Sonic Adventure Music Experience UK – TSSZ Review

There have been several Sonic Adventure Music Experience gigs since 2016, when Jun Senoue along with drummer Act. And bassist Takeshi Taneda reunited to play a set list of instrumental themes from the Sonic Adventure series of games at the Sonic 25th anniversary party at Japan. Since then the band, officially named Sonic Adventure Music Experience ( remember, if Johnny is not there, it is not Crush 40) have played six times. Four of them have been in Japan, with only their outstanding show at Magfest 2018 as their only gig outside of their native country. That and of course, the recent Summer of Sonic Presents: Sonic Adventure Music Experience UK from last December 8th. We got the chance to go to both the concert and the meet & greet event prior to it and we are going to tell you all about it.

December 8th, Sunday morning. Concert venue was The Garage, at 20-22 Highbury Corner, London. Meet and greet with Jun Senoue, Act. And Takeshi Taneda was scheduled to start at 1 pm, at a venue just above The Garage, but the queue for it started a long time before. I arrived to the queue around 11am, and there was already 3 or 4 people waiting, two of them being some friends who were already there since 10am. I gotta say, I went all the way from Spain just to go to this show, and a few other Spaniard friends did too – this two were some of them – so we were pretty noticeable. A group of Sonic fans is always noticeable anyways, as everybody was dressed with sonic gear and had bags, beanies, merchandise to be signed and all the easily recognizable stuff. As long as time went up more people came, until 1pm when doors opened. It was a pretty long wait, but it went fast talking with other fans who were also waiting, and thanks to the hype too of course. Weather was pretty cold, chilled winds came through time to time, but the passion and excitement of the fans at the queue was no rival for it. Gloves and scarfs helped too.

At 1pm, Svend “Dreadknux” Joscelyne arrived to the queue and checked everyone’s ID to make sure we were VIP backers ( since the show was crowdfunded and the only way to get access to to tickets – VIP or not – was backing it. VIP tickets were a bit more expensive, though), and a small wait after that, the doors opened and the doorman started letting fans inside in groups of 5. The venue was pretty small, so it was necessary to avoid large crowds clogging it, a possible risky situation.

Inside the meet and greet itself, there was two tables. The first one, at the left side of the venue, was for merchandise. Adam “T-Bird” Tuff was there making sure everything went fine. You were greeted by some freebies: a postcard and a poster for everyone, but there was also the chance to buy some CD’s. Jun Senoue’s The Works III for £25, Crush 40’s Driving Through Forever for £30 and Team Sonic Racing – Maximum Overdrive OST for £35 were the selection of CD’s you could get while the queue advanced inside the venue, directly to the table with the musicians.

First one was Jun himself, who was happy to say hi to everyone and enjoyed the chit-chat with the fans, even if there was little time as the queue went onwards. Act. and Takeshi Taneda too, although they were a bit shy: it was their first time at the UK and a bit overwhelmed at the enthusiastic response from fans. All three of them were very nice and happy to share this special moment with the fans.

Myself, I gotta admit I got a bit carried away. It was my first time meeting Senoue too, and being able to talk to him got me very emotional. Once we finished meeting the musicians, we were kindly ushered outside of the venue so other fans could get in, as I said before, the room was pretty small.

Meet and Greet queue kept going until around 2 pm approximately, but the concert door opening was scheduled to 6pm, so there was plenty of time to relax, get some food and start queueing again for the gig.

As 6pm came closer, the queue for the show itself was pretty big, taking up a large part of the streets. I was at the start of the queue and there were barriers so we couldn’t move from where we were, so I can’t really say how many people was there, but it was pretty long. Judging by how many tickets were “sold” at Kickstarter, there was around 600 fans plus all the staff – including some recognizable SEGA faces like Katie Chrzanowski ( SEGA of America’s Associate Influencer Manager), Danny Russell ( SEGA of Europe’s Mobile Community Manager), Ibrahim Bhatti (Sega Europe’s Community Manager) and many more were waiting at the venue too.

They took their time to open the doors: it was scheduled to open at 6pm and start at 7pm, but the doors opened around 6:30 – 7pm. We went inside and found there was a Sega Shop merchandise stand where we could buy some goodies – including the exclusive Sonic Adventure Music Experience t-shirt for £20. Other merch found were the Christmas jumpers, Sonic 1up monitor candle, several beanies and the Knuckles and Amy anniversary coins. There was also some posters and postcards for those who couldn’t go to the VIP meet and greet.

Time went fast and between people getting inside the venue from the long queue and the merchandise store, so there wasn’t a long wait until the show started. We were liven up by some music coming from Jun Senoue’s The Works III album while we waited, until the soundtrack changed to Sonic Adventure‘s It Doesn’t Matter. Svend came up the stage to introduce the band.

Jun Senoue, Act. And Takeshi Taneda took up the stage and started to rock the house up with an impressive rendition of Sonic Adventure‘s Windy and Ripply… for Emerald Coast theme, followed by Sonic Adventure 2‘s This Way Out… for Prison Lane. By the time the band started playing the first chords of Team Sonic Racing‘s Frozen Junkyard theme the crowd was already ecstatic. And there was so many more to come.

