Night of Destruction

Hello guys!

Thank you for all the support. I’ve been rather bad about my blog lately, being too excited about the concerts and too much into all the preparations, even buying clothes for each night (really, that is so unlike me. I never, ever go shopping for clothes if I can avoid it), getting accessories such as light sticks and black nail varnish and so on. I wanted it to be really special, but hey, leave it to X to make all your dreams come true!

I found out about Sugizo playing hide’s parts as a guest guitarist the night before leaving and, although that was predictable, it made me very happy. Of course, noone can ever replace hide, but Sugizo is the one whom I don’t mind playing with X at all. In fact, he is the only one who’s got the right to do it, not only because he is so skilled guitarist, and because he was hide’s friend, and because every X fan loves him (if someone didn’t, I’m sure he/she does now), but also because he’s too modest, sensible and understanding person to try to replace hide, or his personality. He was there, supporting X, to cite his blog:

I noticed something amidst the pressure and complications…my task is to become his medium. In other words, through playing together, to stand behind the band and support their potential. And I intend to do it to the best of my ability.

but never trying to get into spotlight. But… let’s keep things in order.

There is no direct flight from Poland to Japan, so I had to change planes in Russia. And the first amazing thing that happened was meeting two other Polish fans going to X concerts on the airport in Moscow. I hope it’s obvious I’m not the only Polish fan who went to Japan just to see X, because quite a few of my friends did, but such an unexpected meeting made me feel X spirit for the first time. Who would mind 18+ hours journey if somewhere in the world X is united once again?

After that, it was getting even more exciting. In the plane I noticed an impressing article in the newspapers that all the Japanese passengers were reading, with huge Yoshiki, hide and Sugizo photos, which I borrowed for a moment to show to fellow X fans. And after getting off (don’t want to complain, but really, 10 hours flight is tiring…), I was overwhelmed by Narita’s atmosphere, that is, by some soothing ambient, sounding much like Brian Eno, which they play at the airport (it seemed I was the only person who actually noticed it, though), soft scents, and I heard Japanese people talking about Sugizo and hide in the shuttle train to the main airport building.

I bought JR East Pass and I found myself in the train to Chiba, where I was staying (incidentally, this is also a city where Yoshiki was born).

I don’t think Yoshiki (or X Japan management?) did it on purpose, but the time for the concert they chose the best season of the year, with cherry blossoms everywhere, and the weather was perfect, too.

I arrived on 27th of March, the day before the concert, and instead of resting or sleeping, I decided to vist John Lennon’s museum in Saitama on that day (apparently Sugizo visits it before most of his concerts, but I was really curious about the museum anyway).

I recommend visiting the museum as it’s very peaceful and quiet place, where you can listen to The Beatles music as much as watching the gallery. There is also this interesting little phone to which Yoko Ono might give a call occasionaly, so you’ll be able to talk to her if you are luck enough.

On the day of the concert itself, I decided to go to the Tokyo Dome a bit earlier to breathe the atmosphere of a concert a bit and be the first to pick a ticket from JRR will-call. I mean, I thought 1 p.m. would be early, as the concert was to start at 6:30, but how very wrong I was. The moment I got off the train, I noticed a colourful crowd, undoubtely X fans, lots of them carrying X Japan merchandise bags with the huge red ‘X’ logo. And there were already lots of people, including many cosplayers, gathering in front of the Dome, and you could hear a rehearsal going on, which was too much for me and I actually broke down into tears (the photo below doesn’t really show the magnitude of all of that, but notice the queue for concert merchandise in the back):

The queue for the will-call was already 1-hour waiting long, too, of course (how very X). I had a chat with some French fans though, as well as making some more photos. Some of them weren’t young, actually (up to 50 or more years old), which I found inexpressibly cute. Really, there were people of all ages there. While standing in the queue, I also got a red pompon for Kurenai, made and distributed by a group of fans. They made thousands and thousands of these! Great initiative for celebrating X reunion, isn’t it? Also, there was a group of fans from Taiwan with paper fans saying “Please come to Taiwan”.

