Game of Thrones stars Liam Cunningham and Jacob Anderson have been inside a Meereenese pyramid, north of the Wall and in the presence of dragons and giants during their time filming the HBO hit series, but both of them were still in awe when they first saw the stage being used for Thrones' upcoming live concert experience.
"I assumed there might be a screen involved, but I was not expecting this," Cunningham, who plays Davos Seaworth, told IGN. "It’s extraordinary."
Built inside a studio soundstage with multiple moving stages and massive screens, the stage is intended to bring to life some of the most famous moments from Game of Thrones' previous six seasons. The concert experience has been a dream three years in the making for composer Ramin Djawadi, who initially conceived it with showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss as a small, one-off concert before it morphed into the massive, city-traveling experience that kicks off on February 20th.
Like Game of Thrones itself, Djawadi said he wanted the live concert tour to be something that "has never been done before." Seven custom stages were built to bring the world of Game of Thrones to life, inspired by visuals from the series like the iconic opening credits sequence. Screens will surround certain musicians to play sequences from the show or create an environment like the Wall. Seven battle scenes will be recreated in concert with the live music being played, and pyrotechnics will help make the experience feel real and alive for the audience.
"As we were brainstorming with different people and with HBO, we said, 'Let's do something special here,'" said Djawadi. "It's a special audience; everyone's so into the show. Let's really create an amazing immersive experience and summarize these amazing six seasons that we've had, with the idea being you watch the show and then you're pumped and ready for Season 7."
Djawadi created special compositions of different songs, like the Lannister theme, to make them more fitting for a live performance. Iconic songs like "The Rains of Castamere" will also get their own new spin -- and potentially some special guest performers.
"I think for any fan to actually hear something live that is a part of the show is almost an unexplainable feeling. You can feel it. It’s something that’s very direct, like being amongst the show," Anderson, who plays Grey Worm, said of what makes the concert experience special. "It makes you feel like you’re in it."
Two famous pieces of Game of Thrones composition from Season 6 that Djawadi can't wait to see brought to life are "Battle of the Bastards" and "Light of the Seven," the latter of which he has a special emotional attachment to.
"Light of the Seven I'm really excited about to because actually I'll be playing the piano and organ myself, and so I'm excited to play that," he said.
This will be Game of Thrones fans' first experience in hearing the show's score played in an arena-like setting, but Cunningham and some of the Thrones cast already have a taste of how special that will be. When they were filming Season 6 in Spain, the Thrones cast was invited to a special soccer match between Seville and Barcelona. While there, they were surprised when the stadium informed everyone else present that they were in the audience.
"They put it up on this huge screen before the match with a full crowd and they went, more or less, ‘Look who’s in the house.’ A dragon came across – this was in the football stadium – and they started playing the music, which was fantastic. And then all of the sudden I noticed I could hear the crowd were [singing along to the theme]," Cunningham recalled. "We could hear the crowd singing the theme song. It was putting the hair up on the back of our neck, and we were looking at each other going, ‘How cool is this!’ And that’s Ramin’s beautiful work."
The Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience begins in Minneapolis, Minn. on February 20th and concludes in Portland, Ore. on April 2nd. For more on Game of Thrones, check out the series' best Funko Pops and learn why HBO hasn't yet greenlit Season 8.
Terri Schwartz is Entertainment Editor at IGN. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
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