Sonic Symphony is an ongoing

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

featuring original arrangements of the music of the ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

'' video game series by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

performed by an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

and

rock band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

. A concert also displays footage of gameplay from the series synchronized to the music. The first concert, Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Symphony, was presented as a free

live stream Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- live ...

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

on June 23, 2021 to commemorate ''Sonic the Hedgehog''s 30th anniversary. The second and first live concert was presented on October 12, 2022 at the 2022

Brasil Game Show Brasil Game Show (known by the initials BGS and originally titled Rio Game Show (RGS)) is a yearly Brazilian video game convention organized by business executive Marcelo Tavares, that is currently held in São Paulo and is the largest gaming co ...

. A live tour, Sonic Symphony World Tour, started on September 16, 2023 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England.

History

The Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Symphony was announced in the Sonic Central presentation on May 27, 2021. The concert starred the

Prague Philharmonic Orchestra The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra () was established in 1995, under the German conductor Friedemann Riehle. The orchestra has since produced many classical and film music recordings, working with labels such as Decca, EMI, Sony BMG and various ...

performing orchestral arrangements and the Tomoya Ohtani Band and

Crush 40 Crush 40 is a Japanese-American hard rock band. The group consists of guitarist and composer Jun Senoue and principal vocalist Johnny Gioeli. Crush 40 is best known for producing most soundtracks for the Sonic The Hedgehog series in the 2000s. ...

performing

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

arrangements, with Nathan Sharp as the guest singer. The fan-made Chao Camera mod for ''

Sonic Adventure 2 is a 2001 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It features two Conflict between good and evil, good-vs-evil stories: Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and K ...

'' was used for gameplay footage. The Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Symphony was also featured in the 2021

Summer Game Fest Summer Game Fest is a live video game event organized and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley. The event takes place annually over multiple live streams during the North American summer period, the most notable of which is the "main show ...

. The concert took two years to plan and switched to being shown as a free

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. An album of its music was released on September 18, 2021 on the iTunes Store and

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

and on other major digital music services four days later. The concert at the 2022

was announced in the Sonic Central presentation on June 7, 2022 with more tour dates to come. On May 19, 2023, two dates in

, England and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, United States for the Sonic Symphony World Tour were announced. The Sonic Symphony World Tour is produced by

and soundtrec, and presented by MGP Live. Pre-sale for subscribers to the official

newsletter A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of ...

started on May 25, 2023 and public sale started a day later. Guest stars are to appear at certain dates. More dates were announced in the Sonic Central presentation on June 23, 2023, with pre-sale starting on June 28, 2023 and public sale on June 30, 2023. During the '' Fearless: Year of Shadow'' marketing campaign in 2024, music related to the character Shadow the Hedgehog was included in Sonic Symphony World Tour's setlist.

Reception

The Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Symphony was received positively; Andy Robinson of ''

Video Games Chronicle ''Video Games Chronicle'' (''VGC'' is a British entertainment website covering video games published independently by 1981 Media. Led by editor-in-chief Andy Robinson, the team consists largely of former ''Computer and Video Games'' staff. Lau ...

'' and Daniel Hollis of '' Pure Xbox'' noted such reception from fans. Ash Parrish of ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'' and Kenneth Shepard of ''Fanbyte'' reported that they cried of happiness and the former described the concert as "a heartwarming, tear-inducing, nostalgic happy-time-memory-recalling performance that surpassed all expectations". Stephen Tailby of ''

Push Square Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and oth ...

'' called it "a brilliant musical trip down memory lane" and Hollis of ''Pure Xbox'' deemed it "the perfect birthday treat" and "one of the best things

SEGA is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

has produced in a long time for their trusty mascot".

Set list

30th Anniversary Symphony

The following set list is of the Sonic the Hedgehog 30th Anniversary Symphony and is not intended to represent all dates; later concerts incorporated themes from games released after the 30th anniversary, including ''

Sonic Frontiers is a 2022 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. As Sonic, the player explores the Starfall Islands to collect the Chaos Emeralds, after Sonic and his friends are separated when falling through a wormhole. ''Frontiers'' ...