Then, I went to the goods queue and had some chat with Japanese friends, namely, a girl around my age and her mother, who are both fans and came to the concert together. They kindly showed me the message from Yoshiki Mobile, which Yoshiki wrote the day before, very touching, saying things like “I’ll probably pass out or cry many times, but I want to complete the shows anyway”. Also, we had a tiny photosession with their hide doll:

They were also ones to tell me my seat was a really good one (there was no gate on the ticket, which I found a bit confusing), but I wouldn’t find out how freaking great it was after a bit later:

After that, I met some friends from JRR forum and then I decided to go to search for some food (vegetarian, preferably vegan). Now, a short off-topic note. I really don’t envy vegetarians in Japan. Absolutely no eating out, unless you want to find something with eyes in your absolutely-no-meat-no-fish-no-seafood udon soup (because shrimps soooo grow on trees). I was feeding mostly on natto sandwiches from 7/11 (having a certain sentiment for that chain, too. Yoshiki fans know what I mean). So, I decided to go look for one again. Only that I found it quite hard to get near any shops:

Actually, there were some policemen directing traffic near the Dome, which didn’t help much as no car could possibly pass because of fans trying to get to Dome from the station. Also, standing on the overpass I had a chance to take photo of a rather interesting truck:

Wouldn’t mind having one of those, eh?

Anyway, when I came back, people where already forming queues before the gates. I was first told to go to the gate 25, but by the time I got there, the queue had already been full. So I was told to go to gate 24, which turned out to be full already, too. Same about 23. Finally, I ended up waiting in the queue for the gate 22, only it was soon announced by the guide men that the concert was to be 2 hours late. While waiting in the queue, though, I heard Art of Life being rehearsed and nothing couldn’t make me more happy. Who would have thought X would perform Art of Life ever again?

It started raining a bit and the concert was delayed even more. When they finally let us in, it was in such a hurry they didn’t even search our bags too thoroughly (I didn’t have time to hide my camera, and it wasn’t exaclt hidden, just lay there in my bag, but they didn’t take it. Of course, I didn’t take any photos anyway).

When I got in, I proceded straight to the entrances and went to look for my seat. First I went down the tribunes, then through arena gates (up to this stage they’ve already checked my ticket 3 times), then even nearer the stage, then looking for my block, and guess what! I actually had a seat just in front of the stage, 6th row, and very near to the bridge (from which Yoshiki usually throws roses)! I couldn’t really confine my happiness, just as everyone else who came to A block and understood who lucky he was. We were all laughing rather than smiling. Leave it to X to make all your dreams come true, like I said before!

X decorations with roses were absolutely impressive and some classical music (Yoshiki selection, if I’m not wrong, but I have rather different taste than Yoshiki when it comes to classical music, so not sure). Also, the machines producing mist were already on. It was still about 2 hours of waiting till the start of the show, but the mood was of anticipation, nothing like impatience. I talked to some people around me (there were mostly foreigners in the block; as for Japanese, there were supposed to be mostly celebrities and other jrock bands members, but I haven’t really recognized anyone).

Some motion started when the men operating cameras climbed the ladders, first in the back of the Dome (or rather top of the Dome), then on the stage (the curtains were still drawn, but half transparent). And soon enough the lights were off. Did I say off? Actually, so many fans had lightsticks, mostly red, that it was light all the time. I had to turn my head to appreciate it; the view of thousands of lightsticks all around the Dome is indescribable. Then the Last Song’s classical version started… And although this is one of the saddest songs by X, that was sure to make anyone cry during the Last Live, it was so different this time. You could appreciate it’s beauty, but the mood was completely different… everyone around me was smiling, if crying - out of pure joy. The whole live felt like “welcome back X, I’ve been missing you so much but finally, you are with us again”. Knowing myself, I expected I would be crying a lot, but nothing of that sort happened. I was just cheering with others, shouting Yoshiki’s name as soon as we could see him, then Toshi’s, who sounded really good (I had expected he might sing better than before and was right!). They played only two stanzas, though, and after that, the female voice, well-known by any X fans, which I almost dreamed of hearing live said:

We’ll show you the place where dreams and life become one.

Too right you did, X. And then it announced:

Memorize this time we will spend together, and keep us in your hearts. Introducing X Japan

At this time everyone shouted X! X! X!, and then Rusty Nail broke out!

As for my favourite X songs, I wouldn’t be able to pick one, but for some reason, I really wished they would play Rusty Nail. And reading the foras, I’m not the only one; everyone wanted it to be the first song in the setlist. And guess what?

Having seat in the arena, I couldn’t see lasers much, but I could definitely see and feel the fire. Somehow I never thought it was a real fire and sooooo hot. I don’t know how can they stand it, being on the stage!

