Ramin Djawadi: The Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience is like “a two-hour trailer” for season 8
By Corey Smith
The first iteration of the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience — wherein series composer Ramin Djawadi tours the world conducting tunes from the show — was by all accounts a smashing success. Check out the video below for what audiences got to enjoy during the first tour last year. In addition to music from the show, there’s also footage and a healthy amount of pyrotechnics.
With a second tour (this time worldwide!) on the way, Djawadi spoke to Variety about his intentions for the show. “I decided to make this a hybrid,” he said. “Between the traditional orchestra concert and more contemporary things that you might see in a rock concert, pyro, snow … it embraces the audience more.”
Intriguingly, Djawadi also said that the Live Concert Experience is like “a two-hour trailer for the next season. You really get a breakdown of the characters and the plot.”
A two-hour trailer for season 8, huh? It may just be colorful salesmanship, but color us intrigued. With the new tour kicking off in May 2018, it’s remotely possible that Djawadi will have recorded some music for season 8 by the time the tour begins. “[T]hey will see a whole new show,” he said of the 2018 tour. “[W]e are completely redesigning the stage.”
For the record, we would go see the same show again. Do you know how many times we watch the episodes?
Djawadi was one of several industry professionals interviewed for the Variety article, which is about the rise of concerts for film and TV music — it’s becoming a big business. According to Pollstar data, the first Game of Thrones tour “often approached or exceeded $1 million per date.” Does that mean HBO now has enough money for Ghost to appear in season 8?
As a side benefit, these concerts are exposing more people to live orchestras — often, most of the attendees at these events had never seen a live symphony orchestra before. Anyway, we’ll have to wait to see if Djawadi’s talk about the new tour being a “trailer” for season 8 are literal, or just a bunch of verbal wildfire.
Below is the full tour schedule. You can purchase tickets here.
Europe
- May 8 — Madrid, WiZink Center
- May 10 — Barcelona, Palau Sant Jordi
- May 12 — Paris, AccorHotel Arena
- May 14 — Berlin, Mercedes-Benz Arena
- May 15 — Lodz, Atlas Arena
- May 16 — Prague, O2 Arena Prague
- May 18 — Budapest, Budapest Arena
- May 19 — Vienna, Wiener Stadthalle
- May 21 — Amsterdam, Ziggo Dome
- May 22 — Antwerp, Antwerps Sportpaleis
- May 24 — Dublin, 3Arena
- May 25 — Belfast, The SSE Arena
- May 27 — London, Wembley Arena
- May 29 — Harburg, Barclaycard Arena
- May 31 — Stockholm, Ericsson Globe
- June 1 — Copenhagen, Royal Arena
- June 4 — Munich, Olympiahalle
- June 5 — Zurich, HallenStadion
- June 7 — Frankfurt, Festhalle Frankfurt
- June 8 — Cologne, Lanxess Arena
North America
- September 5 — Vancouver, Pepsi Live at Rodgers Arena
- September 6 — Seattle, KeyArena
- September 8 — San Jose, SAP Center
- September 9 — Los Angeles, The Forum
- September 11 — San Diego, Viejas Arena
- September 12 — Phoenix, Gile River Arena
- September 14 — Denver, Pepsi Center
- September 16 — Dallas, American Airlines Center
- September 17 — Houston, Toyota Center
- September 18 — Austin, Frank Erwin Center
- September 21 — Tampa, Amalie Arena
- September 22 — Ft. Lauderdale, BB&T Center
- September 25 — Washington DC, Capital One Arena
- September 26 — Newark, Prudential Center
- September 28 — Uncasville, Mohegan Sun Arena
- September 28 — Boston, DCU Center
- September 30 — University Park, Bryce Jordan Center
- October 2 — Philadelphia, Wells Fargo Center
- October 3 — New York City, Madison Square Garden
- October 5 — St. Louis, Scottrade Center
- October 6 — Chicago, AllState Arena
- October 9 — Detroit, Little Caesars Arena
- October 10 — Columbus, Schottenstein Center
- October 12 — Montreal, Bell Centre
- October 14 — Toronto, Air Canada Centre
Next: New casting notice for Game of Thrones season 8
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