Event Sonic Musical Spectacular 2023 [EVENT] - All Aboard the Mirage Express for a Rockin' Good Time! - Fin - See Finale Post!

[Ryannumber1gamer]

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

As announced earlier today (and you would've seen the notice if you tried to go on Motobug), we've unfortunately needed to delay our show until next week. This is primarily a result of a setback on our video production side, although other minor factors also went against us this week, forcing a pretty significant chunk of the stream to need to be redone, and as a result, it's just impossible to have it ready for this week.

So, as a result, when it came down to either running just a simple playlist and doing a proper premiere of our custom stream next week, or simply delaying til next week to give us the best first impression of our new stream, I opted to delay it until next week. We're very excited to show you guys what we've cooked up for the stream this year, and we wanted to let it be the best it could be, and have it really be the cap-off of what's been a very successful Musical Spectacular this year.

As a result, our new air dates is...

Saturday August 12th at 8pm BST/3pm EST

Sunday August 13th at 8pm BST/3pm EST

Once again, I cannot apologise enough for how short notice this is, but it is what it is, unfortunately. We weren't really expecting such a significant setback to happen either. But still, we're on track for the premiere next week, so join us then as we play the full playlist live on stream for everyone to watch and hang out!

[Ryannumber1gamer]

That is a wrap on this year's event! Now that the topic has been reopened, please feel free to drop event feedback here!

[Cuz]

A shame about the hiccups ran into this year. Looking forward to next year and the expanded roster of favorite characters.

[Iko]

Unfortunately I couldn't attend this year, so I can't give much feedback, sorry.

I'm looking into more favorite characters as well, sadly I don't have any other feedback because I missed it.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Only a few days remain to get feedback regarding the event in! 

[BlueSky]

Thanks for the event, it was a blast as always!

One thing though I realised when I almost overslept on Monday is it could be thought about whether or not Sunday night airing is a working solution or not, if I recall right one year we had the event divided for two weeks so I wonder was that too much of a hassle compared to airing them both on the same weekend? Of course if it gets too complicated I get it, just a thing I realised the hard way.

Otherwise the event was epic, I always enjoy attending to it.

[Solister]

The event was spectacular, and it's often one of my favorite moments with the SSMB community.

Like some people already mentioned during the stream, would be interesting to have all tracks already chosen/left to make less repetitive choices (Just after the stream I learned that I chose the same track on 2022 and 23).

But I agree, the length is often the toughest part for me. I think like @BlueSkymentioned, I believe also moving the event to two weekends could work better, despite starting mid-afternoon for me and going all the way until past my bedtime on both days is a marathon.

I guess this also depends on the availability of many, but maybe a four-day 3-hour run on Saturday, Sunday, Saturday, Sunday doesn't look so tiring, but I guess this also means much more preparation for each day.

The other, less interesting, option would be to reduce the number of entries per member, as I believe we are having more and more participants each year. I think I could choose a fine selection with 4 tracks (3 normal, 1 remix/wild card). But I can see this can be an unpopular opinion among many.

Now, a wild idea that could work, but would require much more preparation would be doing something like a DJ mix as Sonic the Hedgehog DJ Style "Party". You could win some time by transitioning two songs at the same time, and get a better flow between tracks. I could even propose myself to do something, but I can't imagine where my life will be in a year, but I won't say no for that now. I did something similar here and already improved a lot in a bit less than 2 years learning more about DJing techniques and working with proper apps.

Looking forward to the next edition!

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Alright! Now that a week has passed since our official livestream dates, it's time to put a cap on this year's event, and first things first, we've our stats to run through!

