On July 27, Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre featured a mind-blowingly epic presentation: Distant Worlds, music from FINAL FANTASY.

Basically, it’s an official world-tour showcase that plays many of the legendary soundtracks from the Final Fantasy series. Luckily, I was part of that audience who witnessed their great performance.

All the way from Final Fantasy I, to Final Fantasy XIV (except for Final Fantasy VIII, whose soundtracks’ composer was Masashi Hamauzu), all the soundtracks were composed by the amazing Nobuo Uematsu, who actually made an appearance at the concert (I was stunned with joy when I saw him!). Although the pieces were played by the local Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Arnie Roth remained as the conductor, and gave the audience the best concert a Final Fantasy fan could ever ask for.

This is the song list of the concert (!):

Opening ～ Bombing Mission [Final Fantasy VII]
Final Fantasy I~III Medley 2010 [Final Fantasy I-III]
Love Grows [Final Fantasy VIII]
Ronfaure [Final Fantasy XI]
Blinded by Light [Final Fantasy XIII]
Vamo’ alla flamenco [Final Fantasy IX]
Aerith’s Theme [Final Fantasy VII]
Chocobo Medley 2010 [Final Fantasy series]
*Intermission*
Theme of Love [Final Fantasy IV)
You are not alone [Final Fantasy X]
Zanarkand [Final Fantasy X]
Opera “Maria and Draco” [Final Fantasy III]
Those Who Fight [Final Fantasy VII]
Twilight Over Thanalan [Final Fantasy XIV]
J-E-N-O-V-A [Final Fantasy VII]
One-Winged Angel [Final Fantasy VII]

The applause after each piece was thunderous, especially after those epic battle themes. The moment when Nobuo-san came out to perform with Conductor Roth, the crowd went INSANE!

Throughout each piece, screenplays from Final Fantasy would be played on the projection screen on top of the orchestra. During “Zanarkand“, I saw images of Luna and Tidus being their beautiful self on the screen. At that moment, I shed a tear.

Also thanks to the concert, I think I found my new favourite sad tune! *insert happy face with a tear*

The best part was at the end, when the conductor surprised us with an additional performance. During this piece, the audience became the chorus for the theme song of “Sephiroth.” Along with the giggles and laughters, the unified “SEPHIROTH!” was actually quite majestic with the orchestra playing in the background. I for one did not expect this much interaction with the audience!

The orpheum was buzzing with energy before AND after the concert. The line to wait for purchasing the t-shirts were very long after the concert. Of course, there were cosplayers who attended the concert, so quite a few people took pictures with them as well!

*she made a great Reno!

Words cannot be used to describe how EPIC this concert was. Hearing all these nostalgic melodies was very heartwarming. Thank you Nobuo, for providing the perfect OST’s for the perfect RPG series ever!

Song list from Distant Worlds: Returning Home’s official website.