Hey y'all!

For those of you who aren't friends on Facebook, my wife and I just went to Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy in Omaha, Nebraska yesterday, March 21. I got VIP tickets, and that included a meet-and-greet with legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu, as well as conductor Arnie Roth. What a concert! It had such favorites as Terra's theme and the Opera from FFVI (complete with vocals!) Blinded by Light from FFXIII, Unrequited Love from FFIX, and of course, that perennial favorite, One-Winged Angel (which Mr. Uematsu requested the audience to sing the "Sephiroth!" part.) Since the 21st was also Mr. Uematsu's birthday, the audience sang "Happy Birthday" while the orchestra played. And then, the best part - I got to meet the legendary Mr. Uematsu face-to-face!

Ever since I booted up Final Fantasy VI for the first time way back in 1994, I have been a fan of Mr. Uematsu's music, and to be able to meet him in person was incredible and well worth driving through four hours' worth of endless wheat fields in Kansas and Nebraska. No offense to those of you who live in and love Kansas and Nebraska.

Anyway, here's a pic of me and my wife posing with Mr. Uematsu (left) and Mr. Roth (right):


And here's my souvenir: my copy of Final Fantasy IX, freshly signed by Mr. Uematsu.



This was an awesome trip, and I was excited to be able to meet one of my heroes. Hopefully Distant Worlds will be playing in Dallas or Oklahoma City in the near future!

Hopefully it finds its way to Detroit, I'd eat that shit right up. How about Final Fantasy VII main theme? I think that's my favorite by him.

If that's an original unopened Black Label he signed you're in the money! Sounds like it was pretty fantastic.

On a side note- NOTHING is worth driving through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska. NOTHING. That's coming from a Texan who currently resides in Tulsa...so, yeah.

@BretBaber: They didn't play Main Theme of FFVII this time. I'd love to hear that played live, because it was the most epic overworld music ever just on the PS1. However, their other selections were very well done. "Unrequited Love" (the Alexandria theme on Disc 4) was something they'd never played before, and they played it because it was Mr. Uematsu's personal favorite song that he's done and it was for his birthday. Check www.ffdistantworlds.com for their schedule.

@pspiddy: It's an original copy, but not unsealed. That's the copy I got as a Christmas gift in 2000, the year the game came out. He signed the front insert after I removed it from the case. I thought of bringing my Final Fantasy VI cartridge to be signed since that was my first experience with the FF series. Maybe next time.

I live in Norman myself, but I'd have driven to this concert if they were holding it in North Dakota, that's how awesome it was.

Nice man. Glad you had a great time there.

I really wish I could go to those kinds of concerts, but sadly it's pretty much impossible for a concert like that to come to Colombia.

That' sawesome! I'm mad jelly! I want to hear the orchestral version of Blinded by Light too!

Glad you had such a great experience, man!

I just love the main theme from VII so much. If I went and they didn't play that, my heart would hurt a little. What about Liberi Fitali? That's a must.

@Krubixcube: The orchestral version of Blinded by Light was incredible.

@BretBaber: They decide a lot of what gets played by concertgoers via Facebook/Twitter in the days running up to the concert what they'd like to hear. Mr. Uematsu also gets some input into the selections. Other than Unrequited Love, he also requested Swing de Chocobo (FFX Chocobo theme) be played. Yes, they did play Liberi Fatali in Omaha. I'd like them to do an orchestral rendition of Kefka's Tower myself.

That's so freaking cool!

Nice! I keep missing FF Concerts when they come to London, including Distant Worlds last November. I always seem to be the last person to find out about them

Sounds like you had a blast