Even as a kid, Geoff Keighley felt deeply connected to video game music. He fell in love with franchises like “Space Quest” and “Monkey Island” and wanted them to sound even better. “I bought a special sound card called the Roland MT-32, which allowed me to listen to the MIDI music in games with better results for digital music,” he recalls with a smile.
Ten years after founding The Game Awards, Keighley is bringing that passion to the forefront with The Game Awards 10-Year Concert, a live celebration at the Hollywood Bowl on June 25. The one-night-only event, curated alongside the LA Phil, will feature orchestral selections from “Final Fantasy,” “League of Legends,” “Diablo” and more.
The concert’s lead composer and conductor Lorne Balfe says involving the creatives behind these games and their scores is key to setting this show apart — and an experience that’s more uncommon than one may think. “Sometimes, we don’t even get asked if our music wants to get performed. It just happens, and you see a video of it being performed somewhere with a banjo and a kazoo. You sit there and die inside, because you just know the audience is being let down by it. It’s cheapening it,” he tells PvNew.
“What’s managed to happen with this team is that there’s great quality control. Everybody from the developer side to the composer side of it are all involved. The performances aren’t just simply an orchestra playing it. A lot of it has the musicians who appeared in the proper soundtrack performing with it,” Balfe adds.
“The musicians and composers are unsung heroes,” says executive producer Kimmie Kim. “There’s a huge community behind it. We don’t get to highlight it in our three-hour live show. So this is one of the ways to thank them and give them the credit they deserve.”
One such composer, Gustavo Santaolalla, will bring his music from “The Last of Us” to the Bowl. Fans of the game series or HBO adaptation will see an entirely new interpretation of the score, replacing plucky guitars with a robust orchestra.
“A lot of the game companies and composers have created custom suites and medleys for this show,” Keighley says. “It’s not just taking the song you hear on Spotify and playing it with an orchestra. You’ll see really unique pieces put together by the composers that blend multiple themes together.”
The evening won’t be made up entirely of game scores, though. Tenacious D, Jack Black and Kyle Gass’ comedy rock duo, will also perform. “They have this new song out, ‘Video Games,’ which is just incredible and fun. As soon as we heard it, we were like, ‘Maybe things could work out for them to be at the Bowl?’” Keighley says. “We’re thrilled to have them. Jack, especially, has been a massive fan and supporter of video games for decades and really loves them. Just having him in the house I think is going to add an awesome energy.”
“Everyone is coming together here, uniting, and that’s really what our brand of The Game Awards is about,” Keighley adds. “It’s going to be a really eclectic, amazing concert.”
