This past Thursday I surprised my husband Jonathan with tickets to the Dallas Symphony. That’s all I told him, and he didn’t take it as a happy surprise because the President of his company called a developer meeting that very day putting the pressure on the team to work harder and because he was seemingly unprepared for the symphony in cut-off cargo shorts. But the show that evening was Video Games Live.

What a mixed bag of symphony-goers! Classy couples in black suits and dresses sat aside rebellious teens in black tees screen printed with the acronym RTFM. Link waited his turn in the Will Call line. Ages ranged from six to sixty—but they were all gamers (potentially except for the symphony season ticket holders, likely those in suits?).

I observed a Guitar Hero II tournament while sipping a gin and tonic. I asked Jonathan, “Do you get it yet?”

“Yeah, we’re at the symphony and there are video games here,” he replied, still distracted by the work that awaited him at the office.

We took our seats amongst an enthusiastic crowd. The conductor took the stage like a rock star as the audience howled. The symphony commenced in sync with lasers and a big screen projector. For most of the show, I found myself contemplating which was more amazing: the simplicity of the millennia-old technology of air movement though a metal tube to create a multitude of color and emotion through sound, or the still-evolving composition of basal zeros and ones to form a visual symphony of game play.  The juxtaposition of the two was elegant.

Jonathan warmed up and relaxed after the intermission and a stiff Crown and Coke when the must-hear scores began to play. The Internet-famed Martin Leung performed the Super Mario Bros. theme on the piano while blind folded and also checked the Tetris theme off the must-hear list. The Dallas Symphony delighted the crowd with the Final Fantasy VII score, and affirmed the outing by performing the World of Warcraft theme—Jonathan’s favorite.

Overall, I give the show 4 out of 5 stars. I had high expectations of being overwhelmed; I was merely entertained. The audience participation bit was slightly disappointing as the motion feedback device was frustratingly sluggish; however, the second audience participation piece rectified the first when a 15-year-old girl totally pwnd an 18-year-old boy at classic Fogger—which was released 10 years before she was born, by the way--winning herself a $2500 AMD-powered Acer Ferarri laptop (which Jonathan says is awesome … a year and a half ago).

In closing, the next time Video Games Live comes to your town, definitely check it out—and leave the tie at home!