When I wrote my review of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, I mentioned in that review that the Rebirth soundtrack might be my favourite Final Fantasy soundtrack out of all the Final Fantasy games. I apparently loved it so much that when I found out that the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Orchestra World Tour was coming to Toronto for two shows at Roy Thomson Hall, I managed to snap up a ticket for the second show. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra was going to perform renditions and medleys of many of the hits from the game. I could not wait.
Now, I have never been to a true Symphony Orchestra concert before that was inside a proper concert hall before. I initially thought that I had to dress up to go to this concert, but there was no set dress code for this event. I did not know any of the etiquette with this type of thing, so I would just follow what everyone else will do, in terms of clapping and such.
I get to the venue a little more than an hour before the concert start time, and there was already a line-up around the block. While looking at the line (as well as inside the venue), I got to see many Final Fantasy fans, and some of them even cosplayed for the concert. Most of the cosplayers dressed up as Aerith, but I did see a few Cloud cosplayers, as well as one cosplayer as Tifa, and another as sailor Barret, which was great.
The line moved quickly, and I was inside Roy Thomson Hall in no time. I have never been to this Toronto venue before, so I was a little lost in trying to navigate and find my section and seat. With this being a concert, there was merch on sale at grossly inflated prices. I could not justify getting a t-shirt, poster, or light-up Buster Sword keychain (as cool as that looked) for $40. I would love to get a Sephiroth plush, and it would sit proudly in my office, but not for $70.
I grab an overpriced sippy cup of Peroni and head inside the venue to take my seat. I was sitting in a section in the back of the main floor/stage area, but I would have loved to snag a seat in the mezzanine or balcony area (blame my lateness in getting the ticket). Roy Thomson Hall was a nice-looking venue that I hoped would have some amazing acoustics (which was true). The venue filled up quickly, and suddenly there was not an empty seat in the house. We were about to experience something amazing.
The orchestra and choir walk in with all their instruments. There were sections for string instruments, percussion, and brass. There were people playing instruments such as the harp and the big bells. The lights dim, and the conductor walks onto the stage. There is a big screen in the middle that plays cut-scenes from FFVII Rebirth, and the orchestra plays the piece with the cut-scene. It is impressive how in-sync the orchestra and choir are with the visual. Climaxes in the cut-scenes match perfectly with the crescendos in the orchestra pieces.
It is one thing to experience the soundtrack of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth while playing the game. It is quite another to experience the soundtrack of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth with a live orchestra and choir. The concert was truly magical and incredible. The highest of highlights for me was hearing the choir during the Stamp medley and “One-Winged Angel” (Sephiroth’s theme). The orchestra played many of the battle, field, and character themes; both new songs and familiar favourites, and it was incredible. The last song of the concert was a familiar character theme, and I genuinely saw some people sobbing in their seats. Truly this was some moving music and I completely understand if some people were feeling the emotions during this time.
The FFVII Rebirth Orchestra World Tour has since moved onto other cities but this was such an amazing experience, and I want to hear the orchestra again for the final game in the FFVII trilogy. This was a high bar to set for my first Symphony Orchestra concert.
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