The651.com

Family activities usually fall in to 2 categories: stuff the kids like that the parents tolerate, and stuff the parents like that the kids get dragged along to. Every now and again something comes along that is equally awesome for both parties, and I was banking on “Star Wars – In Concert” being one of those things.

I grew up in the heyday of the original Star Wars movies, and man was I into it. And not just the movies, I had the soundtrack albums, the action figures, books, comics, toys, everything. Dominic is now about the same age I was at the time, and he discovered Star Wars via the “Clone Wars” TV show on Cartoon Network – a show we both love and often watch together.

It’s no exaggeration to say that I wore out the grooves on the soundtrack records (yes, vinyl records) for the original Star Wars trilogy back in the day, so let me just say that this review of the show looks at it from 2 different perspectives: that of a parent looking for good family fun, and that of a huge Star Wars nerd.

I’ll cut right to chase and say that from both perspectives the show was TOTALLY AWESOME.

On arrival, the cross-generational appeal of Star Wars was obvious. People of all ages were there wearing Star Wars and Clone Wars T-shirts of various kinds, toting life-sized lightsabers and even sporting a few costumes. A number of props and artifacts from the films were on exhibition, including weapons, helmets, a full-size Chewbacca, some pages from the original music score and some panels of amazing concept art.

I had seen pictures and read about the show beforehand obviously, but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect until we got in our seats and the show began. On stage was a huge orchestra backed by a large choir and surrounded by futuristic looking lights. Behind all of this was a gigantic video screen, which was bordered by meshes of LED lights that took on the color and texture of the video being shown.

The show started with an arrangement of the traditional Star Wars opening title theme, during which the screen showed close-ups of the musicians and the conductor. I’ve seen a lot of orchestral concerts, so my expectations for sound quality in a hockey arena were pretty low, but it really sounded great – surprisingly good really.

After the opening overture, Anthony Daniels (do I need to say who he is? he played C-3PO) came out on stage to narrate the show. He was sort of what you expect – a bit overdramatic, but an entertaining storyteller. Each musical piece was arranged around a particular theme from the story – battles between rebels and empire, the love affair between Anakin and Padme, Jedi training, etc., and presented in vaguely chronological order.

The music was synchronized to audio and video clips from the films, but they were more like collages or music videos than straight excerpts. The quick-cut editing lent massive eye candy to John William’s dramatic music. Being one of seemingly few original Star Wars fans to also like the prequel movies, I dug the way the show blended images from all 6 films. My only nerd gripe is that the clips from the original trilogy were taken from the controversial “re-mastered” versions that included added CG special effects.

Toward the end of the show, the lasers came out. I took this handheld video of one of the best bits – a sequence of “battle scenes” set to the Death Star assault music from the original Star Wars.

Star Wars – In Concert from 651 Family on Vimeo.

I think we were both pretty surprised at the blend of orchestra and visual tech, but most importantly it was just a really fun time for both long-time fans and younger newbies. It also proved to me that the Xcel Center can be a great venue for non-sporting events.