Soon, we noticed the round box, in the place where hide would stand, on which his image was being projected (at this stage everyone shouted hide’s name), and he was smiling, having fun with all of us. And then again, if there was ever a way of making hide alive once more, it was not mourning or crying, but happiness, along with incredible and indescribable X power. Hundreds of people brought hide’s plushies or cosplayed as hide, and every and each of us who were at the Dome missed hide, and hide was the one everyone was thinking of all the time, but guess what, his spirit really was with us there! I’m sure of it. And band members, especially Yoshiki, were enjoying the concert so much… I really love Yoshiki’s smile, he should smile more often!

As for band’s looks, Yoshiki and Heath were very visual, in a different way than 20 years ago, obviously, but visual kei and visual shock is so much a part of X image, I wouldn’t want them to abandon it. Let’s just say it’s more mature now, more modern. Pata looked just like Pata, and even Toshi let his hair grow a bit (I think it suits him and he looked very nice).

During the first intermission I moved nearer the bridge, as there were 2 empty seats. I think it should be a crime, getting tickets for the sixth row in the arena and then not coming to the show ; someone else could have been able to get there, you know? (I especially appreciated it during other shows, when I had seats in the back of the Dome).

I wondered what would be first words from Toshi, wishing for “aitakatta zo!” (”I wanted to meet you!”), and I was right actually. I wondered what he was thinking and feeling… He was visibly moved by so many fans coming to the shows after all these years, many of them foreign, as well as our enthusiasm. Some people suggested he only agreed to do the shows because of money, because why else would he play rock music again if he despise it so much? Or had he unterstood that X has the power to ‘heal’, and that his voice helped so many people survive? I really couldn’t say, but he really seemed to enjoy himself, and he was hugging Yoshiki and smiling, too. He would have to be a really good actor to fake it all. The thing he said after “aitakatta zo” was “sorry for making you wait, but Yoshiki was a bit late” (I heard it was just a joke afterwards; apparently they had some technical difficulties). Then Toshi made Yoshiki say a few words, which he did, quite unclearly though, so Toshi then said: “I’ll translate it now. Let’s get violent!” (sorry, this translation is a bit inaccurate, but I can’t think how to explaint the meaning other way).

After that, to everyone’s delight, X started rocking the place with Weekend. This time the screen not only showed hide, you could he not only his quitar (great synch, by the way. I wonder how they did it), but also his voice singing chorus. It was a bit like Toshi and hide were having a singing conversation… What I also loved about Weekend, was that a part of it was played by Yoshiki, and that was once again a private dream coming true. It brought out the ballad feeling of Weekend. The bass line seemed a bit different than usual, too. Perhaps it is just a question of that bass section was louder than usual, can’t really tell until the DVD comes out, but it was rocking more than ever. I really liked Heath doing the chorus, too.

Scars was mostly a tribute to hide and played solely by him, pulling cute faces he always did, as though he was surprised to find himself on the stage. Very accurate indeed.

It was followed by Silent Jealousy, another dream come true for me (how many times have I already said that?). Sugizo appeared on the stage, first with his back turned on the audience, then introduced by Toshi and cheered by the crowd. His images on the screen were mixed with hide’s, but as I already said, noone could complain. Sugizo really is great guitarist, and he went all out for it.

After Silent Jealousy, Yoshiki destroyed the drumset (making the audience mad with joy), and that was followed by hide no heya, or rather Dose, performed by hide, joined by Pata and Heath. Perhaps not the song I would personally choose, but fitted well to the very rock concert feeling. And guess what, there dancers really were naked (eww).

Before Say Anything, Toshi expressed how happy he was to play with X again (his smile was really cute), as well as explaining his voice is not yet accustomed to sing rock, and it was indeed a bit croaky (not that anyone minded). They played Say Anything acoustic in a trio, it would be Toshi, Pata and hide, like in Aoi/Shiroi Yoru, but Heath on bass fitted very well too. I rather thought I could Toshi’s eye during this piece, but can’t say for sure as he wore sunglasses and the stage lights, though not very strong in this case, usually make it impossible to see much of the audience.

After that, Yoshiki (in a sexy white shirt) brought some roses which for fans, and then played much anticipated ‘Without You’. The screens showed a variety of old X videos, from indies era to newer ones. Toshi was visibly on the verge of tears. The mood of this song is much like of Miura Reien, the village where hide’s grave is which I visited a few days after the shows; sunny and bright, peaceful and quiet, yet something inside you screams out of pain. This night I didn’t cry, though… and even Yoshiki didn’t, which I was glad of. Really, we were all too happy.

Then came my favourite song of the concerts. Yoshiki started playing it on the piano, lyrics were screened on the stage and we were all singing together (with Sugizo too!), as Yoshiki wanted us to:

In the rain, I’m calling you, dear
Find a way, can’t you see me standing right here?
Feel my pain, life’s bleeding from fear
Find its place, I will give it straight from my vein

(Actually, I’d wondered before how can Toshi possibly sing main vocals and the chorus at the same time). All I can say this song really rocked and made me cry more than anything else that night. Oh, this song is really addictive, and Toshi’s voice, though tired, was impressive.

I should say the same thing about Kurenai. The interlude was played by hide, smiling at the audience. In addition to pompons, we got silver strings shot from cannon-like machines. And what’s most important, Yoshiki was enjoying himself so much, laughing all the time, even singing (at least it looked like it), and Toshi came by to him and played cymbals for a bit and hugging Yoshiki, and Pata and Heath were laughing too. Really, everyone was so happy.

As an encore, they did Art of Life, or should I say they almost did Art of Life, because unluckily fainted just before the piano solo. Or I’d say he just wasn’t able to move because of exhaustion (note: there are some rumours going around saying the whole fainting event was staged, but noone who’s seen it live could ever formulate such a ridiculous hypothesis). I was really worried whether Yoshiki would be fit for remaining lives and how would he feel if it turned out he had to be hospitalized and all other concerts were to be cancelled. Fortunately nothing of that sort happened. Concerning the hide hologram they used in Art of Life, it was perfect and perfectly synched (although I couldn’t see it on the last concert when I had a seat a bit at a side).

After the unfortunate event, when Yoshiki was carried out of the stage by the crew (how I wish I could be the crew!), the lights were almost immediately on and the voice said the live is over. Noone was really surprised, and not counting two Japanese fans we slowly left the arena (which was the last area of the Dome to leave the seats. It’s well organized in Japan).

I didn’t hang out after the concert this night, afraid of missing the last train (really, it was my first night out in Japan), which I regret now, because huge numbers of fans were staying in front of the Dome after each concert and celebrating, singing Endless Rain, shouting ‘we are X!’ and so on. I didn’t think of that and just went to the train station with a Polish friend I met after the concert (again, the photo doesn’t show it too well, but it was incredibly crowded).

Also, it was the first and only time I actually saw the guys in white gloves pushing the people in the train so that more can get into it.

What else can I say… I wasn’t able to sleep much that night, and woke up very early to go for a walk and check in newspapers whether Yoshiki was all right, singing I.V. (it really is pretty addictive).

I might write more about other concerts later, but I need to put one more photo:

As you can see, the daruma on the left has already got 2 eyes. They seem to work pretty well, actually, so I bought another one Asakusa (bigger this time, ‘coz the task I’m setting it is almost undoable).

I hope I don’t need to say I had time of my life… Leave it up to X to make all your dreams come true, eh?

See you in Paris, Yoshiki!

Random blogging, tickets & Bring X Japan to Europe

That’s it. I’ve got the ticket for the concert, found place to stay and I’ve got plane tickets just today, so, one could say I’ve arranged pretty much everything. Still looking for some funds, but I’ve recently realised I’ve been unconsciously saving up for this event for ages, so it seems I don’t really need to.

I try not to be too happy just yet, in case something goes wrong, but that’s about the only thing on my mind now. I was supposed to write some school essay recently, a fact which I kind of ignored. Who cares, actually?

For those of you who couldn’t get the tickets (it wasn’t easy, to put it mildly) there is still a lottery thing on Jrock Revolution page. I suggest you enter it as soon as possible (starting from tomorrow) and I wish you all luck!

And if you haven’t got funds or just can’t go to Japan, there is still a chance X Japan will come to us. I totally love the idea of Bring X Japan to Europe to shower X Japan with letters, so they have no choice but perform somewhere in Europe (perhaps in more than just one country). I’m definitely writing one myself.

By the way, did you know there are going to be THREE concerts in Dome?! Not only 28th and 30th, but 29th as well! It’s called 無謀な夜 (Mad/Reckless Night)! Check out X Japan official page.

Yoshiki - Unforgettable

I’m still quite busy, so this is going to be really short. An excerpt from Yoshiki’s interview from Shoxx, June 1992. The interview is divided into several parts, each of them concerning a keyword, which are arranged in an alphabetical order.

