Sonic Live In Concert is heading to the Louisville Palace on October 17th. The show will honor 35 years of Sonic, bringing to life one of the most iconic video games of all time, through a live performance via electronic elements, vocalists and rock musicians paired with footage of iconic levels and boss battles from the games over the years.
LEO had the pleasure of conversing with Sonic Live In Concert’s music director Shelbie Rassler about the show and how it spans over generations.
LEO: How do you approach the scope of featuring 35 years of Sonic in one setlist?
SR: I would say that’s kind of the exciting challenge of this show. Sonic Live In Concert and the tour in general has, like you said, 35 years of music. There are fans that have been with the franchise since 1991 alongside people who discovered it through a game or a comic book or a movie that came out more recently. So we really wanted the concert to feel like a journey throughout the entire history. We’ve picked music that represents each of the sort of places along the timeline of these 35 years.
LEO: What are you preserving about the original style of Sonic music and what are you changing within that? How did you approach that part of it all?
SR: It’s interesting because, especially with the video game music throughout the Sonic Universe. When it was originally written, it had a very specific job to do, which is to accompany the game play and motivate the character. But now that we’re bringing it to the concert stage, we get to take all of the themes and the songs that people know and love and kind of ask ourselves how do we make this explode off the stage and create this immersive experience into the Sonic world.
We have our live musicians, our rock and roll players, our vocalists, and lots of electronics, as well as a synchronized HD video screen that is projecting visuals from the games and the different Sonic themes and scenes and zones and everything along the way. So it becomes more than just listening to a soundtrack. It feels like you’ve sort of stepped into the Sonic Universe and that’s what we tried to do with the music for the show.
LEO: What are you most excited to show audiences?
SR: My favorite thing about these live in concert performances is that we get to share this music with perhaps people who haven’t had a chance to experience live music in this way before or haven’t seen live instrumentals on stage. What’s so special about the Sonic Universe starting 35 years ago is that there are people in their 40s and 50s who grew up playing the original game on the Genesis and how much it’s evolved since then. It’s so special that they now get to come to this concert and have this incredibly nostalgic experience seeing their favorite scenes on screen as well as hearing their favorite songs and melodies and everything. But even more special is that they often bring their children along now. They get to have this shared experience with the next generation where they’re sharing things that were really important to them and filled their childhoods and their lives growing up. They get to share it with their children and experience the joys of live music. So that’s what I’m always most excited to see going into these tours.
LEO: What made you want to take on this project?
SR: I think exactly what we just spoke about, which is getting to share this exciting energy filled music with so many people around the country, as well as our other ensemble who is going to be doing the world tour out in the UK and throughout Europe. It’s very exciting. There’s just so much adrenaline and energy to this show specifically, so I was super excited to jump on board and get to rock out every night. It’s so much fun.
You can purchase tickets to see Sonic Live In Concert here.
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