As part of the 30-year anniversary for PlayStation, the live concert experience brought emotion, artistry, and charm back to the forefront. Taking place at the hydro, this concert was not to be missed – suitable for all ages, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performed songs from PlayStation biggest games (The Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima etc) alongside cutting edge visuals.
Firstly, the music was sensational; each song evoked emotion from everyone in the audience, almost to the point of tears. Each song flowed from on to the other, taking small breaks to chat with the orchestra, where they shared their favourite games and pieces of music from the show. This helped the show move along nicely rather than sitting listening to music back-to-back. There were also sections of the show where vocals and lyrics were added, which was nice to hear along with the other performers and added another layer of emotion.
Another breath-taking aspect of the show was the cutting-edge visuals given to the audience via these ultra-modern layered projections – on these layered projections you would see cinematic aspects of the games that matched the music playing or alternatively, pre-recorded videos of the performers. This helped tie the story together with the music and reminded me of modern or visual theatre with the projection surfaces which were split with one large area and the back and 6 individual long horizontal strips and the front.
There was also merch available at the venue which consisted of the usual items such as tote bags, badges, t-shirts, and hoodies. A pleasant surprise was that with each purchase you got a free badge pack – I purchased The Last of Us t-shirt which also came with a badge pack. The venue itself was also easily accessible, with disabled access, car park and two train stations nearby.
The only thing I felt was missing from PlayStation's Live Concert was a celebration of the earlier games; it definitely was geared to a more modern and recent audience. This was apparent as it showed it most popular games such as Horizon and God of War: Ragnarok, and with the recent success of The Last of Us television series (HBO) it lacked the nostalgia of previous games.
Overall, the experience watching PlayStation’s Live Concert was one that was out of this world; the music transported each listener straight from the Hydro into each game. I also felt that the hydro was the perfect space for this due to its world class acoustics, the large facility and the modern architecture which tied in with the traditional orchestra and the high-tech LED visual effects.
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