Unforgettable

I have lots of unforgettable memories. Times when I collapsed, unforgettable performances, unforgettable frustration. But I’m not supposed never to get over it, I think.
The latest unforgettable experience is, of course, Yokohama Arena. I was really frustrated about that. But the boiling feeling didn’t come until later, as at the time, I lost track of what was happening for many hours. I haven’t even got recollection of playing the drum solo on the stage.
That day, I didn’t feel well from the very first, I was repeating “I can’t”. But eventually, I thought “I’ll do it just for ourselves and fans”. So, I was thinking to myself “don’t feel sick” and played drums harder than ever and I gradually lost my senses. Still, body remembered how to play, so it played. Then, there is a blank in my memory, and when I finally came around, I was crying in the dressing room. I came to myself as doctor was slapping my face. Then I talked to the doctor just on my own, and he said: “please, that is enough”, crying too. When he was saying “I forbid you”, I’d already said “I’m going back on the stage” and I was putting the make-up back on. Actually, I don’t even remember it myself now. But the people around me seemed to think “Yoshiki’s lost his senses”, and I was carried right away to the emergency hospital. Until the next day, I didn’t really know what was happening.
I don’t really want to remember that at all, but I don’t think it is right to run away from such memories. This one is really unforgettable.

Support X Japan

Today (January 23rd) is the day we are finally able to buy X Japan’s new song, I.V., via iTunes.
So it’s about the first time we have an actual chance to show our support to X Japan.

Please, do not download I.V. illegaly. It doesn’t cost a fortune, and that’s about the only way to show everyone who rocks. Let’s make I.V. the top selling song on iTunes.
Also, more downloads increase our chances of ever seeing X Japan perform outside of Japan. In your country too, perhaps.

So, please, buy it. Buy it for your friends too.*

And if you ever see anyone downloading THIS mp3 using p2p, uploading or posting a link to the file, tell them THEY SUCK!

*This is a joke.

To buy I.V., you need to download itunes player from http://www.apple.com/itunes/, then browse itunes shop for “X Japan” using the application, or go to http://www.apple.com/search/ipoditunes/?q=X+Japan, scroll down and choose I.V. (USA itunes), or go to your country’s itunes webpage and search for “X Japan” (in quotes). However, this only applies if you live in Japan, Korea, America, Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Holland, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Swiss, and Sweden. You cannot buy I.V. in other countries, as well as anything from itunes, unless you create a Japanese account, for instance. I’ve never tried it though, so I have no idea whether it works or not.

Yoshiki in gyouretsu

I wish I had the whole video, because a bit of the first part was cut so you don’t know the meaning of some jokes.
EDIT:I corrected some parts thanks to masaegu!

Y - Yoshiki
H - Host (Mr Shinsuke)
L - Some Lawyer
G (Guests of the show. I don’t know all the names, so it’s always G)

H: Let me introduce my friend, Yoshiki of X Japan. (to the guests Please sit down. (to Yoshiki Thank you very much for coming.
(Host girl): Mr Shinsuke, you really were friends, weren’t you?
H: (to Yoshiki) Do you remember the person second from the left?
L: I’m sorry for the last time.
H: When you last met, he was in a different state, right?
Y: Yes, he was purple in the face.
H: But actually when the lawyer Kitamura passed you chopsticks, what did you think?
Y: I wanted to beat something… like drums. (to prove that he was the real Yoshiki)
G: Is the story of mr Shinsuke true?
Y: What story?
G: Are you friends?
Y: Yes, we are.
G: Are you really friends with mr Shinsuke?
Y: We met on the street.
H: See, we are friends.
H: (to one of the guests; apparently, Mr Shinsuke boasted that he is friends with Yoshiki before Yoshiki appeared, and the guests/guest didn’t believe him) Surrender now?
G: I do. But when you meet real Yoshiki, it’s hard to say anything.
H: The atmosphere in studio changed and everyone looks at Yoshiki as at some kind of wonder.
G: In fact, it was easy to talk to mr Yashiki… (to someone who was appeared in the first part of the show)

