Puscifer New York Concert reviews
Great show, but needs more music
A brilliant host, Anthony Daniels was. The synchronization of the music to the video, lights, and lasers was spot on. The giant screen was crystal clear, and before the concert began, there were original costumes on display from the films (mostly from Revenge of the Sith) featuring a full orchestra and choir. Also, there were a few stormtroopers and Imperial officers walking around in costume for photo ops.
As far as the music itself is concerned, I'd give the performance 4 stars. Most of the music they played were suites throughout the saga (Duel of Fates, Across the Stars, Leia's Theme, Yoda's Theme, Luke & Leia, etc.) John Williams music is so great that it's still very enjoyable even with the few errors I heard during the performance. There were only a few instances where they performed actual underscore from the films. I would have liked to have heard more of the score (rather than the suites) but the pieces that they did perform were the best musical pieces from the saga.
That said, it was an enjoyable concert, but I was hoping for a little more in terms of music. The lights, lasers, and pyrotechnics were cool, but a little distracting from the music (especially the lasers). Worst of all, however, was the occasional dialogue from the films that was played during the performances. I'll watch the films if I want to hear the actors, thank you very much.
If you stick around long enough after the last piece, they'll give you one more song once the show's over. Altogether, I think there was about 1:45 of actual performance. I'd have gladly sacrificed the costume displays, pyrotechnics, giant screen, etc. for a 2:30 concert. It probably would have cost less without all those things, too. For us, it was the Imperial March. A fantastic piece of music, yes, but they'd already played it earlier in the show. I wish in anticipation of an encore, they'd prepared a song that wasn't already part of the program.
Overall, it was a great show, and I recommend it to any Star Wars fan, or anyone who can appreciate soundtracks, as this is a great performance of some of the best soundtracks of all time. If you're going to the concert just for the music (like I did), you may find some of the effects distracting, but if you're looking forward to all the extra stuff they have in addition to the music, you won't be disappointed in the least!