Winter has come... to the Pepsi Center

Ramin Djawadi’s Game of Thrones Soundtrack live in concert

Game of Thrones is one of the most popular shows of the decade, and its composer, Ramin Djawadi, is currently on the second tour of Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience. Currently touring across the United States, on Sept. 14, the orchestra performed at the Pepsi Center to a packed venue.

From the beginning of the show back in 2011 to present day, Ramin Djawadi has been the man behind the compositions for the HBO series as the head composer and has won several awards, including Emmys, for his works. Without its score, this beloved series would be a far cry from the wonderful masterpiece it is and the concert tour did its job to highlight the power and impact the music has to the series.

Staying true to its claim of being an “experience,” the venue was set up for the concert to be more than just something for the audience’s ears. Being a Pepsi Center concert, the stage sat on one end of the stadium with floor and stadium seating surrounding it. Huge projector screens hung over the instrument set up and there were platforms separate from the main stage for the sake of some of the stand-out performances.

**Fans transported to Westeros through music.** Photo credit: Genessa Gutzait · The Sentry

The set list for the concert didn’t follow the chronological order of the show; instead, it was divided into segments that followed the journeys of individual characters such as Arya Stark as she went from a noble in the north to a lethal assassin of the faceless men. Since this was the second tour, the music from the most recent seventh season was added at the end with the most memorable scores closing out the show. This proved to be a strong choice for the concert, because it helped emphasize the progression of the characters while also making it easier to notice the difference in the music.

Each segment of the show, from characters to locations, received its own unique compositions that used both recognizable instruments and more unique ones from various cultures. The experience was a fun recap of many of the story arcs, and it was nice to see how the scores differed and evolved along with the show.

The concert boasted strong performances by all its members who were in costume during the entire performance. It really did mesmerize the audience and had some fun effects, like the torrents of flame that burst from stage each time that Daenerys said “Dracarys.”

Unfortunately, the concert did overdo it a bit, having just a little too much going on at once. A sometimes blinding light show and important scenes from the show snapped the audience out of the trance under which the music had placed them.

The Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience gave the show’s music the attention and praise it deserves. All the hard work that goes into creating these amazing scores was on display and it was awesome in the truest sense of the word.