All for the express purpose of going back to Cologne, Germany on September 12, 2009. So I can see this live. The most fucking awesome orchestral concert using video game music ever.
They also did a Final Fantasy and Kingdom hearts medley, both very good, but Secret of Mana was where my jaw first dropped. Seriously, listen to this people.
Thanks for sharing that Val! It warmed my heart on this cold fall morning.
I wish I could see it live too… since whoever recorded the audio thought it would be a good idea to use a dynamic mic, which ironically is pretty bad at picking up the dynamics of an orchestra. It also creates an incessant hissing noise in the background if you don’t have (or don’t know how to use) noise removal software.
I thought the arrangements were pretty boring too… they were mostly just the main themes of each game. I was expecting medleys. The SoM arrangement didn’t have a single standout song from the game, like Tell A Strange Tale or either of the boss themes or Did You See The Ocean.
The Chrono arrangement had too much Cross and not enough Trigger. The only fight theme they thought to use was Gale… which they made sound decent, but still… ouch.
These were cool in the sense that its rare to see any video game concerts ever, but the music itself, I wouldn’t listen to in my free time.
Edit: The FF arrangement is pretty good though, definitely WAY better than Chrono and Mana… probably combined. They actually played Phantom Forest and Battle On The Big Bridge. Not bad.
Edit2: Ugh… did they have to play the chocobo theme TWICE? And both 7 fight themes among half a dozen other 7 songs? These guys desperately need to branch out a bit. And now I’m hearing the main theme again… This is bullshit. If I went to a concert expecting to hear orchestrated versions of my favourite VGM and they started playing repeats, I’d want my fucking money back.
No matter how much you hate Chrono Cross (and, admittedly, it would not be a completely unjustified hatred), even you couldn’t look me in the face and tell me that the soundtrack wasn’t awesome.
But seriously, this rocks. When they started playing Prisoners of Fate and segued into To Far Away Times, I felt a shiver down my spine.
CC in general was pretty good, but Gale is the worst fight theme I’ve heard in any game, ever.
We’re actually having a similar concert this Sunday in San Juan.
Unfortunately I found only yesterday, too late to make arrangements to go. 
Oh well, maybe next time.
I’m only on part 1 and I’ve got goosebumps from the Scars of Time part. Looking forward to the others.