Video Games Live at the Chicago Theater: Live review

Roger Ebert argued that video games have no artistic value (then later issued a half-assed apology). Tommy Tallarico knows differently. A game composer and creator of Video Games Live—a touring concert event that pairs live symphonies and choruses with soundtracks from popular games—Tallarico has made it his mission to prove that games can be moving and provocative art. Playing to a crowd of about 2,000 this past Saturday at the Chicago Theater, Video Games Live in conjunction with the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra and the Oriana Singers chamber ensemble belted out an array of “gamer tunes” ranging from a full-scale orchestral version of One-Winged Angel from Final Fantasy 7 to a medley from early ’80s Nintendo classics. Backed by full-scale concert lighting, jumbotrons projecting game footage and groupies that flock from across the state to be there, the show was almost as high-tech as an arena rock show with screaming nerds and nerd parents replacing tit-flashing fans. If you’ve never had the chance to hear a symphony project the sound of the dog from Duck Hunt snickering over monster-sized speakers while kaleidoscope-like lasers flash in the background, you haven’t really lived.

Of course you don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to know that music from games such as Halo, Chrono Trigger and Assassins Creed are often just as developed and sophisticated as the storylines themselves. Hearing the music live is great, but the real draw of VGL is the costume contests, guest appearances and on-the-spot performances that come with it. Instead of simply playing a selection of game soundtracks, the show was broken up by a Frogger tournament between two audience members soundtracked by a live orchestra, a brief appearance by Michael Salvatori who composed the music to Halo here in Chicago, several game-themed comedic shorts (see example here) and a live Skype call with Ralph Baer, the engineer who created the first home game console, followed by a standing ovation from the crowd.

More than just offering interesting music tailored to a demographic that probably doesn’t slip off to see the symphony too often, Tallarico and the rest of the VGL crew make it very apparent that the show exists for a larger reason—to help elevate video games to the status of sculpture, painting or film. “I want to show the world how culturally significant video games are,” Tallarico said to open the show. “…Tonight we’re going to show why video games have become the entertainment choice of the 21^st century.”

Tallarico’s success is debatable. Video Games Live provides clear proof that games are more than bleeps and bloops, but does so to a crowd that already believes. While the show probably didn’t win over any die-hard art critics, it did bring the gamer experience to a whole new level for trigger-happy fans. Play on.

A bootleg video of VGL's performance of the theme to Assassin's Creed 2, featuring soloist Laura Intravia: