Final Fantasy "Dancing Mad" Sydney opera house "PLAY"

[@simonal1989]

It's now 2022. Who still comes back to this video? It remains the greatest and most epic live rendition of Dancing Mad

[@Buggaton]

You're right it's amazing. Wish there was a better recording but this is the definitive arrangement and performance

[@sachadhainaut7311]

2023 and still coming back, over and over again. Not even Distant Worlds has been able to re-create this epic performance (And I absolutely love what Distant Worlds has done). This video still gives me goosebumps and brings tears down my eyes when I finish seeing it, best version EVER. I would love to know the date of this concert and research to see if PLAY has an actual film of the concert for sale, I would buy it on the spot just for this piece.

[@davenhla]

@@sachadhainaut7311 If you ever find one please share. I looked years ago and had no luck. Maybe someone that lives near Sydney could dig into this, it's a bit of a walk from the States :)

[@szymanOc]

so many times

[@ShowtimeDr]

I have it saved in case it ever gets taken offline.

[@shoeface25]

Anyone else get chills when the choir begins to sing? Abosolutely marvelous!!

[@RicoLen1]

Ugh I'm so depressed! This is by far the best performance I've ever heard of Dancing Mad, and this is only just the first tier! There's a lot more to this song and I can't find either the second part of this song performed by this orchestra, nor a CD I can buy that has an orchestrated performance of the whole song. This is the ultimate tease. I want the rest of the song!

[@Crichjo32]

This deserves to be one of the most famous songs ever! And Kefka should be one of the most famous villains ever.

[@Stelldubs]

davenhla, I couldn't have said it better myself. Just imagining the pure work put into this song, it has easily become one of the songs i have remembered the most, and never get tired of hearing.

[@Buggaton]

Was this even arranged by Nobuo? I didn't think he'd arranged this for orchestra. This is absolutely phenomonal. A thousand bravos.

[@capndavetastic]

I keep coming back here. this is the best performance of this song on the internet hands down, even recorded on some guys crappy phone. If you listen closely, you can hear people weeping starting already at the one minute mark and throughout any time it gets quiet enough to hear them. This is performed with such POWER it is amazing to me, and I am moved by it and I am not even there. I can not imagine what that organ must have sounded like in person, that thing can shake the walls.

[@someonethere1122]

Also at 8:12 I came buckets. Literally buckets... That was the most beautiful vocal entrance I've ever heard.

[@rushcoilpdx]

Yes. The is by far my favorite last boss theme. This is the first time I was ever terrified by the sheer strength of a boss. To think, he had transcended his earthly body and had become a god, yet he was a nihilist with no particular motives or plans, aside from an addiction to power. I only wish they had played the fast part of Dancing Mad.

[@Haynelia101]

To put it bluntly, Dancing Mad is the best effing final boss theme in existence. (Yes, even better than One-Winged Angel!) His entire boss theme is his last speech, outlining his rise to power, and lamenting his eventual defeat.

[@davenhla]

The whole score from FF6 is worthy of being orchestrated, and would make an amazing concert. This piece gave me shivers. The fact Uematsu created a piece of music like this on/for something as limited as SNES flat out amazes me.

[@VVei55]

i was a piano major in college...took one semester of organ because i was interested in learning and it is a total mind screw...trust me...this organ part during the 3rd movement is insane to perform.

[@TheresSandOnMyBoot]

Simply amazing. Dancing Mad is one of the most epic songs in existence. It's up there with One Winged Angel.

[@Illiyuwn]

i LOVE this music! this needs to come to America!

[@ZapatosVibes]

Simply the best, period. Would pay quite a lot to see this live.

[@ThatGothicChick]

I seriously wept, this is so beautiful...

[@corkyruu]

I remember Uematsu saying that 'One Winged Angel' was the most complex piece he ever worked on. Now how the hell is that possible when you have THIS?

[@lollag19]

This.... is probably the most epic thing i have ever heard, even after the drop in audio quality in this recording. I wish I could have been there personally because this is probably the best piece of vgm ever.

[@MikeNYPE]

If I ever ruled the world this would be my anthem...those vocalists are GOLD!!!

[@SanatoZen]

Godly awesome! Man that's the best covering I heard of the theme!

[@davenhla]

I come back to this and it is still my favorite rendition of this piece on the web. IMO the removal of the guitar section adds unity to the piece and befits the performance in the opera house. I have to say also, to those that want to bash on the organ player- have you played on a pipe organ, a mechanical tracking pipe organ? The world's largest mechanical tracking pipe organ? There is a delay. The organist must essentially ignore completely the sounds of his own playing and rely 100% on tempo in his head. It is nothing like practicing on some electric instrument or even a piano, or even a different type of organ. The organist here would have had to have numerous practice sessions to get the true feel for the amount of delay. While I can not say for certain as I do not know who is playing, it is not likely the organist was afforded so much practice time on something as booked and important as the Sydney Opera House. it is far more likely he practiced at home on an electric, or possibly some other organ like a church or some such, but the odds of having real practice time on another mechanical pipe organ remotely close to the magnitude of this behemoth is slim. While not perfect, i give the organist the benefit of the doubt here and I think they did an admirable job. Further, this is recorded likely using someone's junky flip phone. This was posted in 2007 after all. The sound quality is obviously sub par, and yet I am still absorbed into the piece. Whether you find flaw in it or not, the performance was good enough to move the audience members to tears, as you can here then crying and sniffling back their tears any time it quiets down during the piece. Flaws or not, the audience was moved to tears by a rendition of video game music. That's a strong performance in my book. Frankly I wish I was there to experience the actual power of this performance on such a grand stage and not listening to it on youtube posted recordings off someone's flip phone.

[@Flea_ip]

.... totally speechless. This is incredible!!!

[@straygar]

Well, with power comes a price. Since Kefka's Magic-Infusion experiment (done by Cid) appeared to have no side-effects at first, everyone thought that he became insane by himself, but his dark childhood, others taking over his position, drove the man completely insane. He started wearing weird clothes, make-up, and playing with dolls. Then he leaned more and more towards power, which in the end made him "God of Magic"

[@pidgee2000]

I really love the last half of this video!

[@AngusBull2112]

Oh. My. Fucking. God. This video gave me goosebumps ... I LOVE this song so much. Superior to one winged angel in every respect.

[@ebushgv]

this is amazing. i always wondered what this would sound like in a symphony live. and it lived up to all of my expectations. love it.

[@Ochimusha108]

I think I thanked you waaaay back for posting this but thank you again. You simply cannot find this version anywhere else. Amazing.

[@Zellig]

Yeah that part has always been the most impacting part of this song for me! Especially since when I played through the game it started playing just as he begun casting goner.

[@LordMalice6d9]

But, Dude do you know how hard it is to play the organ sections of this score? Believe me is HARD!

[@CaelestraszRS]

Honestly, I truly enjoyed this theme compared to most others that I have heard, Dancing Mad gives it the "true evil villain" theme, another favorite of mine would be the theme as you are inside Ultimecia's palace in FF8

[@fuyukidenka]

This song still gives me goosebumps

[@p244w]

This is the best sounding version i have seen on youtube. Other than the original. :)

[@ogrebattlefan]

I would probably die of sheer joy if I got to see this live

[@Fudgaboutit]

This makes me so proud to be a gamer! It's awesome that video games are getting the artistic respect and recognition they deserve! And Nobuo Uematsu ought to receive more widespread appreciation for his outstanding work! He's just as good as our best film composers GOD DAMMIT!

[@whazupsuckafish]

That is just way too EPIC!!! Love it!

[@GodlikeVGMusic]

7:43 i can hear people crying D., and yes i love this song more than One-Winged Angel

[@piromaniac9999]

WOW!! Its beautiful.

[@deathmasks]

I could NOT agree more. Incredible.

[@medfoe]

Thanks for the vocabulary. I've never taken a composition class, so I had to look that one up. That's a useful word to know.

[@50ulHunt3r]

this is crazily amazing

[@Tasyanim]

Wow... simply amazing. I would be amazed (and probably crying) if I were there. Nearly did just watching this, and I certainly got chills from some parts... to think, I want to attempt a string quartet version of this, but with a beautiful arrangement like this, I don't know if I can capture everything...

[@elchaski]

they're two great pieces of music

[@PedroAbundes_Threelancelot]

Sublime, Simplemente sublime Espero PLAY alguna vez venga a Mexico

[@MortonGoldthwait]

Kefkas Tower of enemies. What makes final fantasy VI so awesome is how much Yoshitaka Amano shines!

[@Zidane_Mina]

PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE! Oh god, i shall never sleep again unless i have that song! DAMN! Why!? So great, so godly!

[@shadowphantom2]

I got chills just listeing to the intro right now

[@GrahamChapman]

This needs to be recorded and released on a CD sooo badly.

[@purplecowadoom]

No problem. Not knowing lyrics to my favorite songs bugs me. I ALWAYS hunt them down if I know of a way. I had been under the impression this song didn't have any until I looked it up. Now I know that not only does it have lyrics, they're pretty awesome.

[@Jakah016]

Nobuo Uematsu broke Lvl 99 when he wrote this Fallen God-like song! I seriously cried HAPPYTEARS throughout the entire song! This song is even better in full orchestra and church organ! I'm still trying to find the lyrics for it though. I was definately able to discern the line at 1:24: O ses te omnii Which means something like, "She's your everything". Not quite sure what that has to do with this...oh GOSH I want those lyrics!!! DX Did I mention how AWESOME this song is XDD

[@lightskinboi06]

You're right about that. The thing about square-enix is that when it comes to final fantasy, they never dissapoint...no matter how long it takes!

[@poltergeistx]

I would have liked another arrangement for this song, still it was fantastic, I got goosebumps hearing this.

[@Baikasu]

Ever. EVER. Also most badass antagonist ever. :3

[@ilostthegamex]

Yes. :3 FFwiki is amazing. It made me love Kefka even more than I did before.

[@Zellig]

I'm actually pretty glad no one interfered with the song on that note. Not sure if that's what you were going for, but yeah.

[@wolvie14]

This is an incredible piece. First time i played the game, i was so caught by the music, i forgot i was playing a game and my party got caught. It is great. Like Darth Vader, i hear a few notes and i associate it to Kefka right away.

[@Leifthrasir]

I just want to hear a good quality recording of Dancing Mad by a big orchestra with choir and grand organ. I really do hope that the Distance Worlds CD will deliver!

[@nishikaze]

God I loved that game. Best game score EVER!!!

[@pocketfood]

The organ is such a badass instrument. :D

[@destroyah3034]

@ Notacka You hit the problem right on the head. With the piece being relatively complex, and at 17+ minutes long, it would be quite a task. Still, I would love to see them come and perform it over here at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. They could put the über organ in there to good use. ;)

[@BrokenTile]

Holy crap I would travel across the world to witness something like this. Especially if the followed it up with the Ending Theme.

[@Jakah016]

Actually, the organ player didn't do too bad. But, it is in fact a very hard part to play (trust me, I've been playing that song on the piano for a year or so, now and I STILL have trouble with it XDD )

[@FandeJay]

THIS!!! This is THE arrangement I craved my entire life!! If anyone knows where to upload it, I wanna know!!

[@Buggaton]

This is awesome, best cover I've heard. But why on earth didn't anyone arrange in the final section? XD

[@lavomir]

All I can say: EPIC!

[@BlueMageDaisen]

Many aspects of the final battle with Kefka are reused in Final Fantasy VII for the battle with Safer Sephiroth. Both bosses use Chaos/Havoc Wing, Heartless Angel, and take on the appearance of angels with dark wings among a backdrop of clouds. Both battles also feature a close-up of the character's face just before they unleash their ultimate attack (Forsaken and Supernova).

[@animalityyy]

They HAVE to step into a studio and RECORD this song (and also include the final tier part) someday. I'll be waiting!!1!!one!!

[@Crichjo32]

Kefka is not just the best video game villain of all time, he is the best villain in any kind of fiction or media. You can't beat someone who wants to destroy everything for no reason, except for his own amusment. Plus he has this awesome theme song, which suits the character and his purpose perfectly.

[@disturbanite8]

@dethtrain I loved that octopus! One of the most hilarious villians in all of final fantasy.

[@katieburak93]

I officially love opera now.

[@lightskinboi06]

Man....that was beautiful! This really makes me think I'm about to fight a sadistic lunatic who's about to whoop my ass! If Nobuo Uematsu would continue making epic final boss music like this, then final fantasy could get my $60 for the music alone! Well, that and if they actually didn't take 10,000 years to release...

[@DBDrum108]

Wow. Easilly one of the top 3 songs in the FF series.

[@ElFenixdePlata]

Awesome Epic Kefka

[@missinggamefiles]

ok thats seriously f@#$ing awesome.

[@Fudgaboutit]

If I had been there, my heart would have stopped.

[@randomuserguy]

@ChaoticPesme I agree dude, it's so timeless, no other Final Fantasy villian has come close to surpassing it.

