Orchestra Victoria Brings Indie Symphony II to Melbourne

The first week of July saw two spectacular nights of video game music given the full symphonic treatment. These nights were hosted by Orchestra Victoria at the legendary Hamer Hall in Melbourne, Australia. Meena Shamaly had the hosting honours, known for a show on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio which is about, you guessed it, video game music. Personally, as a Melbourne local, it has been a real privilege to see the city become a hub of video game culture, and the nation as a whole producing so many games.

Music featured selections from indie titles, notably UNDERTALE, Darkest Dungeon, Slay the Spire, and Hades II, among other big indie hits. A real highlight and delight was none other than Untitled Goose Game. The one big mega AAA title featured in the lineup was Baldur's Gate III.

The 2-hour setlist wowed the audience with unique renditions of video game soundtracks, and the audience was a welcoming mix of gamer and non-gamer crowd. And so, whether you were just a video game buff or someone who also understood the finer nuances of a symphony orchestra, both audience types were comfortably catered.

We were lucky to be invited to the performances and want to share our experience with all of you.

Jahanzeb Khan

There have been video game symphony concerts in Australia before, but these were catered to a niche audience. I remember an organisation called Eminence, which at the time scored some pretty impressive games, SoulCalibur included, but I recall the presentation and production leaving a lot to be desired. Then there was Video Games Live and other overseas imports, but we definitely needed something to call our own. Indie Symphony was a much-welcome production which warranted the follow-up that I got to attend.

I have an interesting relationship with UNDERTALE. For one thing, I think the gameplay is rather boring! Secondly, the storyline is hammy at best, but even as a naysayer, I could never say a bad word about the incredible soundtrack composed by Toby Fox. Indie Symphony II featured a medley of tunes from the soundtrack that really took players on a journey through key moments of the game's story. I was especially thrilled to hear 'Hopes and Dreams', which is a track I often listen to for inspiration.

If there was a performance that stole the show, it would have to be the Untitled Orchestra from Untitled Goose Game. It was a wonder how the cheeky, whimsical music of the game would translate into a serious orchestra performance. They succeeded in putting together a serious rendition that retained a sense of humour too, thanks to the addition of the signature goose 'Honk', in an on-point performance by Daniel Golding. It made the audience laugh throughout, and was a fun moment to share with everyone.

Closing off the show was an epic medley of Baldur's Gate III, and the way the performances were sequenced, it really took the audience through an immersive journey, with host Meena Shamaly really succinctly and eloquently presenting the themes underlying the music and the games they came from. Meena did a great job speaking to a wider audience; no video game expertise was assumed from the crowd, and personally, it's great to see video games presented this way to include more people in the experience and conversation. You don't even have to play video games or be a gamer to be moved by the emotion and story told by its soundtrack.

On a similar note, I'll probably never play through UNDERTALE, but I will always enjoy its soundtrack in full, and felt lucky to see it performed live at Indie Symphony II.

Jam Walker

I actually attended the performance with a small degree of Fake Gamer Syndrome; of the ten games whose music was featured, I'd only played four and only completed one!

Here's the thing, though: it didn't matter.

Every piece was impeccably performed and presented, and each was entirely powerful and evocative enough to stand tall without the context of the work they were pulled from.

For further proof of this, I actually took along my mum as my plus one, and she hugely enjoyed it from start to finish!

It's truly heartwarming to see established cultural institutions such as Orchestra Victoria embrace more pop-cultural fare and have audiences enthusiastically respond in kind. It's also an incredibly smart way for them to attract a younger and more diverse audience, a problem plaguing 'high-art' organisations the world over.

Seeing Austin Wintory conduct music from his ABZÛ score was an unexpected treat, and the extended medley from local smash Cult of the Lamb was powerfully moving, given the recent sudden death of its beloved composer Narayana Johnson, also known as River Boy.

Though I know it had been done elsewhere years ago, I'm still just in complete awe as to how Toby Fox's infectious UNDERTALE chiptune score was converted for a full orchestra. It's a testament to the brilliance of the tunes themselves that it could actually work, but I cannot for one second comprehend what the process of doing so must have involved!

My mum also told me a day later that she kept thinking about 'the one that featured the clapping', otherwise known as Catch Me! by Thomas Brunet from Chants of Sennaar.

I sincerely hope that we don't have to wait another two years for Indie Symphony III, though if we do, hopefully I can find time to actually finish Baldur's Gate III by then.

Orchestra Victoria did an amazing job by putting on back-to-back nights of Indie Symphony II, with both being near sellouts too. A real highlight was having some of the original composers join on stage and share their stories and how they crafted the various scores. It was a special evening, not just of enjoying music, but of discovering more about the creative process behind some of our favourite compositions.

Special thanks to Arts Centre Melbourne for providing SUPERJUMP with tickets.