Spoiler-Free Review
You can find out more about the world tour for DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony here.
Tickets are on sale now.
If you’re a major fan of DEATH STRANDING and DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH, then you’re going to really enjoy DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony World Tour. The songs are expertly timed against the music, and it is clear the concert organizers attempted to truly try to tell the stories of both DEATH STRANDING and DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH in the show. DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony was clearly a work of deep, intense love by people who love this series and understand what makes it special is not just the big moments, but the small moments of hauling packages across the country to your final destination.
However, this is a show that also has some obvious deficiencies. DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony only contains music by a handful of artists. This is a shame because so many of the most consequential cutscenes in both games have music inextricably intertwined with them, and it was jarring to see the clips without what you’d expect to be there playing in the background. Additionally, while the main vocals are live (and, at least in Los Angeles were fantastic), any choral song elements are pre-recorded and mixed in with the live orchestra. The biggest problem, however, is the show length. Everything, including the intermission, clocks in at two hours in length, and that is probably the shortest video game concert I have ever attended.
Ultimately, it is worth going to the concert if you’re a DEATH STRANDING fan, if you’re aware of the concert’s runtime and the somewhat limited song selection when you purchase the tickets.
There is a full review after the below image, but I do not spoil any major plot points for DEATH STRANDING or DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH within.
Full Review
I am an unabashed Hideo Kojima fan. I bought a Sega CD specifically to play SNATCHER, and I still have my PlayStation 4 with the PT demo on it in my parent’s home so I can pop into that mysterious, creepy adventure every so often. I also love DEATH STRANDING. I played the first game during 2020 in lockdown, and it was invigorating to play a game about exploring a (mostly) abandoned world while I was locked into my own equivalent shelter myself. By the time DEATH STRANDING 2: On the Beach came out, I knew that I had to play it, and I found myself losing so many hours of my time building roads, delivering packages, and experiencing the story elements of that game, too.
DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony is a concert split into two halves: the first half of the concert focuses on DEATH STRANDING, and the second half tells the story of DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH. The music and the cutscenes go in mostly a linear pace as it tells Sam’s story first across America and then across Mexico and Australia. I loved this, because it meant that each song help snap another piece of the game into place as it built to each story’s climax. I am a big fan of video game concerts that utilize the medium as a method of storytelling, and this concert absolutely does. Needless to say: DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony WILL spoil both DEATH STRANDING and DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH, and you will have a hard time following what is happening story wise in the concert if you haven’t played both games. I know that because a friend of mine who went with me admitted she was lost with what was happening because she has played neither game in the series.
Furthermore, I was absolutely shocked at how well the story was told with the music and the assorted game clips. If you’ve played DEATH STRANDING, then you know the appeal of the game isn’t just the big cinematic sequences with memorable, unique characters, but it is also about just walking across various countries’ varying terrain to deliver packages to people. DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony really nails both aspects of this, as there is plenty of porting included alongside epic fights and multiple encounters with the main villain. This is how you utilize storytelling in a concert format while paying respect to the original medium. All that said, I do really wish some of the side characters in both games (like Dollman, Heartman, and Hardman) all had more than blink-and-you’ll-miss it screentime, however.
Brians Eads did an excellent job both conducting and keeping the audience engaged between set pieces, and Ludvig Forssell (the composer for the DEATH STRANDING series) popped up quite a bit to talk to us “porters” as well. It felt like they were both genuinely thrilled to be here with the audience despite both of them having to ultimately make multiple worldwide stops, and that kind of energy is infectious. The two vocalists, Tony Flaherty and Morgan Keene, do an impressive job covering the vocals of Low Roar and Woodkid, other than a brief vocal range issue on one of the songs. I liked how they appeared together and separately on stage and they clearly worked to sing together as a cohesive whole instead of two people just doing a gig.
“Ludvig Forssell is a master composer, and DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony breathes orchestral life into his unparalleled body of work.”
The big question I had going into DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony was how they were going to handle Low Roar’s post-rock and electronic genre music, and if it would be included at all in the setlist. I was incredibly surprised at how heavy the first half of the concert showcased the group. They handled the death of Ryan Karazija (who died in October 2022) incredibly respectfully — and I don’t want to spoil it for you here and risk you not enjoying that bit of absolute magic. It is sufficient to say that you can tell both him and Low Roar are both missed by everyone who had a hand in the concert production and over at Kojima Productions.
All that said, though, there are issues. DEATH STRANDING lives — and dies — on the licensed music in the game. When you’re making porter deliveries, you’ll often have licensed music by a wide variety of artists pop up in the background that really add a ‘flavor’ to the world around you and set the tone. Some of these tunes by artists ranging from CHVRCHES and Silent Poets to B.J. Thomas are intertwined in such a way that you can’t see certain cutscenes without immediately hearing that music in your head. I wish there was more variety in the setlist than just music by Low Roar, Woodkid, and Ludvig Forssell because of that.
Funnily enough, there is room in the concert for more music because this concert, from start to finish with a 20-ish minute intermission, was two hours total. That makes DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony the shortest video game concert that I’ve attended by performance length. It is baffling that with the tribute video, the appearances by Mr. Forssell, and everything else going on (that I’m not spoiling here), and the length of both game soundtracks, that this wasn’t a two-and-a-half-hour minimum concert. I don’t think anyone would complain about it — I certainly wouldn’t have. But only showcasing nine or ten songs from each game feels a little short, especially when you’re already willing to cover artists, and people are paying a minimum of $50 USD for a high-balcony seat.
The other issue I had was pre-recorded choral elements of the concert. I am a firm believer that you should have the entire soundtrack be live, with very limited (such as a tribute using the original vocal artist!) exceptions, during a concert performance. Some of the tracks have choral voices, and I did not see a chorus on stage. This means they must have mixed in pre-recorded vocals with the live instruments. I am not sure if this is because it wasn’t cost effective to bring in additional live singers for each location or something else, but it was distracting because it did make me briefly wonder what, if anything else, was pre-recorded and being slipped in.
I want to touch on the merchandise situation before I wrap up this review. The merchandise sold at the show was good quality stuff. I took the opportunity to feel the t-shirts and the hoodies after the performance, and I was impressed with how solid they felt. With a lot of concerts, the t-shirts are incredibly thin and shoddily made, but these felt like they were sturdily constructed and true to what you’d expect a large or an extra-large to feel like. I also saw that other than the limited-edition harmonicas, they didn’t run out of anything during the concert itself — and it was all available (other than the harmonicas) through a weblink provided at the concert as well. I loved the fact you don’t have to sacrifice your concert-going experience to get anything you want from the merch store. The only issue I had, truthfully, is that there were not enough people working at the booth to process as many transactions as possible as quickly as possible. The line ended up being wrapped around a queue and up two flights of the Dolby Theater because of that.
So, the burning question is: Is DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony worth going to? I would say ‘yes’, as long as you are aware of the concert’s runtime and the somewhat limited song selections when you purchase your tickets. I gave this concert four stars, because if you purchase your tickets while knowing the things that I’ve listed above, then you’re going to have a fantastic time. The visual accompaniment to the music is some of the best I’ve ever seen for a video game concert as it stays absolutely true to the heart of the DEATH STRANDING games. Ludvig Forssell is a master composer, and DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony breathes orchestral life into his unparalleled body of work. Hopefully this concert is a harbinger of more concerts to come from Kojima Productions with their future titles.
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Overall |   |
You can find out more about the world tour for DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony here.
Tickets are on sale now.
Are you planning on seeing DEATH STRANDING: Strands of Harmony?
Is DEATH STRANDING or DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH your favorite in the series?
Let us know in the comments below!
