Elden Ring Symphonic Adventure – Paris 2024 [Concert summary]

Yesterday, Saturday, January 13th, was the world premiere of ‘Elden Ring Symphonic Adventure’ at the Palais des Congres (Paris, France), in a sold-out concert produced by Overlook Events, performed by the Orchestre et Chœur Colonne conducted by Adrian Ronda Sampayo.

Our friend and collaborator Javier Gil Pérez, manager of the Universal Symphony Orchestra, attended the concert and leaves us this summary and a wonderful photographic report.

The Palais des Congres in Paris had been sold out for months for yesterday’s concert, Saturday, January 13, to kick off the 2024 tour of ‘Elden Ring Symphonic Adventure’ (read more). A total of 3723 people, eager to listen to the music of their favorite video game in concert, following the “Symphonic Adventure” format, which Overlook Events is so good at producing.

On stage, the Orchestre et Chœur Colonne, a symphony orchestra of 75 musicians, complemented by 120 choir voices. An impressive deployment, for an impressive production, with the most demanding technical and musical complexity seen to date in Overlook Events‘ projects.

At the helm of such a show, the conductor Adrián Ronda Sampayo, an expert in leading live video game music concerts, regardless of their size and complexity, as attested by projects such as the successful ‘Assassin’s Creed – Symphonic Adventure’ that visited Barcelona in May 2023 (read more).

We know that the director, from the moment he learned of the start of this project, dedicated more than 170 hours to immerse himself in the game in its entirety to understand and visualize any connection between music and images; something that was perfectly latent in the concert, along with his mastery and execution in the direction of the 200 artists on stage. And it is not about sitting down to watch a simple movie, as Elden Ring is a dense and complex game, which had a spectacular audiovisual montage, merged perfectly with the music (thanks to the synchronization with ‘click-track’).

The concert lasted 3 hours (with a 20min break included), and the program was as follows:

As for the musical side, apart from the extensive and wonderfully prepared score, it is worth mentioning the fabulous sonority and the great matching of the orchestra and the choir, with a perfectly balanced staff and well-worked nuances, which provided from melodious and melancholic moments in the calmer parts, to powerful and well-controlled “fortes” in the epic moments of the battles.

In the technical part of sound, I must highlight the work of Arne Bock, who for his vast experience and CV working in shows like with Joe Hisaishi himself, has become a fixed point of guarantee and confidence in the sound of the Overlook Events’ shows. Applying his personal “sound signature”, it is worth mentioning his work with the 200 artists of the event. An important point to highlight were the stereo sound effects (like in a home cinema) of the video game itself, which sounded in some areas of the auditorium at specific times and were strategically placed (each and every one of them), prior to an acoustic study of the room by Arne Bock himself, so the sounds could be appreciated from any location where you were sitting.

Talking about the lights, highlight the good fit and the harmony of the effects applied, as can be seen in the photos, which did not take away the prominence of the screen or the orchestra, forming and providing a perfect packaging of colors, to perfectly accompany each of the scenes. This accompaniment was made both on the side walls of the hall, as well as on the stage itself, embellishing and helping to organically highlight the great orchestra and choir. At certain moments it could even be seen that an important message was to be transmitted on the screen, in dialogue scenes, and thus, the lights decreased their intensity or disappeared directly to focus and capture the viewer’s attention.

In the audiovisual part, the video clips were fundamental to immerse us in the story, and they told us chronologically the plot of the videogame. At times the image took the center stage over the music, which managed to perfectly narrate the plot of the video game in its entirety.

Much of the musical themes that were included in the concert are based on the battles against the main enemies with which the protagonist is facing (I imagine that as he rises and increases levels) something that leads us to very epic themes during almost the entire concert.

Overlook Events continues taking care and pampering the spectator, since apart from offering a show like few others do, they left a complete deluxe hand program placed in each of the 3,723 seats of the auditorium, and stablished a merchandising store in the hall of the venue. In addition, there was the possibility of acquiring VIP tickets, which apart from offering the best locations, included a merchandising gift bag and access to the dress rehearsal prior to the event.

In my personal opinion, looking at the projects of this style in which I have worked and those in which I have gone to enjoy as a spectator, “Elden Ring Symphonic Adventure” is undoubtedly the most complex artistically and visually of the ones I have seen, and although I am a complete ignorant of its music and the video game itself, the show has hooked me from minute one. Therefore, I consider it to be the best “Symphonic Adventure” of the French producers, to date, and I would dare to say that one of the best, most complete, and complex, that the viewer can find and enjoy worldwide. Fortunately, and if I’m not mistaken, this will not be the only world premiere that Overlook Events will give us in 2024, and I hope we will enjoy Elden Ring in Spain within its European tour soon, as well as the upcoming releases planned for this year, which are always synonymous with quality.

Yoann Berger, Romain Dasnoy, and Cédric Littardi, producers of Overlook Events and of this “ELDEN RING SYMPHONIC ADVENTURE” have created a wonderful, complete, and complex show, not only for the enjoyment of fans of the video game itself, but for any lover of this type of symphonic and visual spectacles. In my opinion, it is a risky and brave bet, since ‘Elden Ring’ is not a video game for all tastes or all audiences. It requires a certain maturity and is a game for an experienced audience, and this you can notice (especially if you are unfamiliar with the game as was my case), as you watch the evolution of the show. A show that I was delighted to see and enjoy, although I recognize that it is probably not a game that the average user of video games would play. And being perfectly aware of this aspect, the producers of Overlook Events, have created, in my opinion, a cult show with one of the greatest works of art in the world of video games.

Article and pictures by Javier Gil Pérez