumb joke about being able to finally show people Zanarkand and bids his farewell. The next song was a medley from Final Fantasy I-III, and it sounded very similar to the medley in the Japanese concert. When the Chocobo theme started playing, people started clapping. That was followed by another medley, music from FF7 Advent Children. The music seemed very subdued and soft. Finally they end with the anthem of Final Fantasy.

About this time, I notice Nobuo and someone who I believe I've seen before at the door. At first, it seemed like they were getting ready for a quick getaway before the mob hits, but instead, Nobuo goes on stage with a translator and gives a little speech. He then introduces two other people to join him on stage, Hironobu Sakaguchi (creator, story), and Yoshitaka Amamo. When Nobuo first called them, everyone looked rather confused even though he had said their names. It wasn't until the translator said their names with an English accent that the crowd finally realized who they were. Reminds me of anime conventions when people laugh at jokes only after the translator has translated. They both go up there and give their little speech. There was one part where Yoshitaka kept going on and on and on. I would have hated to be the translator at that point, but she did pretty well for a live event.

There was an encore piece, One-Winged Angel from FF7. I stuck around for about 20 minutes after the concert as my friends were buying things. From the PA system, it sounded like they were broadcasting the press junket.

This concert is shorter than the first concert in Japan. The only new songs performed were "Dear Friends" which was the namesake of the show and a medley from FF7 Advent Children. The MC was terrible. Maybe it's his personality, but it didn't seem like he kept things interesting and was also reading off cue cards. The Japanese concert seemed much more lively where the voice actor for Tidus and voice actress for Yuna were on stage exchanging lively banter.

The crowds were in general better than what I had expected out of the gaming group. Most were well dressed, one guy was in full military uniform. From the concert CD, it didn't seem like the Japanese crowd made vocal cheers, only clapping. There were cheers after every song, but that's to be expected. One annoying girl was yelling "arigatoo gozaimasu" after the concert. It's supposed to be in the past tense, lady! But whatever, hecklers aren't as effective if they use proper English. I think the guys she was hanging out with were trying to ask the orchestra members if they would sell their sheet music. Of course the answer was no. But they still tried.

As a whole, the concert was incredible. That music hall is incredible too. If I wanted to listen to a particular instrument, all I had to do was look at them. Despite the minor annoyances of cheering and lines, it was well worth it.

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