The Final Fantasy series is one of great animation, storyline, and among more things, music. The scores of even the oldest games are filled with moving masterpieces, splendid solos, and dramatic ditties, and so when favoured tracks of the best games are orchestrated live on stage, it's something to celebrate. Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy does just that, and with a performance this past November 27th, their popularity has never been higher.

The show began with orchestrations from some late 90s classics, Final Fantasy VIII, followed by a first-time-in-North-America performance of the Final Fantasy I, II, and III re-arrangement medley. Throughout the concert, favourites were played to appeal to all the fans, like VII's "Aerith's Theme" and "Bombing Mission," and even X's "To Zanarkand."

One of the highlights of this performance was hearing some previously unheard music from the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV, which easily gave the fans something to look forward to with both the game and its soundtrack.

A myriad of special guests appeared to help out with the performance, including a flamenco guitarist to help with a couple songs (Valla Alla Flamenco most notably), a vocalist to sing alongside the Kitchener-Waterloo Orchestra during some Final Fantasy XIII tracks, and a triad of singers to perform the "Opera: Maria and Draco." Why, Nobuo Uematsu himself, a regular guest of honour at these shows, joined the choir to sing the "One-Winged Angel" finale.

Following the show, a meet-and-greet was held to give the fans a chance to talk with Arnie Roth and Nobuo Uematsu, and even have some of their memorabilia signed. A great way to end a fantastic show, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's eagerly awaiting the next performance of theirs in the area.

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