This time, it was a case of the conductor finishing off the final song, walking out of sight during applause, then immediately returning to the stage to perform an encore piece. I think that we all know that an encore is pretty much a standard part of the concert experience nowadays, but the conductor usually makes some effort to give the appearance of it being spontaneous. My other criticism would be that the encore this time felt more contrived. Also, anti-terrorism fixtures and building works surrounding the perimeter of the building meant that most activity occurred indoors, making for an overall less open and welcoming atmosphere, compared to previous years. Previously, there would be a sizeable amount that would congregate outside of the venue in order to network and pose for photographs, but last week, this was not so. Prior to both performances I didn’t notice much in the way of cosplay.
The concert itself was more or less similar to that which I had already written in my Reader’s Feature three years ago: Nobuo Uematsu returned to attend the performance, along with some delegates from Square Enix the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra returned to their instrumental duties and the acoustics of the hall was top notch.ĭifferences worth mentioning would be that the Maida Vale Singers were the choir, and the famous pipe organ was not utilised for a rendition of Dancing Mad, instead being replaced by a performance of Maria and Draco featuring three professional opera soloists.ĭue to the excessive demand from previous years, there were two performances this year: an afternoon matinee that was at the family-friendly time of 2.30pm and an evening performance at 7.30pm.
However, with a maximum capacity of 40 to every half-hour slot, it was impossible for a casual gamer like me (who only had a few hours’ notice of its existence) to gain entry I would be grateful to gain some insight as to what the experience was like.