After 10 years, FINAL FANTASY XIV’s self-declared ‘old guys’, THE PRIMALS, made it to their biggest stage yet. And you know what? They crushed it.

Who would have thought that a bunch of guys from the development team of SQUARE ENIX’s popular MMO coming together to form a rock band with the purpose of performing live at fan events and creating official arrangements of boss themes from the game would reach such a level of popularity amongst fans and beyond that they could perform two sold-out arena concerts? That’s what happened this past weekend as the group stepped on stage at the famed 17,000-capacity Yokohama Arena for THE PRIMALS Live in Japan - Darkest Before Dawn, putting them in the company of some of the biggest idols, bands and performers to grace the arena on their journeys to stardom, as the large posters inside the venue listing every group to ever perform there would be keen to remind you.

THE PRIMALS began as a thank-you to fans and a chance for a few devs possessing some skills with instruments and a passion to show off their talent, more than anything. Following the successful relaunch of FINAL FANTASY XIV under the supervision of Naoki Yoshida, sound director Masayoshi Soken founded the group as leader on guitar and vocals with Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, the game’s localization director and vocalist for the group, GUNN on guitar, Eikichi Iwai on bass and Tetsuya Tachibana on drums. Their appearances were limited to Fan Festival performances with rock-infused arrangements of fan-favorite songs, gaining a reputation that would see them release their own debut album in 2018 and work on several professionally-recorded arrangement albums.

Fast forward a few solo tours, concerts at Makuhari Messe that sold out instantly, alongside producing the main theme for Dawntrail, and their growth has brought them here. It’s a testament to fans as well as the power of their stage presence and music to resonate even beyond dedicated players.

Entering Yokohama Arena for the second day of their concerts, the excitement inside the venue was palpable. Fans were rushing in to snap brief photos of the flowers and the group’s signatures on official promotional artwork for the show, and if they hadn’t before entry they were soon making a rush for the merchandise to see what in-demand items hadn’t sold out. It was harder to find a fan not decked out in t-shirts or other paraphernalia for the group, if we were honest, as a sea of stylishly-dressed FINAL FANTASY fans buzzed with excitement to their seats.

It didn’t take much to get the crowd going. Roughly 10 minutes before the scheduled start time, some eagle-eyed fans noticed Naoki Yoshida taking his seat in one of the boxes towards the upper area of the stand, and began to wave using their penlights. A few onlookers turned into dozens, then hundreds, before an entire venue was waving in unison. Drunk on power, Yoshida took a penlight of his own, conducting the crowd with his influence as everyone desperately switched the color of their lights to match the new star of the show. Then again. And again. Who needs music when you have a man and a light? For a crowd such as this, it’s almost like jangling keys!

It helped pass the last anticipatory minutes before the lights dimmed, and after a brief introduction from the game’s voice actors, the show got under way. "Open Sky - The Theme from Dawntrail" the group were commissioned to produce, brought with it an almighty roar from the crowd as they played in silhouette from behind a curtain with their logo, elevating the stadium aloft without even needing to show their face. The roar of the English vocals from Koji Fox mixed with the heavy rock backing of the group set the tone for the day, as everyone leapt to their feet to rock out and celebrate as one body.

The set list for the event was a run through the most memorable moments of the FINAL FANTASY XIV campaign, with the group more than happy to have some fun even if it meant laughing at themselves in the process. The Dawntrail expansion boss theme for Honey B Lovely is an idol-like preppy affair, perfectly befitting the elegance of the boss in an arena whose virtual stands were filled by bees and teddy bears, coupled with lyrics that add a, well, sting to the love-infused cuteness of the lyrics. THE PRIMALS took their own stab at it with a more ‘manly’ twist, bringing a laugh and a shred to one of the game’s cuter themes.

This was the tone for much of the concert. These were a group of guys passionate and overjoyed to simply be on this stage, after 10 years and everything they’ve been through, and you bet they’re going to have fun with the opportunity while it’s here.

This philosophy was only emphasized as the group brought out special guests. Amanda Achen’s soaring vocals lit up the stage and excited fans as she came on stage, with a similar reaction to Jason Charles Miller’s appearance, beard and cowboy hat in tow, to sing "Shadowbringers" and "To the Edge" with a from-the-gut raw strength that plunged to the depths of the arena itself.

Their appearance on stage was perhaps only surpassed as Suzaku herself, Yoshino Nanjo, burst on stage in a pheonix-like burst of flame as she stood intimidating in the center of the screens behind the band to belt her theme to an audience reveling and lifted by her presence. As a fan of the game herself having performed at numerous prior concerts for THE PRIMALS, she was just as excited by the opportunity to perform with the group on this stage as the rest of the group, and that energy was infectious as she belted her song to the crowd.

The music was enough to entertain, but between repeated breaks to interact with the crowd (and give themselves some much-needed) they were intent to make sure everyone had fun. Even Yoshida got in on the act as he spoke to the group from his box, although without being provided a microphone it was up to him to project his voice above an audience silenced by his presence in order to be heard.

The concert came to an end with a number of fan-favorite songs. After bringing out a group of dancers to perform the iconic choreography for "A Long Fall", the group closed out the main concert before an encore with "Endwalker - Footfalls". For such an event marking 10 years of FINAL FANTASY XIV music, it was a fitting conclusion. Marking the end of an epic before a new era of storytelling in this world was to begin, its lyrics that capped and reminisced over a long journey reaching its conclusion while reinforcing a need to move forwards felt like a fitting finale.

Of course, that was not the end, and the energy reached a fever pitch as two fan-favorite songs were performed. "Under the Weight" got the entire audience to chant to the theme of the titan, before "Rise" saw the large crowd understand the assignment and participate in a perfectly-executed freeze in time to the music as though frozen in the heat of battle.

As the event wound down to its conclusion, all the guests returned to the stage to greet the audience before slowly funeling out. As I did, I couldn’t help but notice friends dotted in the crowd around me excitedly chatting about their favorite moments and how great it had been to make it to such a stage. My walk to the train station was within a sea of like-minded fans all buzzing from the experience as they made their own way home. The smile and the memories are a testament to a great show, and I certainly hope they get a chance to perform at a venue such as this again.

To pardon the pun, they rocked it. For a group ramshackled together by a few friends to make music for a video game, this was proof that the result of this project is far more than background music for a few boss fights. To fill a stadium of this size requires not just incredible music but a broad appeal, and it was telling that during one moment where the group spoke to the audience many in the crowd admitted to not having played FINAL FANTASY before. Their music has universal appeal to rock fans even beyond dedicated players.

That’s something special.