FF: Distant Worlds Returns to Vancouver

 
Uematsu was actually here this time.

Welcome back, Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds.

So the actual day (July 27) ended up being horribly planned, generating plenty of frustration and annoyance.

First it was me debating whether I should drive+skytrain my way in downtown earlier or just simply getting a ride from a friend. Figuring that driving should be easier for the way back, I opted for the ride but the driver was late. Another friend wanted a ride in the last minute so we made a detour before heading to our food destination, Guu Garden.  After having a bit of trouble finding the restaurant, we finally sat down but then waited around for two other latecomers.  When they arrived we quickly ordered but the food took ridiculously longer than it should've and so we ended up cutting it short to speed-walk our way there.  When we got to the Opheum, we waited some more for the driver friend to park and get his cosplay gear *headdesk*... many moments later, some of us decided to make our way in first to find that it had already started.

The first track, although watched from the TV screen outside, was FFVIII's Opening (Bombing Mission) which I think was the same opener from the first concert (the footage was the same as well).  Other tracks they brought back from the last Distant Worlds were VI's opera (same three opera singers too!), Vamo' alla Flamenco, and the Theme of Love to name a few.  Some nice additions this time were To Zanarkand, JENOVA, Man with the Machine Gun and You're Not Alone.  They also featured a track from XIV which, in fact, is my starting city area's field music! Speaking of which, bikini update! P:

I wanted to strangle someone when they, once again, chose One Winged Angel as the encore but they did spruce it up this time with karaoke (although it doesn't change the fact that it's still OWA).  This makes it the FOURTH video game concert with the same encore, and I've only been to four in total ever.  I was also deeply disappointed there wasn't anything from XI... although I suppose it would've just been Ronfaure or the CoP theme again :(  See, if they were able to feature Hamauzu's FFXIII Blinded By Light, they should feature something Mizuta Naoshi has done in XI like the delicious Ragnarok or any of his stuff from WotG.  But sigh.  Wishful thinking.

After the concert we headed to Earl's for some food and drinks (deja vu).  Mmmm sangria and wings.

Oh yeah, we had horse sashimi at Guu Garden and, well, you just can't explain what it tastes like so just eat it for yourself to find out.