I am wondering how all this happened, but this fall Sweden is the best place in the world to be in if you love game music concerts. In the end of September, there was a Halo concert in Stockholm, celebrating the launch of Halo 3, tomorrow November 8, and the day after, there will be a unique concert called Joystick 2.0 in Malmö, in the southern of Sweden and December 4 is the day of the world-premiere of the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy tour. And some days ago I visited Norway for a Play! Symphony concert there. Two highlights: One-Winged Angel rock version and Dreamfall Suite. They also performed Metallica's "One", complete with rock band (Machinae Supremacy), orchestra and singer.

But now it is time to tell you about this Joystick 2.0 concert. It is being held in Malmö Concert Hall and is a Swedish production. The concert program talks for itself:

Nintendo Medley
Super Metroid
StarFox
Castlevania
Super Mario Bros.
The Legend of Zelda

Final Fantasy VII
Main Theme

Final Fantasy VIII
Liberi Fatali

Secret of Mana
Fear of the Angels

Suikoden
Into a World of Illusions

Shadow of the Colossus
Sign of the Colossus
Revived Power
End of the Battle

BioShock
Cohen's Master Piece (Solo Piano)
Main Theme
Dr Steinmann
Welcome to Rapture

Killzone
Helghast March

Commodore 64 Medley
Defender of the Crown
Commando
Delta
The Way of the Exploding Fist
The Last Ninja
M.U.L.E.
Monty on the Run

Untold Legends
Mychty Personne

Halo
Finish the Fight
Halo
Leonidas
Unforgotten

Spider-Man 3
Suite

Why the name "2.0"? The first Joystick concert was held in August last year and was an outdoor event in Malmö City. It was free attendance and a 1 hour 15 minute concert. There were estimates of up to 17 000 people in the crowd, which makes it the single biggest game music event in the world! Check out photos here:
http://spelmusik.net/artiklar/joystick.html

I promise to send a report about the upcoming concert.

Ha ha, a C64 medley. There's something you'll never hear in an American VGM concert program.

Johan, I've really enjoyed the interviews on the Spelmusik website.  It's great to see Hiroki Kikuta and Miki Higashino represented at this concert.  Looking forward to the report and many more game music events for Sweden.

I want to be in Sweden.

Someone get me Fear of the Angels and Revived Power. I do not care what cavity you have to smuggle the recorder in. There will be considerable karmic rewards.

Props for them not using the standard "FF obligatory concert pieces."  ...and I'll second jeriaska's comment about Hiroki Kikuta getting much love.

Why the hell is France always left out?Why don't we have crazy concerts like you Swedish,US,or Japanese people?Whyyy?
Same comment as Dais.I want this sound too.

Suikoden
Into a World of Illusions

wish i could be there, great lineup!
i did never doubt swedens taste.

I will be coming to the Distant worlds concert with other Finnish people, but I wish I could have attended this one too. I hadn't heard about this until now, for that matter. Great to see some other stuff like Suikoden, Secret of Mana and even Starfox! I love that game, and the Nintendo 64 sequel Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars.