Picture the inside of the Royal Albert Hall in London, home of second largest pipe organ in Europe and a venue that has played hosts to the finest operas and symphonies in existence today. You sit down and watch the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra enter, followed by the London Voices, one of the best vocal groups in the country. The lights dim and a tense number plays, complete with ominous Latin music from the chorus. Suddenly, however, you pick up a single word from the singers, a word that feels so out of place in this beautiful and storied venue.

Sephiroth.

This is how Distant Worlds began on Saturday, November 1^st. With the strange juxtaposition of the supremely classy surroundings and the obviously geeky material, you’re immediately struck by two things very quickly: Video game music has sure grown up since the days of Mario and Sonic and Final Fantasy has certainly earned its reputation for having some of the most diverse and emotionally stirring music in the industry. You would be hard pressed to find a catalogue of music that is more varied than that of Nobou Uematsu, legendary composer of the vast majority of the scores in this series.

Only the day before I had attended another Final Fantasy concert, A New World, which was a small, intimate production of a selection of works from the series. I was always curious how much overlap there would be between the two, as there is a handful of songs that they simply have to play. The first was One Winged Angel, the iconic song from Final Fantasy VII. The choir in the background brought the piece more in line with the original, but didn’t manage to be either better or worse than the more reigned in performance a night before. Instead, I was struck at how different yet equally appealing the music was. Arnie Roth is a talented enough conductor to expand or reign in the music to suit any venue.

There were a number of highlights among the numbers on Saturday. One was Hymn of the Fayth from Final Fantasy X. The choir managed to perfectly capture the haunting nature of the song, giving the air a sense of reverence seldom seen from gamers. Even without the visuals playing on screen as the song was performed, it is immediately recognisable as a religious experience in game and it certainly felt like one on the night.

Perhaps the most surprisingly enjoyable song of the evening was Answers from Final Fantasy XIV, which included guest vocalist Susan Calloway. Her big, belting voice filled the room and brought it to almost complete silence, turning one of the best orchestras in the world into her personal backing group simply by being that damn good. Her performance turned what is possibly one of the least known songs from the series into one of my favourite songs of the evening.

So I suppose the big question is, which one was better; A New World, with its smaller and intimate setting, or Distant Worlds, with all its grandeur and scale that has never seemed more appropriate than at the iconic Royal Albert Hall? The simple answer is neither is better than the other, but I would actually say that both are better than each other. If you have to choose to attend one or the other, I would probably say that Distant Worlds gives you a bigger experience than its companion piece, which might make it better value for money for some, but there is something wonderfully fulfilling about having seen both back to back. They less compete and more build off of each other, two sides of the same source material. If you can see either, I know you’ll find it an incredibly rewarding experience, but if you manage to see both you’ll have a whole new appreciation for the depth of the Final Fantasy catalogue of music.

Just one night left in my Magical Musical Adventure in London! Stick around tomorrow for my take on the final concert!

Did you manage to see Distant Worlds in London this year? What were your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below! And now for some Final Fantasy music we can all enjoy…

 

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