Last night, a group of around two hundred eager listeners-fans of videogames, music, and film–filed into the Church of Saint Paul the Apostle. These well dressed New York Film Festival goers were there to view an audio visual experience that would be like no other. A holy cathedral would be the setting for the celebration of one of the most violent, misogynistic, and labeled evil video game’s soundtrack.
GTA V released two weeks ago, has received nearly unanimous praise from critics and fans a like. Last night, Rockstar Games brought together the composers that were responsible for the highly regarded soundtrack. Tangerine Dream, Woody Jackson, Om’Mas Keith, and The Alchemist & Oh No were all in the building throwing down cinematic sounds that had the crowd fully engrossed and captivated.
To be honest, half of the set list sounded unfamiliar. Tangerine Dream is a classic ambient band, which couldn’t be further from hip hop. Woody Jackson has composed music for Rockstar previously, but his music remains a relative mystery. Om’Mas Keith is a world reknown artist and composer, and definitely showed that last night. What I did know though, was the fact that I loved Grand Theft Auto V and I love hip hop. The Alchemist & Oh No definitely handled their business on the hip hop tip.
The amount of amazing images thrown at the audience during the concert was mind-boggling. There was a screen behind the musicians, displaying the scale of Los Santos & Blaine County–the setting of GTA V–and different scenes from missions throughout the solo campaign. Meshed together with the live music, it was a lot to handle. Seeing the beautifully rendered night skyline of Los Santos, as Tangerine Dream and a orchestra plays melodic ambient music was something that many in crowd hadn’t ever experience and were likely to never see again.
During the Franklin segments, the Alchemist and Oh No both shined. They meshed their sample and dusty vinyl sound perfectly with the sounds of the other world renown musicians. Sonically it was impressive hearing the fusion of genres so diverse for a medium as interactive as videogames.
After an hour and half, the concert was finished. The musicians took their final bows, the screen displayed to its green “V” home screen. The audience began their fateful trek out into the street, departing to an unknown number of separate locations. Perhaps they came in confused about the purpose of the concert, holding a natural prejudice for the unfamiliar, or even excited to hear the music from their favorite videogame live. No matter what though, they left with a new understanding and appreciating for the talent of the musicians who were behind some of the most subtly powerful sounds.
