Zelda Symphony Concert Coming to Hawaii

If you were a kid during the “golden age of arcade video games,” chances are you lost many potentially productive hours to a Nintendo game system. As a result, even today, the sound of 8-bit music likely sparks waves of nostalgia. In my case, the theme to Super Mario Bros. is a reliable earworm, a melody that gets stuck in my head every time I hear it.

For many, the music from the Zelda game series is similarly rooted deep in their brains. Does this ring a bell?

If either of these songs trigger warm, happy feelings, then you’re going to want to check out the Zelda Symphony, which is now on a world-wide concert tour in which a real orchestra plays music from the classic video game. In January, this unique, geek culture experience is coming to Honolulu. The special, single performance at the Blaisdell Center on Friday, Jan. 30 is “Master Quest,” the third installment of the concert series, put together by Zelda composer Koji Kondo.

The music, which includes “never before performed scores” as well as the four-movement symphonic work from the previous season, will be “carefully and expertly timed with a gorgeous, larger than life video presentation” of “new gameplay imagery.” For a taste of the Zelda Symphony experience, turn to YouTube:

Tickets range in price from $39 to $125 and are available now via Ticketmaster. Or, if you’re willing to publicly promote the event on Twitter or Facebook (and tag a friend in the process), the folks at Mana Mai Tai Co. are holding a giveaway contest for two VIP tickets. The Mana Mai Cai Co. team is pretty excited about the concert, and even commissioned special Hawaii-themed Zelda art for the occasion by Alex Bertubin.