G: Is it true that you went home before the concert because curry was too spicy?
Y: It is true.
H: Even though there were thousands of fans waiting?
Y: No, it was a day before. We were doing a rehearsal. A day before Tokyo Dome.
H: A day before Tokyo Dome. Why then?
Y: Because it was spicy.
H: But it’s not right. Why did you go home?
Y: Before the Tokyo Dome, I need to take care of my body. I think it’s the same with sportsmen. So, taking care of my body, I suddenly ate very spicy curry, so I got mad. It was really spicy. Blood in my vessels stopped and I almost collapsed.
H: So why didn’t you stop eating earlier?
Y: It takes time before you start feeling how spicy it is.
H: Wouldn’t you feel it in, like, 5 seconds?
G: How about the rest of the members? Weren’t they angry?
Y: Well, I left before they eyes, and noone said anything.
H: Wasn’t there a phone call like “you shouldn’t go home when curry is spicy?”
Y: It was: “how come did you find it spicy?”
H: Nothing to worry about. In Los Angeles you live in such a big house alone…
Y: Nothing of that sort…
H: And it’s a great house.
G: How many bedrooms are there?
H: Don’t ask such details… Too many to count. And you’ve got a pool, right?
Y: Yes.
H: Do you swim in it?
Y: I do.
G: Butterfly stroke?
H: Obviously, X stroke. X butterfly.
H: You live alone, right? Don’t you feel lonely?
Y: I do feel lonely.
H: When you feel lonely, what do you do?
Y: I play the piano.
H: When you don’t have piano it sucks, so you bring piano everywhere. You even tried taking one on shinkansen.
Y: That’s a bit of an exaggeration.
H: And you sleep alone in a an enormous bed, probably naked?
Y: I don’t sleep naked…
H: It seems you can do anything freely. In enormous Los Angeles in enormous house you wake up abruptly, then still naked you jump into the pool, then you open the fridge loudly and gulp the milk, spilling it everywhere, then cast the carton aside, something like that, right? Someone will put it in the dustbin later, you know. Then you go to take a shower, then put on a fresh dry shirt. Then you go by car to a studio. Your life seems to be of that sort, to us.
Y: About half of that is right.
G: As much as half? That’s a great life!
H: And you’ve got too many roses, so you send them to girls.
Y: I grow them in my garden.
G: Roses?
Y: Yes. I cut them and give as a present.
H: So when someone has birthday, you go to the garden and… oh, who left milk carton in here?! …
G: Your staging is too detailed!
G: You can even leave the milk carton lying around! Do you compose music for the girls you like?
Y: I play the piano and make music up on the spot.
G: That’s so cool!
Y: But I don’t compose anything beforehand.
H: So… “Happy birthday, please sit here, oh, what’s the milk carton doing here…”
Y: By the way, I don’t drink milk.
Y: I’ve been drinking almond milk lately. You dip almonds in the water, mash them and squeeze. So after a training I put protein into almond milk and blend it.
H: From tommorow, almonds will sell like fun.
H: So, here is the sushi!

(this is called kazarizushi, artistic sushi. They admire it for a bit)

Girl in red: Chopsticks for Yoshiki
Girl in red (to Yoshiki): Delicious, isn’t it?
Some girl: What do you think, Yoshiki?
Y: It’s delicious. I always want to take part in such shows.

Angry at Yoshiki and busy.

I’m actually angry at Yoshiki for a few days. I’ve never thought I’d say that. But if he’d just released the date of X concerts a bit earlier, it would make planning a trip to Japan to see them so much easier. I once asked Yoshiki on myspace not to wait till the last moment, but apparently he doesn’t care. Not that he needs and gaijin (non-Japanese) fans, because the tickets are bound to be sold out in a minute or so, anyway. But, come on, that is a bit unfair.

So, to let some steam off, I’m gonna release one of Yoshiki’s secrets. HA, HA, HA.

All right, that might not be a secret, but he didn’t say that in public, and nobody seems to know for some reason, so I’m gonna post it here, I think.

Do you remember the S.K.I.N. teaser trailer?

Now, take a look at this amazon site and click the preview of “Piano Phase”, or last fm page, although that fragment is like somewhere in the middle of the actual composition. Well, sounds familiar, doesn’t it.

About the piece:
This is one of Steve Reich’s “phase” compositions. First of all, simple though it may seem, the composition is written for two pianists and pianos. It consists of two patterns (E-B-D and F#-C#), repeated continuously until one of the pianists slightly increases the tempo, matching it with the first after a short while, so that the piece moves to another phase, sounding completely different than before. And that’s more or less how the piece is constructed. S.K.I.N.’s teaser trailer makes use just of the very first phase.

I never thought Yoshiki liked contemporary composers, though. This is curious.

Anyways, I’m very busy recently and I need to get some money quickly (you know why), so I’m not posting much now. Please be patient.

