Recently, I’ve been seeing ads for Candlelight Concerts all over social media. These concerts cover the gamut of genres they are paying tribute to, from movie soundtracks to classic metal bands having their songs covered by a live string quartet. I had been curious but didn’t see any that tempted me to attend until Fever announced a run of shows playing The Lord of the Rings movie soundtracks. I didn’t go in expecting to see one of the most intimate and emotional live music performances, leaving me awestruck, but that’s exactly how I left.
This event was hosted at the Phoenix Zoo after hours, making the drive there and parking a simple task. I was worried about the wording on the ticket website saying seating was first-come, first-served, but once we arrived at the entrance, an usher walked us to our section and found open places in the bleacher seating for us to wait for the show to start.
The host of the show took the stage first to thank everyone for being there and to stress to the audience that no pictures or videos would be allowed until the final song of the night. She also took time to introduce our musical performers for the night, Lunar Calendar.
Then the performers took the stage and launched into the prologue song, “One Ring to Rule Them All.” Almost immediately, I was lost in the amazing sounds of the strings playing out the beautiful notes for the gathered crowd. As beautiful as the notes were, I became worried that I might not recognize the music I had only heard played over scenes in the movies. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case; after the first song, the quartet stopped, and one of them took some time to share an anecdote of what makes the series special to them and then tell the audience what songs would be in the next section and where they are in the movie. There was a short break like this between each section of music so the audience could follow along with what was being played.
The musical performance itself was such a beautiful rendition of the soundtrack that carried all the emotions through from the films into the notes. I felt the fun, playful ignorance in “Concerning Hobbits,” I understood what Arwen sacrificed for her love of Aragorn during “Evenstar,” and the bittersweet triumph of an adventure coming to an an end with “The Return of the King.”
The stage was covered in hundreds of electric, flameless candles. All the flickering lights made it feel like the stage and the audience melted away, and you were left alone, being carried through all of the emotions of the epic movie trilogy.
When the set was over and the performers bowed goodnight to us, I was not prepared for it to be over. The entire set lasted just over an hour, and even though my back had begun to hurt from the uncomfortable seat, it did not feel like an hour had passed. Luckily, there was no push from the ushers for us to leave, so we had plenty of time for pictures in front of the gorgeous, candlelit stage. There was a professional photographer off to the side for anyone wanting to purchase professional photos in front of a special candlelit backdrop.
It is an evening I would describe to anyone asking as magical. The classic string instruments carried so much more emotion than I could have ever thought before. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any more Candlelight Concerts paying tribute to my favorite music, because this concert truly was unlike any other I had been to before.