Star Wars without John Williams simply wouldn't be the epic franchise that it is today.  Williams and his theme-driven scores helped influence not only the galaxy that lies so far away, but also the way that blockbuster films have been scored since then.  Now that the Williams era has transitioned more to the Hans Zimmer method of scoring , I think a venue like Star Wars in Concert serves as a tremendous reminder of just how good film music can and should be. 

 

I was fortunate enough to blast off to the Philadelphia concert, courtesy of David Barber, the terrific public relations representative for the tour, and was plenty stoked about the experience.  Having enjoyed John Williams in concert a few years back, and then a Video Games Live experience soon thereafter, I had grown into a big fan of these type of events.  In fact, I think these types of concerts can potentially be a new wave of entertainment!

As I buckled in for the jump to lightspeed, I noticed a rather large turnout had gathered in Philadelphia's Wachovia Center for this concert event.  When the lights dimmed and the 20th Century Fox fanfare was keyed up by the orchestra, it marked a fantastic beginning for more excitement to come..  Projecting montages from the Star Wars series atop a mammoth projection screen, the classic opening titles were launched and the crowd was keyed up and so was I.  Hearing the music performed live in this manner by so many talented musicians, music that I grew up with and adored, made for a memory that I will not soon shed.  The world of Star Wars was new again.

 

Or was it?

 

I noticed that the video clips implemented for the concert were the very same segments that were released with the Episode III soundtrack's bonus disc back in 2005.  Though this critique only applies to the die-hard fans who were crazy enough to watch those Star Wars videos countless times before Revenge of the Sith debuted (like me), part of the experience was a bit tarnished due to my familiarity with the video content.  I was hoping that there would have been more uniquely original montages to be seen as the music played on.  However, that irk aside, there is very little that one can point out as a flaw about this production.  Dirk Brosse and the orchestra performed Williams' music with energy and perfection, bringing the area and each fan's imagination to life.  At the end of the day, as we celebrate on Endor, Cloud City and Tatoinne with the rest of our heroes, there's not much more we can ask for.