Music is coming.
Strings hummed and drums pounded on the Hollywood Palladium theater stage, drawing many excited cheers from audience members sporting shirts with House Targaryen sigils or “The North Remembers.” Immersive art, music and storytelling brings the suspenseful and often tragic show “Game of Thrones” to life. After seven years of helping shape the Westeros narrative, the music of “Game of Thrones” is getting its own spotlight.
On Aug. 8, HBO and Live Nation treated “Game of Thrones” fans to a one-day pop up concert to announce a new orchestral concert tour of the show’s music and featured a 15 minute live orchestra performance as a preview of the concert. “Game of Thrones” Live Concert Experience, a 28-city tour set to begin in February, will feature award-winning composer Ramin Djawadi conducting the music he wrote for the show.
“I was in the studio with the show’s creators listening to some of the music when one of them said, ‘This would be really cool to see live with a full orchestra, choir and all the instruments,'” Djawadi said.
The concert will feature a 360-degree stage that will allow the audience to better see the musicians and will also feature some set design and LED screens. The proposed stage provides a greater opportunity to highlight the musicians and instruments in a way that is easy to view from any angle, Dajwadi said.
Other behind-the-scenes aspects of the show have previously been granted attention, like costume and prop exhibitions or actors panels at comic book conventions, and it is only fitting that the show’s popular and iconic music be given its own spotlight. Hopefully, if the concert gains enough attention and financial success, it could herald in a new resurgence in the popularity of orchestral concerts and film scores. Considering the show’s popularity and large, active fan base, there is a good chance the concert series will achieve that level of success.
The presentation began with a performance by the USC marching band before fans entered the Palladium. Once inside, they could explore various costumes from the show’s sixth season in addition to interactive opportunities with the Iron Throne, the Hall of Faces, Arya’s sword Needle and Melisandre’s Fire.
For a show known for its elaborate sets, special effects and costumes, the choices of costumes displayed were disappointing. The event featured costumes of Arya Stark, the Waif and Jaqen H’ghar, which were some of the drabber, less intricate and colorful costumes in the show.
Although the chosen props focused on Arya Stark and her Faceless Men storyline, it would have been more rewarding to see more elaborate costumes such as Jon Snow’s outfit, Jaime Lannister’s armor or one of Daenerys Targaryen’s dresses.
What the exhibition lacked in the costume department, its artful props more than made up for. The Hall of Faces attraction provided an eerie opportunity for fans to project their own faces on the wall of lifeless masks.
The prop interaction was a great treat that both allowed fans to imagine themselves living in the violent fantasy world of Westeros while also permitting the musicians to regroup in between performances. Since it was a condensed version of the event, HBO may have be keeping some of their other props a secret.
Special guests Djiwadi and actor Isaac Hempstead Wright, who plays Bran Stark in the show, came on stage for a brief Q&A session and to announce the tour.
“I think it’s safe to say that fan enthusiasm for the music has grown by the season,” Wright said.
Djiwadi said the tour’s music selection recalls pivotal moments and remembers long-dead characters from the show.
“We’re trying to do a ‘best of’ tour to represent all of the themes in the show and have a lot of fan favorites like ‘Mhysa,’ ‘The Children,’ and of course ‘Light of the Seven,'” Djiwadi said.
The event concluded with a brief sneak at the full concert experience with orchestral performance that included the show’s main theme and “The Rains of Castamere.”
The music conjured up fond memories of the honorable-to-a-fault Ned Stark, of Tywin Lannister’s brooding authority and of eagerly sitting in front of the TV each week, hearing the theme song. The musicians played with careful and fluid expertise, easily fluctuating in volume and intensity when necessary. The music sounded better live than it did on a recording, and there was no mistaking which themes were being played.
The music of “Game of Thrones” is sweepingly majestic and powerfully driving, yet it can easily be overshadowed when presented with the gripping, action-packed story and intricate visuals of the show. The tour focuses solely on the auditory experience of “Game of Thrones.”
The vibrations of the drums and strings coursed through my body, creating a feeling of liveliness that cannot be achieved through computer or phone speakers. French horns and other wind instruments helped provide a rich sonic variety to the concert, and Djawadi promised that the full concert would feature a piano as well.
The “Game of Thrones” Live Concert Experience exposes people to the deeper artistry of the show and, in an age of mostly digital music, brings the glory back to instruments and orchestras.