Star Wars in Concert at the Spokane Arena on Saturday, June 19th
I feel like I need to get this out before I go into detail, so here it goes… I have never seen any of the Star Wars movies. I know, I know… but after seeing Star Wars in Concert I feel like I need to watch all of the movies right now. Matt got to shoot the show earlier so he knew what was in store, and told me we had to get their early. Therefore we excitedly and quickly made our walk to the Arena.
Sure enough they turned the entire outer ring of the Arena into a Star Wars Museum! You could see movie sketches, props, sheet music, full cast costumes like Chewbacca, Yoda, Ewoks, The Royal Guards, Darth Vader and many other cool pieces. You could also take photos unlike in most museums; there were even back drops to get your photo taken in front of and the best part was you could meet some of the movie characters. I got to meet Stormtroppers and a Sandtropper, and a very scary sand person, I got to see Darth Vader from about four feet (he was pretty popular) I was told I couldn’t meet him so I stood back in front of him and got my photo taken. Before the show even started I was extremely impressed and blown away by all the cool stuff you could see and learn.
When you got into your seat it was a shock to see a giant LED screen that looked like twice the size of a movie theater screen. As soon as the lights dimmed the symphony got your attention by playing two familiar songs the “20th Century Fox Theme Song” and then “the Star Wars Theme Song.” I instantly got excited like the little five year old girl sitting in front of us. Anthony Daniels who plays C-P3O was our host for the evening, he did a great job directing us through each Star Wars segment and making us all laugh.
Under the huge LED screen sat an entire symphony orchestra and chorus that sounded so perfect the entire night it almost felt like it was recorded. You would get so wrapped up in watching the clips on the screen that you hear the music and think it is being played but then you look below the screen and there are all of these extremely talented musicians moving their hands and it is mind blowing. They did a fantastic job with Williams’ music and it was beautifully conducted by Dirk Brosse. Probably one of the best symphony’s I have ever seen. Just stunning.
The clips from all of the six different Star Wars films were constructed to blend smoothly and compliment the music. It is definitely a one of a kind media music experience. They also had fun with green lasers and lighting. It was such a cool concert. The segment’s that were performed were “Dark Forces Conquer,” “A Hero Rises,” “Droids,” “A Race With Destiny,” “A Fateful Love,” “A Hero Falls,” “An Empire is Forced,” and then after intermission “A Narrow Escape,” “A Defender Emerges,” “An Unlikely Love,” “A Jedi is Trained,” “A Strike for Freedom,” “A Bond Unbroken,” “Sanctuary Moon,” “A Life Redeemed,” and last but not least “A New Day Dawns.”
For new or old fans or just for the curious this is well worth seeing in concert. You don’t need to be a die-hard to experience it and to have fun… if anything like in my case it just made me want to learn more about the Star Wars saga. As Anthony Daniels said “May the force be with you, always.”
Photos courtesy of Matt Auclair.
