At the rehearsal site of the 2024 synesthesia of music and rhythm, the staff pointed to the seats on both sides of the stage, "The look on both sides is not good, all of them will be cut this year, and that piece will not be sold." ”
This year, they held 8 shows, 4 days, in the afternoon and evening. The intensity of the performance is twice as strong as before.
But even then, tickets still can't be bought. More than 10 minutes after the ticket was opened, my friend complained to me, who grabbed the ticket?
Also, this year is the 5th anniversary of "Ark of Tomorrow" after all, and this time the synesthesia is indeed more special than any previous one.
(The on-site images in this article were taken at the rehearsal, which is different from the official performance)
01
On the afternoon of April 29, I hurried to the rehearsal site of "Synesthesia in Rhythm and Rhythm", and through the passage, I bumped into the rocket lift-off.
Inexplicably, I stood there crying.
I'm not a core player of Ark of Tomorrow, but I've heard Ad astra. It was last year's anniversary "Lone Star". I played it at the time, and I didn't read the plot carefully, and I didn't care which character it was related to.
But at that moment there was something:
Lone Star's music plays, the screen opens, and a towering rocket appears in center stage.
As the countdown approached, the staff were so excited that they staggered past me and swarmed to the auditorium in the center of the venue.
At that moment, the orchestral music played by the symphony orchestra swept like a wave of air into the stands, rising to the roof, a burst of white fog and yellow light flashed, and the huge rocket took off slowly......
Crying, choking, I felt too ashamed, avoiding the crowd, hiding in the hallway, just watching from a distance as the rocket rose higher and higher above the symphony orchestra until it sank into the darkness. The aftermath dissipated.
"Damn, that's inexplicable......"
I've been to quite a few game concerts.
What a grand pomp and circumstance of the symphony. I was behind the scenes at last year's Genshin Impact concert. On a stage, musicians go up and direct gestures together. The sound was so powerful that even the texture of the music changed.
Concerts that focus on IP are also interesting. There are so many stage organs, and the high-tech is gorgeous. Hundreds of people rotate in the background, eager to change one program for another.
There are also those that look like formal parties. For example, in the 2018 music festival of "Glory of Kings", you can understand just by looking at the guest list: Han Hong, Hua Chenyu, Li Yuchun, Mao Buyi, Mayday, Xiao Jingteng......
Game concerts, these years are really many. Everyone is attentive, they all have their own ideas, and the investment is still big.
But this is the only one that makes me cry.
Watching the show end and the venue gradually darkened, I always felt that the concert at Eagle Point was really different from before.
02
An Ark player I bumped into earlier was very interesting.
On May Day last year, she only came out of synesthesia the day before, and dragged her suitcase to the carnival the day after. When I see someone saying hello, I will take it out of the suitcase and give DIY character materials to the player.
Question: Is it a veteran player?People waved their hands and said that they hadn't played for a long time, and they were very busy studying...... But every year on May Day, I will definitely play again. She said, pointing to the crowd around her.
"Every time I see the anniversary version and the vibe, I can't help but go back and check it out. ”
What is the difference in the atmosphere of the activities done by Eagle Point?
In the past few years, those who have a little spare time are engaged in concerts, throwing aside the ledger one by one, saying that regardless of ROI, they must give benefits to players at a loss. But the manufacturer will eventually accept it, and it will be almost the same to hold one or two games.
Only this eagle horn is done every year, and it is different every year. Forget it once or twice, every year......
That means they really have something special to give to the players.
After chatting for a few years, I feel that there is always one thing Eagle Horn wants to give players: identity.
A musician told me that synesthesia gives players a sense of aesthetic pride;
One of the core players said that the concert was a special label for the players......
Maybe they're right. Because it can be seen that Eagle Horn itself is also pondering every year.
The first year was an attempt and very free. These people are like doing a music festival, and they save music according to their style, just to make players jump and listen to it.
The identity here is music.
In the second and third years, they wanted to exceed expectations, to let the characters jump out of the product plot, to make movies, to hunt down strange thieves, and to make the stage add all kinds of awesome holographic screens and laser performances......
The identity here has been lifted up, and it has become an aesthetic force.
- No matter what kind of style it is, players will be proud of their status because they like it.
If you think about it carefully, Eagle Horn and these people have also been young and have stepped on many pits......
And this year, synesthesia has become familiar with it - I think they want to give players only one identity now: "Ark of Tomorrow" players.
03
This is the fifth year of Ark of Tomorrow.
This year, synesthesia takes players on a journey back in time, traveling from country to country and meeting the characters they are familiar with.
After showing off the technique of music and rhythm synesthesia for 3 years, this time it is back to basics, and I just want to tell the memories thoroughly.
How to do it? Compress the story into a moment, turn it into an emotion that can be captured by everyone, and then dispatch everything on the stage to amplify those emotions.
