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JJ's Trip to The Legend of Zelda Symphony

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Topic Starter
jjrocks
When I usually write a thread it's because I feel as if I have done something great/significant/interesting and want to share it with the world. This isn't exactly one of those times. But it's an experience worth remembering, that's for sure and I felt like this was a...decent...place to post it. So enjoy~

Here is the link to the entire album


I don't think I could ever be excited as I was today. They had announced that the Legend of Zelda Symphony would make a stop in Vienna, VA (30 minute drive from my house) 3 months ago and I had to jump at the opportunity to see a concert like this. I quickly told a lot of friends but in the end, I went with one friend, her sister, her sisters boyfriend and her brother. We bought tickets weeks in advance and made sure we understood who was bringing what so everything would go as smooth as possible. So after finishing up some other activities in Washington DC (none of which included the president...this time), I quickly made my way back home, packed some food and went to her house.

"3DS check?" said Laura as we prepared for departure towards Wolf Trap, the place where the concert was held. "Got it, as long with my ticket, my cellphone, and some snacks!" I replied. We left at 6:30PM, 3DS's on hand and games at the ready. We then zoomed off to Wolf Trap where we were greeted by a long line full of quite a diverse amount of people. Not only to mention the amount of streetpasses that we received with the first few minutes (for those of you who don't understand what "StreetPass " is, clickhere). Quite honestly, 50% of the time we spent there was making sure to check our StreetPasses to make sure we didn't pass the limit of 10 (We're talking about StreetPass Mii Plaza, not other games). We spent some time in the line as we waited for the gates to open and took quite amusing photos. Overall, the beginning of the trip was a success.



LINES





We found a wonderful spot in the back and quickly took it and found out that it was one of the best lawn seats* we could get. We spent most of this time doing one of three things:
  1. Walking around the lawn, trying to StreetPass with as many people as possible
  2. Sitting in our spot, checking out said StreetPasses
  3. Talking to one another
So starting with the first point: We found it very fun to go here and there and to StreetPass as many people as possible. It was one of the very few times in the world where someone could ask "What are you doing with those 3DS's?" and for you to easily reply with "Oh, I'm StreetPassing people, got one?" and for everyone to understand what they were talking about. The fact that most of the audience is a Nintendo fan made the entire audience feel like a closely knit community, one that could share experiences and diction without feeling out of place. In fact, there were points where we had 8 3DS's in a circle, just StreetPassing everyone within that circle. We made sure to enjoy ourselves during this time together, and we had such an enjoyable time.



Overall the StreetPass experience was great, we had people from areas such as Wisconsin, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, DC, West Virginia, and even England! Some where the regular Mii's but some had interesting names such as "SEXTRON" which clearly won in my book. We shared tons of data and by the end of the night we had more StreetPasses than expected (the total number is below).


PEOPLE


Finally, the National Symphony Orchestra appeared on the stage and we heard some familiar tunes being practiced. As day turned into dusk, and as dusk turned into night, the concert finally started. The conductor opened up with a phrase we were all thinking "It certainly is a hot day isn't it." We all laughed even though it was approaching 100F (37C). She introduced herself and the General Director who turned out to be a huge LoZ fan (which, in retrospect, makes a whole lot of sense). He was very quick to point out that we were the biggest audience to Wolf Trap. Which made sense giving the fact that we filled up the entire theater and lawn space. We were quite dedicated Zelda fans for that matter. After small banter with the crowd everyone became prepared for what we all had been there for: the music.



Now I had listened to the orchestra CD from Skyward Sword before so I had prepared myself for what was to come but I underestimated how powerful a live orchestra could be. Only about 2/3 of the music was in the CD and the rest was all for the concert. With each song they played, they put visuals up on the screen, gameplay of the videogame that pertained to the music, and what I though would be gimmicky became the center of attention and very well done. There were moments where you thought to yourself "Hey, I remember playing that!" The light from the projector screen left an amazing glow on the audience, one that is particularly hard to capture on a camera phone. I don't want to go piece by piece on this post but I'll give my feelings overall on the entire Symphony. It was the best night I had in such a long time. My emotions ran from Nostalgic to Tear jerking (I was about 30 seconds from crying at this one point). Overall the music was, in a sense, epic. I don't think I will ever have a time as grand as that.