[@purplecowadoom]

***Second Movement*** Vo-vo-vo-vo-vo-vo-voto [x6] (Destroy!!!) Di-diem fla-flammeus (Day of Flames) No-nova Cae-caelum (Star of the Heavens) Vo-vo-vo-vo-vo-vo-voto! [x4] (Destroy!!!) Di-diem fla-flammeus (Day of Flames) No-nova Cae-caelum (Star of the Heavens)

[@Illiyuwn]

i wish something like this was held here in Maryland in the USA

[@bnoruto]

Tone, Tone, weeping gloriously. That's all I got so far.

[@Leifthrasir]

I really hope they will release an offical CD with a high quality recording of this.

[@MajorMajora52113]

video games. the definition of art.

[@someonethere1122]

I don't care what anybody says Kefka was BY FAR easier to hate than Sephiroth. Truly the most evil out of any of the Final Fantasy villains, and this theme! Gives me chills every time I hear it! Don't get me wrong One Winged Angel is a masterpiece as well but you really feel like you're fighting a god with this song.

[@OslonWham]

Amazing! 01:05 - 02:07 was just Perfect!

[@cabbitsd]

@MasterTubeTheatre Which organ part? Oh, you mean the one that dominated the music all the way through all four parts of the song?... yeah, it was pretty amazing! If you meant the solo... yeah, I can never wait for the piece to get to that part.

[@piromaniac9999]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!! beautiful music.

[@Saiore]

Yeah they did, I was looking forward to the same thing.

[@mogstah]

The entire composition of Dancing Mad reminds me of Bach's superb Fugue in D minor. This music flows between sombre chords to very upbeat and frantic runs, and something about it makes it that much better over anything else Uematsu has done. I often see it compared to One Winged Angel, which was good in itself, but this is truly one of the best tracks from any game. I try not to gush, but this is an example that took game soundtracks from simple 'ditties' to masterfully composed works of art.

[@winterscott1991]

I agree with you about the extension of Dancing Mad. However, in an interview with Arnie Roth a month or two ago, he stated that it's very difficult with creating the arrangement. Maybe with DW II CD, Mr. Roth might include the third movement and the intro of the fourth movement in the piece. Dancing Mad is great, nevertheless.

[@ZackBreaker]

That was cool.

[@Zidane_Mina]

Oh god, GOOOOD! AMAZING!!!!. PLEASE, if someone knows how to get this on .mp3 file, i beg of you, tell me!!!

[@MortonGoldthwait]

What I got from the game was that Kefka was just an ordinary guy like Locke or Sabin. He volunteered to be the first expirement for Magitek infusion and it warped his mind into what he is.

[@shoeface25]

I just took a look on their website to see where they are playing next.....only two shows scheduled through next March......and they both are far away from me......DAMN YOU KEFKA!!!!

[@kkeelan]

You're also talking about a composer whose pieces are older than any living musician today... or any living composer. I say it's good to see something new and refreshing instead of accepting imitation and complacency when it comes to composing new music. This piece in particular is made up of four movements, I might add, so do keep that in mind... as if Mozart didn't do anything like that! :P

[@RicoLen1]

@Buggaton That may well be, but the part that is missing is the Dancing Mad arrangement of the Kefka theme, and that's my favorite part! lol

[@TonRobo]

I thought this one was from a fan-made version. But it really seems to be part of this version.

[@jpagano4]

@dethtrain best comment ever...I just past that part...I'm playing it all over again on my droid. Haven't played it in YEARS.

[@aquariusaint]

C'mon, give the guy credit! Yes, some mistakes but I'd like to see any of you try the complexity of this masterpiece with a gigantic church organ such as this one, specially on the solos. I give whoever played this a 20 out of 10 for even daring it! I'd s#$% my pants just listening to this live. "Dancing Mad" has nothing to envy to "A One Winged Angel" in my humble opinion. Truly one of Uematsu's greatest compositions.

[@gorfllord]

How come every arrangement I ever hear drops out the part where Kefka rises from the clouds? The part that plays when you first turn on the game. That still reigns as one of my favorite moments in any Video Game song.

[@Fudgaboutit]

Why there aren't enough CDs of these special performances, I'll never know.

[@graviron]

damn... and I can't stop questioning why they love one winged angel more than this...? got goosebumps when i listened to this...--" wish they would release the CD for this orchestral version of Dancing Mad...

[@DLane814]

This song's going to be part of next year's Distant Worlds tour, and the CD will be recorded in Stockholm in June. So we should have an Uematsu-approved orchestrated version by the end of next year available on CD