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Video Games Live orchestral show lives on at Gamescom

Gabe Gurwin
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Image used with permission by copyright holder
Gamescom is already the largest video game trade event in the world, with more than 335,000 attendees at last year’s exposition in Cologne, Germany, but the festivities will be getting a little bit louder this year. Video Games Live, the orchestral show from composer Tommy Tallarico, will be playing for three straight days, and seats are only available to Gamescom ticket holders.

Video Games Live will perform on the last three days of Gamescom — August 7, 8, and 9 — and will include “an orchestra, a light show, interactive games and solo appearances.” The show is famous for its eclectic selection of music, and these shows look to continue this, with everything from Monkey Island to Skyrim and Earthworm Jim being tapped for tunes.

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Unlike other orchestral “pops” shows, Video Games Live is unapologetically contemporary. Cinematics and key gameplay moments flash on screens behind the musicians throughout each song, and Tommy Tallarico doesn’t conduct the group; instead, he shreds along on his guitar through songs from Halo and even Castlevania. Tallarico and his team have been touring almost nonstop for 10 years, and most recently embarked on an international tour that brought shows to Brazil, Finland, England, China, and Belgium.

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If Tallarico’s name sounds familiar to you, it might be because he also hosted the game review show Judgment Day with Canadian journalist Victor Lucas back in the early 2000s. The show stills airs in the Great White North under the name Reviews on the Run, although Tallarico’s commitments to Video Games Live has limited him to only a few guest appearances in the last several years. Last year, he wrapped up a Kickstarter campaign for Video Games Live: Level 4, an album featuring music from League of Legends, Cave Story, and Donkey Kong Country. If you’re attending Gamescom (and can fake your way through some German), tickets from the shows are available here.

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Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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