Baseball Team Oakland Athletics Pays a Sluggin' Sonic Tribute

Really was a wonderful show, great write-up Dreadknux! My only disappointment with it was that for the whole first half, any time the orchestra had a quiet bit, you could hear a constant murmur of discussion amidst the crowd.  I know we're all utter nerds who can't wait to infodump and share our thoughts on Sonic content with the people sitting next to us, but I was kind of bummed out that people couldn't show a little restraint and hold onto their discussions until the intermission - not to be all Otto from the Simpsons going "Sit down, sit down you're ruining it for everyone!" but... well... no, absolutely to be Otto, actually.  Just felt like really shoddy ettiquette to both the performers and the rest of the theatre.  Rock band Act 2?  Yes, go nuts, please!  But Act 1 should've had a bit more dignity to it I think. To go positive again though, gosh the new arrangements were just divine.  Collision Chaos is a track that has taken decades to REALLY grow on me, but I love how Tee Lopes has been using it with more traditional instruments as a leitmotif for Classic Amy in the animations he's scored, and hearing it performed by an orchestra here is the apex of those vibes, it works so well.  The new Rooftop Run and Planet Wisp/Aquarium Park arrangements were also just gorgeous.  So unique and interesting compared to their 30th anniversary selves.  30th Anniversary's Rooftop Run, like a lot of the Unleashed Medley tracks actually, felt a little bit squeezed and forced into an orchestral arrangement in a way that didn't work for me, but what they did with it here was fantastic.  Every version got a look-in, but then there was also some unique melody work to it that was unlike any existing version of the song.  Meanwhile, Planet Wisp and Aquarium Park were gorgeous as they were in the 30th anniversary - Colours music DOES translate to a slower orchestral style surprisingly well.  And yet, the new arrangement of both here was just a delightfully new spin on the two tracks, Aquarium Park's half especially.  I'm not even sure how to describe it - 30th anniversary sounded quite melancholic for these tracks, the new versions are less so... yet still feel suitably "emotional"?  Bizarre, but I loved them. As for Act 2, it was just great to hear ALL the rock songs with orchestral backing this time, rather than just the select few we got for the 30th concert.  It in particular REALLY suited I Am All Of Me, some serious Metallica S&M vibes on that one (one of the first combinations of hard rock and orchestra I'd ever heard as a teen, so quite formative for me). I guess my only "letdown" musically, is that I adore I'm Here and was hoping that would be Ohtani's encore...  I know it's less popular than Undefeatable though so I would have accepted that as well.  But instead we got Break Through It All, which is actually my least favourite Frontiers vocal song.  But uh... hey?  If there's one way to elevate a song I had middling feelings on before it's hearing it live with an utterly enthused crowd singing along and orchestral backing!  Heck yeah!!

I played NGS when it launched and dropped it a few months later... I do need to pick it back up again because I was interested in what the world was offering but there just wasn't a lot to do back then. Figured I'd wait until things got a bit more populated, maybe now it's time. I did jump into classic PSO2 but only when the English version launched on Xbox, which meant that, although I enjoyed it, I was totally overwhelmed with a million different currencies and things to do... I do go back to it every now and then but I'm so confused by it all most days haha!

Sadly I stopped playing after NGS came out, just couldn't quite get into it and starting all over again with a new loadout and currency and everything - gave it a good few hours but the open world stuff and new characters just weren't singing to me.  So just for my perspective it's a shame Jun is doing a song from the NGS half of PSO2 that doesn't mean too much to me! Be great if any other familiar Sonic musicians are contributing (and if so, cover PSO2 Classic tracks for my sake lol).