• A grand total of 39 members took part in the event this year, a big rise from last year's event!
• 95% of those members took part fully in the event and received our coveted Golden Ticket achievement!
• About 30 people turned up at some point during the livestreams and hanged out with us to listen to the music!
• 18 brand new Murder of Sonic emotes were added to the Motobug channel, voted on by our viewers!
• Total run time this year came to 12 hours and 30 minutes roughly!
• Persona and Yakuza remained our most popular SEGA General selections, with Super Monkey Ball in a steady second place
• Sonic Frontiers was easily the most popular game this year, topping out immediately even with the additional slots granted to it.
• 8-Bit was a surprise hit, topping out it's list this year.
• EU/JP CD, Sonic 1/2 8-Bit, S3&K, Saturn 3D Blast, Sonic Adventure, Adventure 2, Heroes, Shadow, 06, Zero Gravity, Colours, Lost World, Mania, and Frontiers topped out their lists this year!
• A GRAND TOTAL OF 153 ACHIEVEMENTS GIVEN TO MEMBERS THIS YEAR!

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With another year having passed on this event, it's genuinely insane to think about how this thing has gone on for eight entire years now. What started as a spur of the moment event to pass some time has turned into this gigantic yearly event that - what this year has shown me, as multiple people said repeatedly on Motobug - is something highly anticipated on this site, it's honestly incredible, really. I've said it so many years before, but it still really, honestly astonishes me how much this event has grown over the years. What turned from a little playlist has become a really well-received event with tons of hype and excitement, with so many people coming together to allow it to take on different themes and change itself up every year. It wouldn't be possible without equal amounts of passion, hard work, and enjoyment that comes from everyone here. To give some recognition where it's called for:

@Polkadi~☆'s fantastic custom livestreams where we get to showcase the entire playlist live for everyone in-theme, and provide a little bit of recognition in a fun way for everyone who came to support the event and take part in the fun. @Emperor Robrainiac's fantastic new artwork and achievements for this event that was absolutely crucial to keeping it on brand to the Murder of Sonic game that inspired all of us greatly this year with the event. @Danj86  's incredibly detailed banners and additional art that helped give the topic and the event a bit of extra flair. All of the Motobug crew, really - who've come together to work their butts off to help make this event a reality every single year, both new and old.

Of course, there's @Strickerx5's incredible help with running and organising the event, both this year and previously, and the kind support of the Sonic Stadium staff, like @Dreadknuxand @Chris, who have been very accommodating and kind to me over the years when it comes to approving the event and offering help wherever they can. 

That's not to forget all of the people on Sonic Stadium who have helped this event come to fruition so many times now. For eight years running, again - both new and old. From @Dr. Detective's attention to detail, listing various parts of the event's history and helping gather useful resources for further years, such as songs not already picked, to @blueblur98's tradition of creating a wonderful poster for the event each year. All of the outpour of support, encouragement, and kind words we hear every year, it really makes the hard work that goes into the event worthwhile. 

Even as the host and organiser of the event, since it started eight years ago, I cannot thank everyone for allowing me to run this event. For allowing it to get this far, to allow it to last for eight years (yes, it's still insane to me that we're two years away from a ten year anniversary). I've said time and again that this event is not remotely a one person show, not even close to where it started in it's prototype phases. So many people have come together to help, support, and make Sonic Musical Spectacular into the best version it could absolutely be, and I'll never forget that.

From the skills and kind help of all the Motobug staff, to the kind accommodation and aid that the Sonic Stadium staff has provided to the event, to each and every single one of you that have come along and given your support, your time, your fanart, your writing, your feedback, I genuinely cannot thank you all enough for letting me run this event, for letting it become what it has, and for letting it continue to be one gigantic celebration of the community we have here. I hope you'll continue to join us for many a Sonic Musical Spectacular to come, as we continue to try make them a fun time for everyone involved. 

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Now then, I think it would be a good idea to also run down the feedback and changes that we've taken from this year, and the changes we're going to be implementing for next year's event (yes, Sonic Musical Spectacular 2024 confirmation!). 

So, onto the major change - our premiere date is officially moving into August. What I gathered from this year's event as it turns out - is that August 12/13th (or rather, that weekend at least) seemed to have been a really good time for most everyone, as a lot of people chimed in to say had we stuck to the original August date, they would've missed it. 

