A closer look at the ‘Game of Thrones’ Live Concert Experience coming to the Wells Fargo Center

STORY WRITTEN BY KELLI SKYE FADROSKI 
Southern California News Group

The “Game of Thrones” Live Concert Experience 28-city tour is something that has been three years in the making. It took a lot of strategic planning, but composer Ramin Djawadi said it was all worth it as his full orchestra and choir rehearsed on an elaborate stage, fully set up inside of a large sound stage on the Warner Bros. back lot in Burbank recently.
“It’s such a special show and we wanted to do the same with this music tour,” he said of the immersive musical and visual experience that features popular selections from the score accompanied by crystal-clear footage of the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning series on a variety of large screens.
Select media were given a sneak peek of what’s to come as the tour makes its way through various cities across the country. “Game of Thrones” Live Concert Experience makes a stop in Philadelphia on Feb. 26 for a performance at the Wells Fargo Center. Led by Djawadi, the choir, orchestra and soloists offered a sampling of music from throughout the Seven Kingdoms including the “Main Title,” “The King’s Arrival,” “Needle,” “The Winds of Winter” and “Mysha.”

A couple of “Game of Thrones” cast members also showed up to check out the rehearsal and talk about the show, but offered no spoilers for the forthcoming seventh season, which HBO has yet to announce an air date.
“The show wouldn’t be the show without the music, without Ramin’s music,” said actor Liam Cunningham, who plays Davos Seaworth on the show said. “It’s absolutely extraordinary.”
Cunningham said that while filming in Spain some of the cast were invited guests during a Sevilla vs. Barcelona football game and they were highlighted up on the big screen before the match and the “Game of Thrones” title track was played.
“This 80,000 crowd were humming along to the music,” he said. “That’s how important the music is to the show, when it has that visceral effect on people that they want to join in. It’s just remarkable.”
Actor Jacob Anderson, who plays Grey Worm on the show, said the music is so embedded in his mind at this point that he hears it even on his days off.

A screen capture from a promotional video to “Game of Thrones” Live Concert Experience

“I’ve been on the show for four years so some of the themes I kind of already know them so if Emilia (Clarke who plays Daenerys Targaryen) is doing a rousing speech, I kind of got that music in my head.”
Djawadi, who created the music for all of the seasons of “Game of Thrones” and whose credits include composing the music for feature films such as “Iron Man” and “Pacific Rim,” as well as HBO’s “Westworld” said he hasn’t even begun scoring the upcoming seventh season of “Game of Thrones.” He said he’s just as much in the dark, yet just as excited as everyone else about the new season and that the tour will certainly keep him busy. “What I’m hoping to achieve is that when the concert ends everyone will go ‘Wow, now I’m ready for season seven,’ “ he said, also noting that he was curious as to how the audience would react. “Will they show up dressed up? Will they sing along? I hope all of the above. I just want them to have a good time.”

Both Cunningham and Anderson said they are extremely humbled and grateful for their roles on “Game of Thrones” and for all of the fans that have latched on to and supported the show from the beginning. Since the series is based on the fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, everyone knows that after six seasons, the show will soon come to an end.
“We have to prepare ourselves now,” Cunningham said. “This is winding down, even though we have a couple of glorious seasons left. I have to remind myself every day on set that, ‘Look, you’re not going to get your pension out of this.’ This is going to go away and that’s a shame, but it has to. It has a beginning, middle and an end and to drag it out would be doing a disservice.”