Hey everyone! Welcome back! Today I am going to be doing a review that should have been done months ago. Yes, I literally mean months ago. I went to Pokemon Symphonic Evolutions about 4 months ago (at the time of writing this). It was on June 6th, 2015. Anyways, let's start!
So, I found out about the show when my dad forwarded an email that Madison Square Garden sent him. The show took place at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. As of writing this, they are currently on a world tour and will be visiting Europe next year. The show is pretty much selected tracks from the soundtrack of Pokemon throughout the years played in a full orchestra. From 1996-2012. Which is Pokemon Red/Blue (Or Green in Japan)/Yellow to Pokemon X/Y, the most recent main storyline game. Unless you want to count Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire (ORAS), but I don't since they are remakes. Anyways, they have a certain setlist, which can be one track, or a medley. Just saying this now, I'm assuming that if you're reading this, you are a Pokemon fan or at least familiar with the franchise and that you'll understand everything that is mentioned in this review. If not, well, you can always use Google.
This is the logo.
Their setlist is divided up into generations, and is as follows:
Generation 1:
Overture (Red/Blue/Yellow Main Menu)
Pallet Town (Red/Blue/Yellow)
Prepare for Trouble (Red/Blue/Yellow Team Rocket Hideout Theme)
Born to be a Champion (Red/Blue/Yellow Trainer Battle Theme, Kanto Gym Leader Theme, Kanto Champion Theme, Born to be a Champion, and Hall of Fame medley)
Generation 2:
Ecruteak City (Gold/Silver/Crystal)
Song of the Towers (Gold/Silver/Crystal Burned Tower Theme)
... (Gold/Silver/Crystal Dragon's Den and ... medley)
Generation 3:
Ancients of Hoenn (Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Meteor Falls and Regi Trio Theme medley)
Falling Ashes (Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Route 113)
Ends of the Road (Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald Victory Road and Ending Credits medley)
Generation 4:
Dreams and Adventures (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum New Game)
Routes of Sinnoh (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Routes 201, 206, and 209 medley)
The Lake Guardians (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Lake Guardians Theme)
Intermission
Pokemon Center (No specific generation)
Generation 5:
The Day I Became King (Black/White The Day I Became King, Unova Pokemon League, and Route 10 medley)
N-Counter (Black/White N's Castle and Battle vs. N medley)
Farewell (Black/White N's Farewell)
Generation 6:
An Eternal Prison (X/Y A Terrible Past [AZ's Theme])
Welcome to Kalos (X/Y Welcome to the Kalos Region and Vaniville Town medley)
Professor Sycamore (X/Y Professor Sycamore's Theme)
Friends, Fights & Finales (X/Y Friends Forever, Kalos Gym Leader Theme and I'll Go With You medley)
Encore:
Gotta Catch 'em All (Pokemon Season 1 English Theme)
KISEKI (X/Y Game Ending)
That's That. Now, on to the "review" part.
I really enjoyed going. It was so great to be with the community. It wasn't a typical orchestra where you have to be quiet and it can be quite boring. The conductor, Susie Seiter, encouraged the audience to cheer and clap and make a bunch of noise and to just have fun. In the beginning of the show, when she first went out onto the stage, she said "New York, I choose you!" and threw a blow-up Pokeball into the audience. I didn't get it of course, she threw it into the front, and I was in the very back. Before the show started, like for everyone who got there early, Who's That Pokemon was on the three monitors in the room. There were a group of girls behind me, that seemed younger than me, who named every single one. I could only name a few. I was still new to the series, even though I've been playing it for about a year at the time. Most of the Pokemon were from Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. I had trouble naming Grovyle and Marshtomp, the two middle evolutions of Treeko and Mudkip respectively. They also showed Pikachu (of course) and that was the only one my mom recognized, and she was very happy about it. :) Also before the show, everyone had their 3DS's with them, and they were battling, trading, and filling up MiiPlaza, even though they didn't know each other. It was amazing to see the community at this event, together because they had a common interest.
That said, I have a few complaints. First, the merchandise shop didn't have much. It had Pikachu plushies, a few other trinkets, and posters and t-shirts with the logo on them. That's it. If you're into that kind of stuff, well then go for it! But I am not. My second complaint was that the monitors were tiny where I ended up sitting. I have good vision, so I was able to read the text on the screen, but my mom, couldn't. I had to explain the stories of N and AZ to her after the show, but she could've gotten the gist of it (well, at least the AZ story) if she was able to read the text. They literally showed the exact scene from X/Y on the monitors. Also, there weren't that many cosplayers, but that doesn't really matter. Just saying.
In conclusion, I totally recommend you go to this event if you get a chance. You'll enjoy it very much, and may even become nostalgic. You'll also feel the sense of togetherness within the community.
I hope you enjoyed this review! Don't forget to visit them at http://www.pokemonsymphony.com for updates on schedule and other stuff.
Also, if you want to preview the music before deciding to go, here are some links to the whole setlist on YouTube. Just don't spoil all of it for yourself. These videos were not uploaded by me by the way, just throwing that out there.
Generation 1 (Red/Blue [Green]/Yellow): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwQI2jBXfgs
Generation 2 (Gold/Silver/Crystal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zuzpo7ZYCxU
Generation 3 (Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx2LEjSzEk0
Generation 4 (Diamond/Pearl/Platinum): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30JIE8mSiUo
Generation 5 (Black/White): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ7K8jlVWWg
Generation 6 (X/Y): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWQ3I4zKD08
~Firestar & Co.
(P.S. I didn't take any pictures, sorry. I took some video though. I will have those up eventually.)
(P.S.S. If I have any incorrect information, feel free to contact me and I will fix it right away.)