As such, Motobug staff have generally agreed it would be better to instead move the date, give us more time to get the videos finished up, and then not have to do any kind of delays. The submission date for requests will however remain the same, as we want to give more time than just a week for final touches on the 'final' list.

Speaking of delays - our video making process will also be taking a significant change next year that will hopefully allow for the videos to be produced on a more timely manner. Not much details on this, but hopefully the results will speak next year.

We'll also further discuss the feedback above in regards to splitting the days off into multiple weekends, although as those comments guessed, it can be pretty difficult with day organising and such. But we'll certainly keep it in mind as a option and let you guys know next year if we decide to implement it, although hopefully the above changes will help lessen the need regardless.

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In terms of a few smaller changes:

With our Murder of Sonic theming being a pretty big hit this year, we're hoping to expand out our roster of favourite characters that will appear with your requests during the video! Not much details yet as we've still to decide next year's theme, but we're hoping we can provide a lot more!

Furthermore, as requested by the viewers, we'll also be adding a brand new category next year, which will be Cancelled Sonic Games. While you could argue it'd be easier to just add a category for Sonic XTreme, I felt going with Cancelled Games just gave a pretty broad scope for outliers with unique songs. 

We're also in the midst of discussing rearranging our era split for next year. As more games come out and years pass, it's causing our current split to cause Day 2 to be way too top-heavy, as it tends to cover 2007 to whatever the most recent year is. We're still discussing what split we wanna alter it to, but hopefully it'll mean Day 1 and Day 2 being more balanced as a result.

As mentioned previously, we can also readd the Sonic Movie list to the categories too, as long as the songs requested are either remixes, covers, or original score tracks. Just not licensed songs for pretty obvious reasons.

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Right, so with our feedback and changes covered, I think I've more or less finished doing the usual jabbering on I tend to do every year. How else could I end this post? And this event, really? 

Oh wait, I know - our livestream videos would be a pretty good start! So if you missed the stream, and you want to relive the fun, or you just want a 12 and a half hour playlist of the best Sonic songs as selected by the community, while you're doing work, playing games, or whatever, then we've got you covered! Check around the topic in another day or so, and @Polkadi~☆ will have the videos up in a new post!

Unfortunately, while I would've liked to get another premiere event going for Act 2's video, between vacation plans and other staff members just not being available, I'm afraid we're just going to launch it here for anyone who wants to see it. With Summer also starting to reach a end and many returning to work/school, it just seemed best to finally put a cap on the event. 

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So, with all that said? I once again want to extend my greatest thank you to everyone. Both everyone in the Motobug and Sonic Stadium staff who helped put together and run such a high quality event, and of course - you and every member of the Sonic Stadium community who helped make this event a reality for so long, and for years to come. Without you guys coming together to make this awesome playlist, and hang out and chill listening to it, allowing all of us to share in our enjoyment of the franchise, this event wouldn't be nearly what it's grown to until this day. 

And while I'm at it, we'll extend a round of applause to the blue speedy hedgehog that's brought us all together for this wonderful journey on the Mirage Express. If it wasn't for Sonic, and the 32 years of games, shows, comics, and movies he's brought us, and the awesome tunes that comes with them, we all wouldn't be here, hanging out and listening to the best this franchise has to offer musically. Let's let the hedgehog of the hour take the stage as we prepare to depart the train! Take it away, Sonic!

...

...

...H-He's probably alright. Just taking a nap after a really awesome weekend of music.

Yeah, that's it.

...I really hope it wasn't the Chilli-Dogs...

'Til next year, Sonic Stadium! Even as you depart the Mirage Express, be sure to display your tickets with pride, and let's keep rocking to another year of bangers from the franchise. 

[tailsBOOM!]

Another surprise was Chaos Angel lol.  The fact that it got 3 versions was not something I was expecting