Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra plays John Williams for 80 years anniversary

[Nicky]

Ahhh those three events this week, THOSE THREE. Holy SHH***

 

The Nordic Garrison was invited for a surprise appearance November 14th, 16th and 17th 2012, for a John Williams tribute played by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Gothenburg Symphonic Choir, conducted by Frank Strobel in Konserthuset in central Gothenburg. The 3 concerts were sold out very quickly and was a goosebump fiesta for many, I believe all ages were in the audience, concert was about 2 hours including 20 minutes break, the Star Wars pieces were: ANH, Imperial March, Duel of the Fates, Leia's theme, Battle of the Heroes. We would appear twice + 20 minutes mingle during the break. The production gave us a pretty fat cheque that goes to Drottning Silvia's Pediatric and Youth Hospital. The musicians, choir, producer, director, presenter and conductor were very friendly and appreciative of our involvement, rehearsing was really fun and relaxed and the director was a proper Star Wars geek who had great insight on how we would look best, how we would stand, walk, move, etc. So we were literally on the same page and never felt like we were asked to do something we wouldn't in a 501st canon setup. After the last concert we threw "word flowers" at each other for hours, we delivered "friends of the garrison" diplomas, took extra photos, were offered beverage and promised each other that we would do this again soon.

 

The concert itself:

 

Literally thousands of people in the audience, and that's in my own city so it kinda does something to you. After a first half of John Williams work from Jaws to Tintin and Fourth of July, it started with the main theme with extra pieces from "Here they come" and Han Solo's theme. A presenter would help the audience connect with the music by talking about why and how John Williams is so awesome, and a little bit of acting for when we would walk in. We had to time our appearance along the presenter/speaker as we were to enter the hall one by one, TK, TD/TS, TI, Boba, Royal Guard, CT Rex, Darth Vader. We succeeded almost flawlessly (adapted nicely when we missed our queue by a few seconds) and created a great impression. I was the first to enter the room as the only "clean" TK, and last was Vader. So I was causing a bit of a surprise on my own when I walked into a spotlight literally unannounced and people would just turn their heads and react like any human would, cry, scream, laugh or curse Then of course the huge applauds, which made me freaking shake in my bucket a tiny bit. The same repeated for the other troopers walking in, and finally Darth Vader. When we were all there we went up the stage to stand there still, during the entire Imperial March. I must say standing there your bucket on and listening to the Imperial March when the string section is right behind you... it's a bit weird in an awesome way. Then came a 20 minutes break during which we mingled in the lobby with the audience taking photos, and waited outside for 3 more songs from the prequels, and came back on stage to be introduced as the Nordic Garrison and our charity involvement (big applauds), ended with all of us taking our bow at the same time (applauds again) and leaving the hall with the biggest smiles on our faces. We were TK, TD and Vader the first day. TK, TS, TI, TI, CT, Vader the second, and TK, TD, BH (Boba), TI, TI, CT, Royal Guard, Vader the third. Again it was a surprise appearance and the audience was really amazed by the concert itself, heard some great feeback, and when we came in, that's when it got really noisy in the hall

 

Each day took over as my best trooping experience.

 

 

 

I'm stalking people on social networks to get a hold of more photos.

Edited November 22, 2012 by Nicky

[FunkyTrigger[TK]]

Superb!

I attended a John Williams concert where most of his film theme tunes were played.

The London Symphony Orchestra was playing in London.

I was an ordinary punter in the audience and the most fantastic sing was the Star Wars theme tune.

I thought that this would be fantastic if the UKG Troopers also came on stage at this point.

 

I that hope we can organise a troop like this as well

[LadyInWhite[TK]]

What a joy!

[captsafe66[Admin]]

Very Nice!! I'm impressed!

[Pickles[TK]]

That is just epic! Gave me goodbumps just reading about it

[Clamps[TK]]

Awesome stuff. Very jealous of that kind of troop, must have been an amazing feeling in your bones to have the Imperial March playing LIVE.

[bluehickey]

Wow, so impressive!

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Most impressive :vader1:

[Nicky]

Thanks for the answers! I'm glad you liked my story ^^ I edited post #1 with more details on the event.

 

It sounded great, I could almost *feel* the sound in my armor haha... Depending on where you stood you could hear a different spacial mix, it was nothing like 5.1 surround or stereo :) The best part was being able to repeat this troop twice. And it only got better!

 

I'm still waiting for the professional photos!! But I stole some blogged photos from the audience using my google skills:

 

Edited November 20, 2012 by Nicky

[jnnfr72[TK]]

That is too cool, Nicky! Thanks for sharing and posting pictures. Glad you got to be a part of that - 3 times! I hope you find more pictures for us.