Distant Worlds: A fantasy come true

It’s the first day of March, and I’m walking along a bland industrial strip of Chicago where the weather makes my bones feel cold, despite four layers of clothes. The prestigious Rosemont Theater is housed in this general vicinity, a bleak area where a potential mugging lurks around each corner, as does the risk of becoming a human icicle. What sort of sick, twisted obsession could bring a person to this wintry, god-awful landscape? Is it a search for drugs, prostitutes or illegal arms trade?

Actually, it’s a search for music from a video game.

Yes, the Distant Worlds Orchestra, whose set list comprises the greatest hits of the Final Fantasy franchise, played their first, and only known stop in North America, in a dreary corridor of Chicago. Based on the music of arguably the most successful role-playing-game series in history, the group debuted their masterful compositions in Stockholm last December. On March 1, they gave American Fantasy fanatics the sounds of pure ecstasy inside the Rosemont Theater’s walls.

Distant Worlds is the brainchild of Nobuo Uematsu, the genius composer behind all of the series’ music. His work is conducted at the Distant Worlds shows by Arnie Roth, who has won Grammys and worked with Uematsu-san for past Final Fantasy orchestras the world over. The band uses every instrument expected of a great classical outfit, with various forms of brass, percussion, woodwind and strings represented. The group also features a pianist, an acoustic guitarist, a choral section and some vocal soloists.

As a devout follower of all things Final Fantasy, I knew I had to go when first I heard of the concert. Damned be the cost of admission and travel–the Chicago show was only one of three confirmed Distant Worlds concerts thus far. The show may never happen in North America again, and it was my duty as a super-fan to attend. To capture the glory, I journalized my experience. Here’s the epic play-by-play:

7:15 p.m. About 500 eager fans are milling around the theater’s lobby, discussing their predictions for the song order and possible encores. At first glance, this might be an audience to any other night of classical music, given the high standard of sleek black dresses and suit-and-tie fashion.

7:50 p.m. Now it looks more like a video-game-based event, as droves of 18- to 24-year-olds donning T-shirts and cargo shorts stand in quarter-mile lines for either the cash-only memorabilia table or the lone ATM in the lobby. The crowd is now about 3,000 strong, and a few attendees sport Final Fantasy character garb, surrounded by giddy concertgoers wanting a photo with their favorite heroes and villains. Most of the audience fits into one of three categories: Alarmingly under- or over-weight guys in their middle years; stylishly dressed teenage Asian metrosexual dudes; and stunningly gorgeous women in their mid-to-late 20s, all on the arms of the first two groups. Why didn’t I bring a date? I feel so lonely …

8:05 p.m. The show gets underway with “Liberi Fatali,” the opening track from Final Fantasy VIII. It’s a powerful romp through operatic choral work, fervent violins, and thundering drums and cellos. There are three projection screens above the orchestra showing video from the game as the music sounds, and the dual audio-video stimulus is exponentially more intense than playing the game for the first time.

8:15 p.m. The crowd goes nuts as the video shifts to game play action, actually showing the beginning of a battle as the orchestra begins the battle theme in unison. I doubt if I’ll ever enjoy the in-game music again, because it’ll just sound flat and dull next to experiencing it live.

8:35 p.m. The sound is marvelous, ranging from the soft grace and poignancy of “Theme of Love” to the surging energy of “Vamo Alla Flamenco,” which features an acoustic guitar that is somehow more rocking than the entire catalog of Iron Maiden during its chorus.

9:15 p.m. I see my future wife. She’s got cascading brunette hair, piercing blue eyes, a melting smile and is wearing a skintight dress to perfectly flaunt her seductive curves. She’s a soprano vocal soloist singing the namesake track, “Distant Worlds.” Susan Calloway is her name, and my amorous heart pines in burning desire. I will have her!

9:35 p.m. I’m weeping to myself, knowing Calloway is so out of my league. I’m cheered up by the moving rendition of “Maria and Draco,” which includes opera solos and a new exclusive video, made just for this show, of characters from Final Fantasy VI. An encore performance is preceded by some idiot yelling for the group to play “One-Winged Angel,” the theme of Sephiroth, who is the series’ biggest badass hell-bent on destruction. To the dismay of the audience, he instead launched into “Terra’s Theme.”

9:55 p.m. Uematsu-san himself comes on stage and tells Roth to play one more encore. Roth agrees, and we all know what’s coming: “One-Winged Angel.” The song is played in earnest, as the crowd goes into nerdy seizures of delight while exchanging high-fives. The video shows the climactic fights from both the Final Fantasy VII game and its DVD sequel. The show ends, and the crowd stands in ovation to Roth and Uematsu-san.

Post-scriptThe show was well worth every last penny. It was great to be around fellow fans in the post-show lobby, but while they were all speeding home to play Final Fantasy, I was waiting in the blood-freezing weather for a surly Chicago cab driver to take me to the airport.

To purchase a copy of the Distant Worlds Orchestra concert album, visit www.ffdistantworlds.com. To request that Distant Worlds come closer to Portland than Illinois, or to learn more about the Final Fantasy series, visit www.square-enix.com.