Kagami: Ryuishi Sakamoto and Tin Drum

 The Event: Kagami - Ryuishi Sakamoto and Tin Drum as part of the ASIATOPA Festival

Where: The Convention Centre (Next to The Lume)

Ticket Price: Around $100 with the booking fee

Until: 16 March

Stars 4.5

I bought a ticket to this on a whim. I knew nothing about Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952-2023), but curious as to how they were going to bring an Oscar winning pianist back to life with the assistance of virtual reality, I chanced it and bought a ticket. 

It was a very good decision. 

Here's the blurb on the Asia TOPA website:

"Presented by: Asia TOPA, Arts Centre Melbourne

One of the most acclaimed and ground-breaking new shows of recent years, KAGAMI is an extraordinary and profoundly moving performance by Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto.

KAGAMI is a collaboration between mixed reality pioneers Tin Drum and Sakamoto. Sakamoto’s internationally-acclaimed body of work ranges from influential electronic pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra to his hugely acclaimed soundtrack work Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, The Revenant and The Last Emperor, for which he won an Academy Award.

KAGAMI is a new kind of concert. Audiences are invited to wear glasses that fuse three-dimensional moving images with the real world. The result is an intimate encounter with Sakamoto and a never-before-seen mixed reality performance experience. A truly immersive work that removes any barrier between the performance, the audience and the artist himself, KAGAMI puts you on the stage with Sakamoto.

KAGAMI is a uniquely intimate, elegiac gift that moves us to reconnect with Sakamoto’s genius and be transfixed by the beauty of his music once again. Simply exquisite."

And yes, I was a little confused about what I was getting myself into as I lined up at Door 17 at the Melbourne Convention Centre. The fellow who scanned my ticket said that if I needed corrective glasses for short-sightedness to go to the desk on the right inside the door. There they take your approximate prescription and give you a sticker, and you get told to go inside the auditorium. The reason for the eyesight check is that they put it lenses to your VR headset as normal glasses don't under them. It's a cool deal. I possibly could have gone without the correction as my glasses prescription is only a point out in each eye, but still, I'm glad I did it. 

Another thing you're told before the show starts - the graphics are good, but not perfect. As this has been adapted from old footage, the images are clear, but not what I'd call high definition. This was good as it managed expectations. 

You go in. 

The first area runs a video of  Ryuishi Sakamoto along with some large prints of the composer in his younger years and a video of him later in life in either the Arctic or Antarctic. Whichever one it was, he was finding the music in the ice. 

We were then invited into the main auditorium, where we were told to sit down, place any belongings under the chairs and wait for our VR kit. We were also given the rules. Look through your goggles and you should see a big red square in the centre of the mandala (Yep - and it was a bit freaky to start with) Once the performance starts, after the 30 or so of us had received our get up, if we were to leave there was no coming back. We were encouraged to move around the space, but to stay out of the square mandala on the floor. We were also told to be careful when moving about. The VR headsets direct your gaze forward, but you are very aware of the real world in your peripheral vision. Also, the auditorium was about a third full when I saw the show, so there was plenty of room to move about. 

And then it started. 

The Maestro, was there, in the middle of the mandala, playing on a Yamaha grand piano. There were all sorts of effects around him. Clouds, lights, feathers, beams, videos, depending on the song that was playing. Moving around the space, you had 360-degree access, watching as Sakamoto played his music. 

If people were in front of you, the VR goggles blurred them out. 

This was the shot I took in the middle of the performance: 

But this is what I was seeing in 3D with the ability to walk around, watch his hands as he played, not seeing anybody in front of me, as a lightshow played around him.  

And the music was exquisite.

The 50-minute showing took us through songs from The Last Emperor, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and The Revenant, among others. Engrossing, emotional music, which was only amplified by the VR perspective. For me, it reminded me of the Ludovico Einaudi concert I went to about a year ago. 

I loved this. 

And as much of a sceptic as I am about virtual reality, this is a bloody good use for it. 

The show comes highly recommended. It's here until 16 March. 

Today's song: