A Live A Live concert was held in Hachioji, Tokyo at the J:COM Hall on August 13, 2023 to celebrate the 29th Anniversary of the Square Enix RPG "Live a Live." The concert was titled "LIVE A LIVE A LIVE 2023" (For those confused about the pronunciation all "live"s, they are all pronounced the same as the "live" in "live" concert")
Live A Live was originally a Japan only Super Famicom game by Square Soft released in 1994. It is a unique turn based RPG that features seven main protagonists all with unique stories and worlds that somehow combine to tell a extremely interesting story with lots of twists. In 2022, an HD-2D remake was released for the Nintendo Switch. This was the first time it had been released in the West with new localization, English voice acting and a fresh coat of paint. This remake introduced new fans to the game, including myself. It was released on Steam and PlayStation earlier this year. The original 1994 game was directed by Takashi Tokita and the music was composed by Yoko Shimomura (Street Fighter 2, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy 15) as the first game she worked on for Square/ Square Enix.
The concert was a great opportunity for fans new and old to celebrate their love for the game and for the amazing soundtrack by Yoko Shimomura. There have been two other Live A Live concerts in the past in Japan. One in 2015 for the 20th anniversary and one in 2019 for the 25th anniversary. Although the game was never a massive seller in Japan, it has developed a hardcore cult following of diehard fans, many of which came out in Live A Live clothing and apparel to celebrate the game at the concert.
The concert had a great atmosphere with the auditorium filled with passionate fans. Fans were also able to pre-purchase special Live A Live glow sticks that played a big role in the concert. The band consisted of keyboard, guitar, piano, bass, drums, percussion and strings with a very rock music feel. The concert opened with the "Live A Live" opening theme song. Afterwards, Live A Live Remake Producer, Takashi Tokita and Composer, Yoko Shimomura took to the stage together as the concert's MCs. They shared fond memories of past concerts and their excitement for the evening with the audience.
In the next part of the concert, they played music from the The Wild West chapter. Everybody's glow sticks turned an orange color as they were being controlled by the concert staff. A professional whistler named YOKO took the stage and whistled the western songs live on stage whilst the audience waved their glow sticks in unison. It was fantastic. More amazingly, Live A Live music was played from chapters such as "Prehistory" and "The Distant Future.". Each time the crowd's glow stick would change colors. For example, white for "The Near Future" themes, purple for the "Twilight of Edo" themes, green for the "Imperial China" themes etc. Then came the music from "The Near Future" chapter. Japanese singer Hironobu Kageyama took the stage to sing the song "Go! Go! Steel Titan" and his performance was epic with the crowd going wild!
Another highlight of the concert for me was the performance of the music from the "Twilight of Edo" chapter, which is one of my favorite chapters of the game. For these songs, a traditional Japanese instrument duo took the stage called HIDExHIDE. They performed with the Japanese Shamisen and Shakuhachi flute. It sounded great. Yoko Shimomura talked about the process of rearranging the music for the 2022 remake and that there were many instruments they could now use that weren't possible due the the limitations of the Super Famicom. The concert ended with a rock version of the epic and famous "MEGALOMANIA" song. For the encore, all the musicians returned to the stage to jam out together in a special medley. Yoko Shimomura was on keyboard and Takashi Tokita took to the mic to sing. Everyone looked like they were enjoying the evening so much. It was a fantastic end to the concert.
In all, the concert was really fun and full of positive energy from the musicians and fans. Everyone was enjoying the music and waving their glow sticks in glee. It was a fun experience to be a part of and the music transported me back to good memories and emotions of playing the game for the first time in 2022. It really made me want to go back and experience the game and its amazing music once again. Live A Live is a game I whole heartedly recommend to anyone who is interested in RPGs and as we go into the 30th anniversary of the game next year, I hope they hold another concert for fans to gather again. Who knows? Maybe one day we will get a sequel, too.
Source: https://www.jp.square-enix.com/music/sem/page/lalconcert/
https://twitter.com/sem_sep/status/1690713480096276480?s=20
Live A Live Soundtrack: https://www.jp.square-enix.com/music/sem/page/lalost/en/
Concert Images: https://www.gamespark.jp/article/2023/08/15/133008.html
originally published on August 20, 2023, 12:39 p.m.
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