For example, the program of the King of Propulsion, which is a new picture, a custom CG, a lion sculpture at the beginning of the chapter, and a roar of female singer Mary Clare;
For example, the fourth anniversary show, it is "Ad astra", it is the Lone Star CG, it is the close-up impact of the symphony orchestra, and it is also the upward rocket;
In order to make the atmosphere right, they installed jet facilities on the tail of the rocket, so that the stage can snow heavily and the water curtain can fall from the sky;
In order to keep players entertained, they moved a super long and large screen to the stage this year, closer to the players than ever before;
Another example is "Ark of Tomorrow" itself, which is all these countries, characters, and scenes...... But if you look for players' memories even earlier, it might be the band "Starset".
Eagle Horn really likes this band.
When "Ark of Tomorrow" was first revealed in 2017, the soundtracks they used for the 3 PV videos were all "Starset" works - the core players met the Ark for the first time, and the two-year memories of waiting for it to be launched were "Starset".
This year, Synesthesia has gone back to the end, and finally brought "Starset" to the stage, which also brought the players who came here and saw it all back to the starting point.
All the emotions, memories, and all of them have returned to their original identity: "Ark of Tomorrow" players.
- You are proud not of what you like, but of yourself who has loved these things for so long.
Straightforward sensationalism, but used in the fifth anniversary...... It's just right.
04
I have been writing synesthesia for 3-4 years, and I am tired of writing, and I can't write the words.
Say that deepening IP, say that pulling products are active, say how manufacturers win, and use those business words to explain why tens of thousands of people flock here, year after year...... Does it make sense? It makes sense, but it's boring to death.
I think there must be something more essential, emotional.
On April 30th, I went to see the Lone Star's rocket lift-off.
The orchestral music of "Ad astra" is rising, the three characters in the CG are rising, and the story is rising towards the stars...... Until the countless workers in front of and behind the scenes finally let the rocket go up and let it go somewhere.
I've been wondering why I cried that day.
Now I vaguely feel that this kind of ascent is the image that touches me the most. Maybe for the others, it's not Lone Star who can make them cry, it could be Amiya and her violin, it could be Kelsey, it could be anything they liked......
I asked before, you bring players to reminisce and give players identity, so is synesthesia a gift to core players?
The answer was that it was not only that, but that it was just a condensed content of the past five years into a certain emotion. The core players can certainly understand it, but this sentiment is just as valid for everyone else.
That's right, I'm not a core player, and I'm really broken.
But where did the things that pierce me come from? Is it the director's technique? Is it the sound and rhythm synesthesia people who are too good at making content? Or is the game "Ark of Tomorrow" just accumulated in place, and people are now so simple that they can take me down in a moment......
Yes, yes, but there's something missing.
I was so depressed that I searched everywhere for a source of energy, until I saw a moment like this in the big row - even if it was abstract, but that's why I was broken down.
It was near the end of all the shows, and Synesthesia released a VCR reviewing 2021-2024, chatting about the ups and downs of the past, and thanking the players for waiting.
The last cut of the VCR, the sea cat appeared.
It was an amazing shot. The concert site is a long screen, with the thank you video recorded by the sea cat in the center, and the audience seats filmed with cameras in real time on either side;
But it was still rehearsal, and the empty seats on both sides, just marked with seat numbers, silently extended from the infield to the stands.
The official and the audience were on stage together.
One is ready to thank, and the other is coming.
It was also that moment when you could easily imagine the moment when everyone was caught on the big screen with the smiling faces and sea cats captured by the camera after the players were full;
And, all the chairs around and behind me that were lit red by the lights, and they were filled with players and flashed glowsticks......
It was also at that moment that I realized that "thank you for waiting" is not an official phrase. It's really only when the players pour in, into the arena, that everything after that is complete.
I also want to ask, what can I do every year? Is it to "deepen IP"? "Increase user stickiness"? But once the problem is said, it sounds stupid, and after thinking about it, it may be because Eagle Horn likes to do this and like this space.
This group of people is recreating on this stage. They put Amiya in a princess dress and act out fairy tales, and let W put on a tight leather coat and turn into a monster thief and mess around sending secret letters......
Like the players, they are also looking forward to letting these characters jump out of the limitations of the plot and tonality, put on cute clothes, go to another official stage to experience interesting and warm stories, and then play the coolest BGM of each of them.
I've been spending too much time thinking about what the creators of synesthesia are going to bring to the player and what spectacle they can create.
But in fact, this is the reason why synesthesia is so different: these people like the same players, they like the same things, and they really want to.
Therefore, the reason why it was able to penetrate me at that moment was far more than just the stage technique and official intentions, was because it also compressed so many things:
the aspirations of countless creators in front of and behind the scenes;
Countless players flock here for 5 years of memories;
The emotions of countless people who love "Ark of Tomorrow".
After that, the rocket lifted off and carried these emotions to the next leg of the journey.