Nintendo’s Koji Kondo is responsible for a number of the most iconic themes from the history of videogames. As it turns out, you also have him to thank for the upcoming concert tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda.
We caught up with Bill Trinen from Nintendo’s product marketing group this weekend at Comic Con and were given more details about the concert tour that Nintendo announced just days ago that will be kicking off in Los Angeles this October.
Bill told us that Koji Kondo “Really wanted music to be a part of the 25th anniversary activity,” and went about creating a unique concert in Japan to commemorate the occasion. The idea was then expanded to include single performances in both North America and Europe. Think of these three 25th anniversary concerts featuring music “Hand-picked by Koji Kondo and his team” as a separate entity from the full-blown concert tour that will kick off in 2012.
Starting in 2012, JMP Productions (the company behind the PLAY! – A Video Game Symphony tour) will be launching a global tour focusing “primarily in the United States and North America.” The set lists for these shows will likely differ from the 25th anniversary concerts, but will still go to great length to ensure that those who can’t make it out to Los Angeles, Tokyo, or the undetermined European destination, will also get a healthy dose of live orchestral Zelda music. As to how far beyond 2012 the tour will extend, Bill noted that they are “Looking at 2012 and will wait to see where it goes from there,” but assured us that they “Plan for [the tour] to be pretty extensive.”
While details regarding what music will be featured and which cities the tour will be hitting will become available closer to the show’s debut in October, you can head over to the tour’s official website to sign up for updates and to hear an audio sample of what to expect from the performances.
Will you be trying to make it to the one-off shows in October, or will you be satisfied waiting until 2012 for the full-scale tour to get your orchestral Zelda music action on?
Published: Jul 25, 2011 08:00 am