On Jan. 20, 2024 one of the greatest nights for Sonic fans happened in Washington DC: the Sonic Symphony World Tour. The night was filled with several funny moments, universal crowd cheer and most importantly, amazing music from Sonic’s 30-plus year history.
The doors opened at roughly 7:30 p.m., with many eager Sonic fans of all ages waiting outside. It didn’t take long for the Warner Theater to fill out to the brim as a big screen began to display art made for the concert that showed Sonic and friends in fancy attire.
Fans were dressed formally and in various pieces of Sonicthemed clothing. Many attendees stood in the extremely long line for merchandise that wrapped around several floors of the building.
Before the show even began, fans were chatting about their excitement with what songs they hoped would be played and what they liked about the Sonic video game franchise. The anticipation began to build as fans counted down from ten to zero, until the last seconds before the show’s beginning. The show kicked off with a bang with lots of crowd cheer as the band started playing music from the original “Sonic the Hedgehog” game including the iconic “Green Hill Zone.” The symphony perfectly captured the charm of the game as they beautifully recreated the iconic music that the series is known for.
The Sonic Symphony Orchestra covered most of the mainline games in roughly chronological order. Some headlines include “Chemical Plant Zone” from “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” “Sky Sanctuary” from “Sonic & Knuckles” and “Rooftop Run” from “Sonic Unleashed.”
After a 20 minute intermission, the symphony went through a complete metamorphosis and turned into a rock concert filled with songs from Sonic’s more recent years. The highly talented Casey Lee Williams who is best known for work on the anime “RWBY” sang most of the lyrics for these songs. The excitement of fans as Williams belted out these lyrics on stage was a joy to witness. They covered the most popular Sonic rock songs. Most notably “Knight of the Wind,” “Undefeatable,” “Open Your Heart,” “Escape From the City” and “Live & Learn” as the final song of the night.
The setup of the event was spectacular. The lighting allowed for great vision of the musicians as well as for the giant screen with gameplay of the particular game’s music being played. The footage also had some comedic elements that added to the experience. For example, during the “Chemical Plant Zone” part of the “Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Medley,” the footage would shake as the timer for Sonic and Tails’ breath underwater went down, which was amusing to watch with the crowd. Additionally, the lights moved around the crowd during the rock portion of the concert which added to the rock ambiance of this portion of the concert.
The Sonic Symphony in Washington DC was a wonderful experience all around and if possible, I think every Sonic fan should go to at least one of these concerts!
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