The forthcoming Final Fantasy XI Fan Festival, which is being held from March 9-11 at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, has announced a major (and fun!) addition to the schedule, in the form of the first U.S. concert by The Star Onions.

A review of The Star Onions' first album explains things well: "The Star Onions (a band originally formulated in order to perform in a concert celebrating the release of Final Fantasy XI Chains of Promathia, September 2004) are responsible for both the arrangement and performance of the pieces. The various [Square Enix employee] members, who include Naoshi Mizuta (Parasite Eve II, Rockman & Forte [and FFXI expansion pack music composer]) and Kumi Tanioka (Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2), provide an eclectic approach to musical arrangement..."

Heck, there's even a lead guitarist (Tsuyoshi Sekito) and a guest drummer (Arata Hanyuda) for this U.S. concert who also moonlight in The Black Mages, Nobuo Uematsu's own Final Fantasy tribute band. So - even if you don't want the special Moogle Rod in-game item that you get for turning up, this alone may be reason to go hang out with fellow FFXI freaks?