Brace yourself. Winter is coming.
Like all pop culture phenomena, Game of Thrones will not allow itself to be bound to one medium. What began as A Song of Ice and Fire — a series of fantasy books written by George R.R. Martin — Game of Thrones was unleashed onto the world of the illiterate through a hugely popular HBO show in 2011. But that was not enough for the fans of dragons, battles, and incest. Over the years, there have been Game of Thrones videogames, Game of Thrones conventions, and now, this Saturday at the BB&T Center, the Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience.
According to reviews of earlier dates on the tour, the show seems to emphasize the word "experience" as much as it does the word "concert." The TV show's composer, Ramin Djawadi, conducts an orchestra and chorus that play selections of the music that accompanied the many deaths, resurrections, and bare-breasted brothel scenes throughout the past six seasons of Game of Thrones. The stage is divided into three parts: One section holds the majority of the musicians, while the other two areas showcase soloists. For those who have not received a master's degree in Game of Thrones mythology and cannot remember which score corresponds to which scene, a massive screen hanging above the players will broadcast images of the Starks and Lannisters battling and embracing (though you will have to subscribe to HBO to see the R-rated material).
The live concert experience provides special effects whose descriptions, like the show on which it is based, will be preceded by spoiler alerts. During explosions, flames shoot up from the stage; at times, to represent wildfire, the flames are appropriately green. When the action takes audiences to the frozen tundra of the North, snowflakes fall from the rafters.
"We created instruments specifically for the tour," Djawadi explained in an interview with Consequence of Sound, "like the 12-foot Wilding horn, which looks really cool, something I didn't have in the studio. The big challenge is to summarize six seasons in one evening."
So although Game of Thrones fanatics might have to wait months for the seventh season to begin, and perhaps years for the next volume of fiction, fear not: This show offers a chance to get your fix of Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, and all the other magical and brutal figures of their ever-expanding world.
Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience
8 p.m. Saturday, March 11, at BB&T Center, 1 Panther Pkwy., Sunrise; thebbtcenter.com; 954-835-8000. Tickets cost $35 to $95 via ticketmaster.com.
