The “Game of Thrones” Live Concert Experience orchestra and choir stopped in Atlanta on Sept. 24 for an original performance that recreated the original score from “Game of Thrones.” with accompanying visuals from the show on a screen behind the orchestra. While it was a nostalgic experience, the concert itself was extremely disappointing and failed to deliver on my high expectations.
The most positive comment I can offer about the tour is that it exists. As a huge fan of not only the television show but also the incredible music that Ramin Djawadi produced for it, I was grateful to attend a concert that reimagined themes of the show’s different houses and relive some of its most infamous scenes.
Although the concert included visuals from the show, I was disappointed to find that the scenes were projected in a bizarre compilation style that didn’t correspond to the music being played. During the Battle of Blackwater in Season 2, the TV show complemented the scenes with an enthralling original piece of music called “Don’t Die With a Clean Sword.” I was dismayed when the orchestra instead chose to play a variety of random music when those scenes were projected. Additionally, other beloved songs that scored important tonal shifts in the show, such as Jorah Mormont’s theme, “I Need You by My Side,” and Season 5’s “The Wars To Come,” were omitted entirely. Some of the scenes that were adapted faithfully weren’t synced correctly with the visuals. A few jarring technical decisions interrupted the immersive capacity of the performance. Sometimes scenes from episodes played with audio that clashed with the orchestral and choral performance. This was an incredibly poor decision: not only was the audio quality particularly grainy but the voices of the characters were also indecipherable, which made their inclusion in the concert worthless.
Despite the performance’s shortcomings, the concert did adapt certain pieces and scenes quite well. For example, the orchestra’s rendition of the “Light of the Seven” theme from the Season 6 finale, Season 6’s “Let’s Play a Game” from “Battle of the Bastards,” Season 7’s “Spoils of War” and Season 8’s “The Night King” were compelling, and these segments of the show reignited my excitement. The concert also featured two lyrical pieces, “The Rains of Castamere” and “Jenny of Oldstones” from Season 8, which the vocalists sang beautifully.
The “Game of Thrones” Live Concert Experience was an interesting venture into the world of TV show music. However, Djawadi’s incredible music deserved a better performance than what this tour provided. Despite its varied imperfections and lack of completely fulfilled expectations, the concert was still an unusual experience in its own right, and it’s worth attending if you are a “Game of Thrones” fan.
Grade: C
