https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HZ1jtyeGT4
Nintendoâs Zelda games are usually very good. Their music is among their better qualities. So an official Zelda concert should be good, right?
I went to one last night. I liked it, didnât love it⊠meaning it was a little more Zelda II for me, not so much Ocarina Of Time. And definitely not Majoraâs Mask, my favorite (go ahead, yell at me now).
The concert is officially called Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. Itâs been touring around North America all year. The show I attended last night at Madison Square Gardenâs Theater in New York City appears to be the fifth to last perfomance.
The show runs a little over two hours, including three faux-surprise encores. The triple encore thing is weird and makes it feel like weâre not at a concert but playing one of those video games that keeps having fake-out endings as the boss battle enters new phases. A Zelda symphony doesnât need that kind of gimmickry. The core music is good enough on its own. Listen to the concertâs opening piece. I posted it up top. Good stuff, yes?
Last nightâs concert was running in MSGâs âsmall roomâ, as the Theater is sometimes called. The âbig roomââwhere the Knicks play and the circus is heldâwas running a Justin Bieber concert. I canât vouch for the music in that one.
These people were not at MSG for the Bieber concert, that much I know.
I attended the concert on Nintendoâs dime. They comped me and fellow Kotaku writer Jason Schreier. We were in section 100, row J, which means an oboist could have spit on us if they wanted to. We were that close. I sat two seats from intrepid Nintendo line-waiter Triforce Johnson, who had not been holding his seat there for the past month. During intermission we chatted about Wii U. Heâs trying mightily to master all the Zelda levels of Nintendo Land. Triforce wears a Power Glove. There were a small number of cosplayers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuTfAITxBGE
Most people in the huge crowd seemed like ordinary concert-goers. Not many people in costume.
Between movements, weâd hear from the conductor or the guy who arranged the symphony. Theyâd name-check Zelda games andâwouldnât you know it?âZelda II actually got a loud cheer. There were fans of lots of the games there. My favorite fans were the young women who sat behind me and sounded nearly in tears when some of the sweeter village and forest tunes would be played. They loved the gentler stuff. I think they had the right idea. The best Zelda music, Iâll submit, are the pieces that you hear while you explore. The songs you hear when you are galloping across Hyrule field or sailing the ocean in Wind Waker are what Zelda music is to me.
Zelda games are games of curiosity more than they are games of clashes. These arenât combat epics. These are exploration adventures. So it was odd to hear the symphonyâs medleys favor some of the seriesâ more martial music. The medleys were played in accompaniment with Zelda game footage and I can tell you that Jason and I wound up watching three Ganon battles from three games. These were major chunks of the symphony. It seemed out of balance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbnaNbVi_WA
Hereâs a big chunk of the Wind Waker part of the show. The sailing music worked for me. The Ganon stuff? Not really needed.
Nice touch: the conductor used a ârealâ Wind Waker for that movement.
During intermission I spotted the best-dressed person at the concert. It was a guy dressed as Skull-Kid, wearing the mask from my beloved Majoraâs Mask
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw48LUWGY9E
We did an interview. Me and the Skull-Kid/Majoraâs-Mask! Career highlight, people.
And then we settled in for more medleys. Some Twilight Princess. Some Link to the Past, which made for the best music of the night, surprisingly. Really strong stuff.
Our first two encores were âThe Ballad of the Windfishâ from Linkâs Awakening and âGerudo Valleyâ from Ocarina of Time. Good pieces both, and the crowd was happy for these âbonusesâ.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M17BvnWUEhg
Then, third encore: Majoraâs Mask. Happily, this medley was not as martial as the others. We got some time to just enjoy the softer part of that gameâs soundtrack before going into Majoraâs boss battle.
Cool experience? Yes.
Best possible Zelda concert? Not really. The music could use more room to breathe. I want to wander and wonder through a Zeldasymphony, not feel like Iâm forever in battle. For me, thatâs what Zelda is all about.
