PlayStation: The Concert Interview - Building a community

PlayStation: The Concert features a combination of live music and cutting-edge visuals that seamlessly transitions through the illustrious history of PlayStation featuring franchises such as God of War, The Last of Us, Uncharted, Horizon, and much more.

At the forefront of its experience, backed by a live musical band, are singers Lisa Olivant and Billy Boothroyd.

With PlayStation: The Concert being a celebration of the video games we love, I thought I’d start the interview in the best way possible, by asking Lisa and Billy to name their favourite video games of all time.

“I think the one that I love most of all is The Last of Us. I’m an absolute sucker for anything post-apocalyptic and narrative-driven,” says Billy. “It’s my go-to in movies and video games. I also love Disco Elysium and God of War.”

Zdenko Hanout

“I’m also about halfway through Death Stranding at the moment, I absolutely love it. I love the cinematography, and when a song kicks in, and you get the wide camera shots, it’s incredible.”

“The first game that comes to mind for me is Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. My uncle gave my dad a copy, trying to get him into games,” explains Lisa. “But my dad could not get used to the controller. I grew up playing Tomb Raider, and I love treasure hunting, so I knew this game would be my thing.”

“From that moment, I fell in love with the entire Uncharted franchise. I also fell for God of War (2018), that game is super emotional. It has amazing music and set pieces,” she continues. “Then I’d say Red Dead Redemption 2. I cried so much at the end of that game. Oh, and when Baldur’s Gate 3 came out, that ruined my life. I sank about 600 hours into that game.”

I attended PlayStation: The Concert with my son, and we both enjoyed the show immensely. As soon as I walked into the arena, I noticed how few attendees were dressed in smart clothes. Much like me and my son, they were dressed in geek gear showcasing the video games they love. As GAMINGbible’s Kate said in her review, PlayStation: The Concert has a sense of community

“That community vibe is super important to us,” answers Lisa. “We didn't want us on stage to feel any different from those in the crowd. This is a celebration for everyone, and we’re in the experience, just as much as everyone else. If I weren't the one on stage, I’d be in the audience. Getting to share this experience is really important to us.”

Zdenko Hanout

“And that vibe is not just from us,” adds Billy. “Right from the top, people at PlayStation who put this event together, that was their mission to bring a community together.”

“We all have a chat behind the scenes before going out on stage, and we wanted those who maybe don’t play online, who enjoy single-player games, but can sometimes feel lonely, to have a feeling of belonging. We bring everyone together to celebrate something we all love; that’s what our community is.”

PlayStation: The Concert is a fantastic event from start to finish, and it’s surely a gruelling task just to pick out one favourite song to perform. Nonetheless, that question was asked.

“I adore the first half of the show, but the second half blows it out of the water for me,” says Billy. “It starts with Uncharted, then we go into The Last of Us, followed by Journey, which is beautiful, and then it’s God of War. There’s no weak link there, it’s hard to choose, they’re all incredible scores. As we say in the industry ‘all killer, no filler’”.

“The response we get from God of War is unreal,” Lisa adds. “When we did our first show in Dublin, Ireland, the moment Kratos appeared on the screen, the crowd went nuts. It was an epic moment to feel that energy from the audience.”

To conclude our chat, I asked Lisa and Billy over the past 12 months, whether it’s something personal or professional, what has given them the most joy in life.

Zdenko Hanout

“About this time last year, I joined an online Dungeons & Dragons group to play over a stream with a bunch of my friends,” Lisa recalls.

“It's been an absolute joy to be a part of, because I've been a big fan of D&D for a few years now, and it's one of my favourite things to do in the world. So to get to do it online via our channels on Twitch and YouTube, ‘The Players Keep’ and build a community of fans, which feels weird to say, but yeah, it’s been a highlight of my past year.”

“Mine is going to be the old man version,” laughs Billy. “The most pride I’ve felt and what has given me the most joy is seeing my daughter start school. My time at school wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't the best. So, seeing her bounce to school full of joy is lovely.”

PlayStation: The Concert is still currently touring Europe at the time of writing, and will visit Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland in March 2026. Hopefully, they’ll return to North America and the UK again soon.