After those three themes, Jun gave a little talk to the public, presents the band, and goes with another set of three themes: Sonic Adventure‘s Choose Your Buddy (Act’s favourite), Welcome to Station Square and Sonic Generations‘ rendition of Sonic Heroes‘ Seaside Hill theme. Which included cues from Ocean Palace too. People loved them, and even singed the instrumental themes with na na na’s all the way, specially Station Square’s theme.

Jun noticed this and joked about hearing people sing “Seaside Denied” at the performance, and about people loving Big the Cat too, before telling us the next couple of songs come from Team Sonic Racing and reminding us where we can play the game. First one was Team Sonic Racing‘s rendition of Ocean View, a mix of Sonic CD‘s You Can Do Anything (a.k.a Toot Toot Sonic Warrior) and Sonic R‘s Super Sonic Racing. People went nuts with this one, singing all the way not only the “10 ! 9! 8! 7! 6! 5! 4 3! 2 1 LETS GO!” chants from the game but the whole Toot Toot Sonic Warrior and Super Sonic Racing lyrics all the way. Wisp Circuit and Mother’s Canyon came after that, which also enjoyed by the fans.

Jun gave a few words again and explained that it was his 8th time at the UK, but a first for the rest of guys. Then Svend and Adam took the stage again, to let Jun and the band get a little rest while Jun switched to his trademark Shadow guitar. Svend and Adam asked if there was any Shadow fans and of course, there were so the next batch of themes were all Shadow centric. First one was Sonic Adventure 2‘s Mr. Unsmiley… for Sky Rail, whose first chords made the venue come down with excitement cries, followed by Sonic Adventure 2‘s Vengeance is Mine… for Radical Highway and Wont Stop, Just Go! … for Green Forest, which made the crowd go absolutely bananas. Even shouting the initial dialogue for the cutscene that precedes the level start. Following it, Sonic Adventure‘s Eggman Theme/Egg Hornet theme came up.

By the time, the band was so into the show they even had absolutely outstanding individual improv solos that made the rendition absolutely unforgettable and magical. Act was a complete BEAST on drums, giving all what he got, and Takeshi Taneda’s bass solo was so classy and badass it gave me goosebumps. Not forgetting Jun either who gave an impressive solo on his guitar that really made the theme shine over all the show until that moment.

Svend and Adam took the stage again and talked about their favourites, including a joke about Big the Cat being everybody’s favourite and Jun following with an improvised Lazy Days (Living in Paradise) – Big the Cat’s theme cue. Then Svend and Adam stated that the next two themes were their favourites.

First one was Sonic Adventure 2‘s Keys The Ruin… for Pyramid Cave – Svend’s favourite, apparently. Following it was Adam’s favourite: Sonic Adventure‘s Chaos 6 theme. An absolutely outstanding performance of both themes. Once they finished, Jun took up the mic and told everyone that Act. had grown up listening to Sonic Adventure music, what made the crowd go chant “ONE OF US! ONE OF US!”

A very heartfelt moment that gave start to the next batch of themes, starting with Sonic Adventure‘s Skydeck a Go Go!… for Sky Deck. Next was Sonic Adventure‘s Run Through The Speed Highway… for Speed Highway that once again made the crowd go crazy. Following it, came Team Sonic Racing‘s Market Street theme, a rendition of Sonic Unleashed‘s Rooftop Run theme. That one made the crowd sing and shout once again like crazy.

Jun Senoue took the mic again and told the crowd they had a special guest: Miles Meakin, guitarist of the band Midnite City. Miles is a Sonic Fan too, and he was absolutely amazing. He wore Sonic shoes and had a bandana hanging on the back of his belt, like if it was Tails’s tails. In fact, the crowd starting chanting TAILS to him, since his name is Miles too.

His performance blew up the stage as soon as they started playing Sonic Adventure 2‘s On The Edge… for Eternal Engine. Miles was a beast of his own too with his guitar , going around the stage like if he were the king of the hill. It was amazing and really gave the show a push for its final stage. The cherry on top was Sonic Adventure 2‘s That’s The Way I Like It… for Metal Harbor. The crowd shouted, jumped, danced and “sang” with all their might thinking this was the last theme to be played. But.. was it? Of course not!

The band said goodbye but the crowd chanted for ONE MORE SONG with all their might, so of course, the band didn’t disappoint. First came Jun, then under more shouts and cries came Takeshi Taneda and at last, Act., who had a little secret on his own: It was his birthday!

All the venue singed Happy Birthday to Act while Adam bought a cake for him at stage, another heartfelt moment for the drummer, followed by Svend telling that the next, and last song would need a singer. And of course, that singer would be the crowd itself! First chords of Sonic Adventure 2‘s Escape from the City… for City Escape started playing. Everybody sang along the band for its last ecstatic moment of joy.

Then band then asked for a photo with the crowd, and Jun said good-bye to everyone by throwing some picks to the crowd as the last souvenir for a lucky few who got the chance to get them. I was one of them!

Show was over, but memories of the almost two hours of it will never be forgotten, not only for the many fans who got the chance to be there, but also for the band itself, who were visibly emotional about the humongous show of appreciation from them fans. One thing is clear: This is the first, but the band is eager to do it next year too. Can it be possible to do it again? Can’t say but one thing: If you try… you can do anything.

If you want to reprise the experience, or couldn’t go and want to see it, YouTube user Franysonic has uploaded a full video of the concert, from start to finish. You can see it here!

This review was originally written for TSSZ News, it was given some additional minor editing for mistakes by LMC before reposting in 2023.