Finally I think I should highlight a few great things about the event. The fans were AMAZING, I had read reviews of previous Zelda concerts while they were touring that they would be loud. But, aside from to occasional disruptence, everyone was energetic yet polite. And my god were we dedicated, at one point it started to rain (and remember, the lawn folks were outside), and 95% of people stayed despite the rain. I thought there would be a 40% decrease so color me surprised. I guess the best part about the entire audience was that we all shared something in common. We all loved Zelda, and most of us love Nintendo. We all could talk about the latest game and saying "WHO HAS A PINK PUZZLE PIECE?" didn't get confused looks but actual responses.



Second THEY NEED A SECOND ALBUM NOW WITH ALL THIS MUSIC SO I CAN TALK ABOUT HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS. Because oh my god is it beautiful.

Finally, 120 StreetPasses in a single night.

So all in all, I enjoyed this event but today I want to try to put some discussion in this!

So, if you guys have any questions at all, feel free to ask no matter how silly they are. I'll answer to the best of my ability.

tl;dr I went to a Zelda concert. It was great.

--------


* We chose the lawn seats because The lawn allows food and to sit where you please and while the theater had seats, you did have to pay money for it and you could not bring food or drink. We found this terribly annoying and quickly opted for lawn seats. It ended up being really enjoyable and I would highly recommend choosing those seats for a concert as this
Vish024
jj will you marry me?
Agnes
Jesus christ, so that's why you were up at a near 4 AM. You were writing about something amazing.

Stop having an amazing life.
Lybydose
did they play the dark world song?

also what does this sign say?
Topic Starter
jjrocks

Lybydose wrote:

did they play the dark world song?

also what does this sign say?
Yup, they put it into their "Songs of the Hero" ballad. and~ "No Chairs behind this Sign"

LaVolpe024 wrote:

jj will you marry me?
Once you get the legal documentation in order I see no problems with it
Wojjan
any cool cosplays?
thelewa
EVERYONE

DRESS UP AS LINK
silmarilen
but i wanted to be zelda :(
Wojjan
Everyone is already Zelda

oops
Copter-kun
Oh god this is amazing.
UnderminE
Don't forget to add this thread on your signature, JJ.
Azure_Kite
Yes please. Why does Australia suck and not get this kinda awesome stuff.
Topic Starter
jjrocks

Wojjan wrote:

any cool cosplays?
Like thelewa said THERE WERE SO MANY LINKS. EVERYWHERE. It went from people who just wore the cap to people who had chainmail on their link costume. We had 1 Saria and 1 Malon (who looked amazing). Surprisingly I didn't have any pictures of her (I swear I took some though :/)

UnderminE wrote:

Don't forget to add this thread on your signature, JJ.
Noted~
James2250
And you didn't take me?!?!? :P
yeahyeahyeahhh
I thought this thread was about Rena. 0/10.
Mukku
I can't get them streetpasses because there isn't a single finnish person who has a 3ds except me

Damnit
Topic Starter
jjrocks

yeahyeahyeahhh wrote:

I thought this thread was about Rena. 0/10.
I'm sorry to disappoint :c
Cyclohexane
When are we gonna get back to work on the osu!monthly?
Mianki

Mukku wrote:

I can't get them streetpasses because there isn't a single finnish person who has a 3ds except me

Damnit
Come to Helsinki, walk around and maybe you'll get one Streetpass hit.

Also I'm so jelly of jj, I wanna see it too~
Lizzehb
I'll get to go to this soon with my boyfriend weee~ Been trying to play as much Zelda as I can before the event.
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