'' and '' Sonic Superstars''. First act # "''

'' Medley" # "''

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 1992 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute (STI) for the Sega Genesis. Players control Sonic as he attempts to stop Doctor Robotnik from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power his space station, the Death Egg. Like the fir ...

'' Medley" # "''Sonic''

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth-generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990 in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and in 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily ...

Medley" # "'' Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' Medley" # "''

Sonic Mania ''Sonic Mania'' is a 2017 platform video game developed by Christian Whitehead, PagodaWest Games and Headcannon and published by Sega. Produced in commemoration of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series' 25th anniversary, ''Sonic Mania'' pays hom ...

'' Medley" # "''Sonic''

SEGA Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

Medley" # " Believe in Myself" / " It Doesn't Matter" # " ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (2006) Medley" # "''

Sonic Unleashed is a 2008 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. An installment in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, it follows Sonic as he attempts to restore the world after his nemesis Doctor Eggman shatters it with a powerful las ...

'' Medley" # "'' Sonic Lost World'' Medley" # "''

Sonic Forces is a 2017 Platformer, platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It was produced in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. The plot focuses on Sonic the Hedgehog (character), So ...

'' Medley" # "''

Sonic Colors (known as ''Sonic Colours'' in PAL regions) is a 2010 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic's quest to stop his nemesis Doctor Eggman from enslaving an alien race and tak ...

'' Medley" Intermission #

" Chao Garden - Neutral" Second act #

" Reach for the Stars (Re-Colors)" # " Speak with Your Heart" # " Endless Possibility" # " Open Your Heart" # "

Sonic Heroes is a 2003 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega. The player races a team of series characters through levels to amass rings, defeat robots, and collect the seven Chaos Emeralds needed to defeat Doctor Eggman. Wit ...

" # " Green Light Ride" # "

Sonic Boom A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to ...

" # " I Am... All of Me" # " Knight of the Wind" # " Escape from the City" # " Live & Learn" Credits #

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

Sonic Symphony World Tour

The following setlist was performed at Line Cube Shibuya in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan on February 11, 2024, and is not intended to represent all of the shows on tour. First act # "''

'' Medley" # "''

Sonic CD is a 1993 platform game developed and published by Sega for the Sega CD. As Sonic the Hedgehog, the player attempts to protect an extraterrestrial body, Little Planet, from Doctor Robotnik. Like other '' Sonic'' games, Sonic runs through the ...

'' Medley" # "''

'' Medley" # " Sky Sanctuary" # "''

'' Medley" # " Believe in Myself" / " It Doesn't Matter" # " Chao Medley" # " Rooftop Run" # " Aquarium Park" / " Planet Wisp" # "''

'' Medley" Second act #

" I Am... All of Me" # " What I'm Made Of..." # " Open Your Heart" # " Knight of the Wind" # "'' Sonic Superstars'' Opening Theme" # " His World" # " Reach for the Stars (Re-Colors)" # "

Fist Bump A fist bump, also known as a bro fist, power five, a spud, or also commonly known as a safe is a gesture similar in meaning to a handshake or high five. A fist bump can also be a symbol of giving respect or approval, as well as companionship ...

" # " Break Through It All" # " Undefeatable" # " I'm Here (Revisited)" Encore #

" Find Your Flame" # " Endless Possibility" # " Escape from the City" # " Live & Learn"

Tour dates

Individual concerts

Sonic Symphony World Tour

Cancelled dates

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Sonic the Hedgehog in other media 2021 concert tours 2022 concert tours 2023 concert tours 2024 concert tours 2025 concert tours Video game concert tours Works based on Sonic the Hedgehog Concert tours of Brazil Concert tours of the United Kingdom Concert tours of the United States Concert tours of Japan Concert tours of Canada Concert tours of France Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the music industry