Yacht Club Game’s iconic indie darling Shovel Knight delighted New York City music fans with Steel Thy Concert, a concert celebrating the franchise’s many amazing music tracks.
Attending the amazing experience, I’m here to report whether or not the band strikes the earth with killer tunes, or if this knight’s tunes are a bit rusty.
What is Shovel Knight?
Players are tasked with fighting the Order of No Quarter to save Shovel Knight’s partner, Shield Knight, from the Enchantress. Along the way, players come across colorful characters that help Shovel Knight on his heroic quest.
Players have a shovel, which can be used to attack foes, but you can also dig piles of dirt, hit objects, and even pogo bounce ala NES Ducktales.
Through challenging but fair level design, well-designed boss encounters, a progression system melding Super Mario Bros 3 and Classic Mega Man together, and so much more, Shovel Knight became a critical darling and got multiple DLC expansions.
These expansions took three Knights players featured in the base game and created new adventures. In addition, Shovel Knight himself has appeared in many titles over the years. These ranged from cameo appearances in games like Yooka-Laylee to even being an assist trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
The shovel-wielding hero has had other adventures in recent years. These include Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon and the upcoming Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope DX remaster/remake.
Fate Approaches – Steel Thy Concert Impressions
Learning about this show in the Fall of 2024, I needed to see this concert. I loved other video game concerts, such as the Final Fantasy and Sonic-themed ones I saw in 2024. So, seeing how 8-bit-inspired music got adapted by a band was very exciting.
One immediate takeaway was how friendly the Shovel Knight community is. Everyone in the audience I spoke to was friendly and loved gaming. And when the music kicked into high-gear, I was glued in my seat.
Kicking the show off with a band rendition of ‘One Fateful Knight’, it organically transitioned into the game’s iconic opening stage. When ‘Strike the Earth‘ played, I started tapping my feet to the beat. Separating itself from other video game concerts, a band played all the music.
Melding the sounds of guitars, violins, trumpets, keyboards, and drums, every song during the show came together perfectly. Tracks that needed that faster pace leapt off the stage with the guitar and drums, while the softer melodies played with the violin made me emotional.
Additional Concert Highlights
A major highlight of the show was the Mina the Hollower sneak peek, where the band played a spooky track that appears in the game. But by far the track that made me emotional was their rendition of ‘The Starlit Wilds. ‘ It’s the music theme that plays after clearing a level, where Shovel Knight sleeps by the campfire, dreaming of catching his beloved.
The soft strums of the guitar supported the almost haunting violin strings, bringing to life the magical sound the original track offered players in the original game.
Once the final song was finished, everyone applauded. It was an amazing show, with people who love gaming putting their hearts and souls into their performances.
Hall of Champions – Meeting the Team at Yacht Club Games & the Performers
After the show, I used my VIP pass to speak with people from Yacht Club Games. Seeing the composer of legendary games like Ducktales Remastered and earlier Shantae titles made my night. In addition, telling Sean (game designer) and David (programmer) how much I enjoyed their title and showing appreciation for their support of the PS Vita made me happy. And having Celia (marketing team/social media manager) comment on my Shadow shirt made me smile.
Lastly, I gave genuine thanks to Charlie Rosen. He was the lead guitarist for the concert. What I always wanted to do at the Sonic Symphony was to show my thanks to the talented team adapting the legendary scores to the big stage.
Being able to do that for this show was important to me. Making music isn’t easy, and adapting music from one medium to another is even harder. So, him and his team knowing I appreciate their efforts was another highlight of an already amazing night.
Thankfully, if you want to hear more of Charlie and his team’s work outside the show, they have their band called “The 8-Bit Big Band”, and their work can be found on most music platforms.
Closing Thoughts
Video games offer amazing music, and seeing more efforts like Steel Thy Concert is encouraging. If one indie publisher does things like this to spread their amazing music to new places, it inspires more indie publishers to follow.
I told the team during the VIP event how important this concert was for the video game music space and that I would love to see more from them in the future on this front.
If you want to catch this legendary show again, they have another concert at the Los Angeles Fonda Theatre on March 30th, 2025.