EDIT: I found out it was (probably) Sugizo who chose Steve Reich for S.K.I.N. teaser trailer. So, I like him even more now. Sugizo rocks (go check the interview). I wonder why he hasn’t chosen Reich’s Violin Phase, though, being violinist and all. Perhaps they picked something that had a bit of Sugizo and a bit of Yoshiki in it (and a bit of Gackt too, as he plays piano for S.K.I.N.; in duo with Yoshiki, so it makes even more sense). Does that mean they are planning something avant-garde/unorthodox, apart from making Miyavi play shamisen? I wish someone asks them in an interview, instead of usual “when are you going to get married?”. Those interviewers*, almost exclusively female, don’t care about music at all; I sometimes have a feeling they wish Yoshiki/Gackt replied: “well, I have no wedding plans so far, so why don’t YOU just marry me”. Like in this one. (*I don’t mean ALL interviewers, though. Check out the interview in English on X Japan’s myspace, for instance).

Visual Kei, part one.

Wow, I actually had visitors on my blog! That’s very nice of you all! If I could ask for something - please support me by leaving comments, because I tend to give up easily, and that’s probably the only thing that can make me want to work harder!

Okay, today I’d like to post something not strictly related to X Japan. It’s actually an excerpt from a book I’ve been reading recently:

(The Era of Visual Kei: Rock, Make-up, Gender). I’m kind of into analysing what visual kei is, where did it come from and so on, both from social and aesthetic points of view, so I chose an excerpt which explores one of these areas.

NOTE: I know my English sucks. I’m sure you’ve already noticed English is not my first language, and this text was difficult enough to understand, let alone translate into English. I think I’m gonna edit it a little bit more later, but I’d love to know what other people think (not about my translation, but the text itself, obviously), so I’m gonna post it anyway.

Excerpt from chapter: 拡張された〈男の美学〉, Expanded “man’s aesthetics”, by 井上貴子

Rock is a music which emphasises masculinity. As women are generally excluded from bands, one can say that such only-men formations are a type of homosocial* communnities, which aim at putting a pursuit of “man’s aesthetics” or “masculinity” into practice. In fact, YOSHIKI’s performances in a band called X used to be described as “aesthetics of a moment”, “aesthetics of destruction”, “aesthetics of death”, but let’s not discuss these kinds of “aesthetics” just know.

Let’s see: traditional Japanese family nowadays consists of a father - “salaryman”, mother – housewife, and one or two children. Because father is devoted to working for a company, housekeeping and looking after children is therefore left to mother, which means that mother has almost no contact with society except for people associated with her children, while she is doing her best raising children and making it her reason for living. When young boys refuse to sink into the world of their fathers which revolves around a company, when they want to escape the world of housekeeping to which their mothers belong, that is, when they can’t find their position in an existent patriarchal society to which men and women are gradually rammed into, they can build their identity by chosing or making another community, a goal which they achieve by founding a rock band or joining one.

Rock bands were founded to fulfill “man’s aesthetics”, and are another type of homosocial community. Such communities are totally different than those like school or corporation, to which we are implicitly forced to belong to by general public. In case of a band, everyone dicides whether one wants to found a band or belong to one on ones own. Unlike a corporation though, where women are reluctantly being admitted, girls don’t get angry if they are rejected. So, when a boy can’t identify himself in the communities he is forced to belong to and is dissatisfied with, in a formation such as a band he can, in a group of the same sex colleagues, easily realize himself.

For a young boy, who is dissatisfied with his self being captured in a world where all the values are related to society, X might be one of role models. It is because X, in spite of obstacles, succeeded in establishing the band’s desired self. And that’s why originally X was more popular among young boys, rather than girls. At the beginning, hardly any girls or elderly people were interested in rock music, but even though X put on outrageous make-up and had extreme metal sound, it was widly know for producing ballads of beautiful melodies, and because of that, the number of such fans increased rapidly.

The reason why, if we compare it to other countries, the number of Japanese rock bands putting on make-up increased rapidly at that time, was obviously largely due to the boom started by X. Thanks to X, many Japanese rock bands learned not only how to produce a major hit, but also how to put on a visual image, and as a result of that, a number of “reserve troops” of amateur bands, and especially a number of “beautiful boys” in such bands increased. Men’s magazines began to devote many pages to fashion, hairstyles and make-up, which were intended for such boys; many beauty salons for men were open. In other words, boys gained access not only to what was formerly thought to be masculinity, habitually connected with powerful sound, but also to a “beautiful” look usually considered women’s realm.

And that’s how, starting from X, visual rock musicians, though usually considered a symbol of making clear distinction between sexes, moved in a totally different direction by applying both sound which emphasise masculinity and make-up, women’s realm. Or rather we could say that the adopting women’s realm – make-up, aims at extending the area of the former “man’s aesthetics”, which is put into practice through rock music. In other words, the “expanded man’s aesthetics”, constructed on base of visual rock, was achieved by readopting one of the ways of expressing oneself with ones body, which is a make-up. Visual rock bands, while based on rock sound, a symbol of conventional “man’s aesthetics”, could be seen as male homosocial communities that fulfill extended “man’s aesthetics” by making use of make-up that evokes transgender image.

“Pretty” is a word that was usually used to judge a girl or a woman. On the other hand, man’s value typically referred to his interior, and man’s expressing oneself with a body used to have been oppressed. What was allowed in the sense of expressing man’s aesthetics, was a well-trained body of a primitive man, or a macho. Moreover, it had to be accompanied with a great physical strength. “Expanded man’s aesthetics”, however, instead of already existing self-expression in a sense of expressing ones “masculinity”, makes use of expressing oneself with ones physical appearance, something that is thought to have become the domain of the opposite sex. Women have been long before gaining experience in exploring men’s realm. Not only do they were men’s clothes, like trousers, but also there are no people who pay attention to girls cutting their hair short**, let alone who think it has something to do with ones sexual orientation. On the other hand, if a boy put on a skirt, everyone would probably look at him suspiciously. So, couldn’t we say that, comparing to girls, boys where for a long time oppressed in a way that they can’t express themselves with their bodies. “Extended man’s beauty” lets them explore women realms, as girls did with their realms, and thus it plays a role in expanding men’s realm.

* You probably know what homosocial means, but just in case (I had to check it with wikipedia myself): “In sociology, homosociality describes same-sex relationships that are not of a romantic and/or sexual nature.”
** In Japan, especially in Heian period (794–1185), women didn’t cut their hair letting them grow even up to 2 metres and more. Noblewomen had to have long hair, no matter how hard it was to maintain them or how dangerous it was in face of a war for instance, when they made saving ones life/running away much more difficult. If you wish to explore the subject a little more, I recommend two classical literature works, The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari) and The Pillow Book (Makura no Sōshi), both written by women. And you can find some nice pics on wikipedia, like this one:

New Year’s countdown with X - mixi

I’ve recently come accross a curious post on mixi (a Japanese SNS site):

Posted on 31st December 2007, 11:26 AM
Title: See the old year out and the New Year in with X
Post: To countdown with X, start the second DVD of Shiroi Yoru at 11:04:25 PM. It includes all the cautions notes and so on. You could use the standby mode by setting the DVD to start at 11:04 PM too, I think. If you prefer watching both DVDs, start the first one at 21:20 PM.
Is there anyone else seeing the New Year in like that? Please, let me know.

Replies were very enthusiastic, I like this one in particular:

Posted on 1st January 2008, 00:47 AM
Thank you so much! I’ve just finished the countdown, so now I’m going to watch hide-chan’s live DVD!

…so it seems I wasn’t the only one Celebrating New Year with hide after all

New Year’s Eve with hide

New Year’s Eve with hide

I’ve decided not to go to any party this year. Instead, I spent the evening listening to hide’s music, reading a book about visual kei, eating (obviously) and drinking sparkling water with lemon juice. Shortly after midnight, I listened to some good old rock with my dad, including Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and hide. We danced to hide’s songs too (aren’t they too energetic not to dance?).

I’ve made two New Year’s resolutions, for the first time in my life. One is to cut down on internet. And the other is to start the blog and update it at least once a week. Which is kind of funny, a bit like making a resolution to improve one’s skin condition and not to spend money on cosmetics at the same time. Oh well.

I’ve got a special dream/resolution too, which I secured by painting my daruma one eye:

(he won’t get another eye unless the dream comes true this year; I don’t usually believe in stuff like that, but no daruma has ever let me down, probably because noone wants to remain one-eyed forever). I’m not sure whether you are supposed to tell what the dream is, so let it be a secret for the time being. But that’s the very reason I started this blog.

So, about the blog itself. I plan to write an ordinary blog along with posting translations of some Japanese articles and interviews, mostly concerning X-Japan, other jrock bands and so on. I’ve found out lots of interesting stuff about X you would never come across browsing English language sites only, which I hope other people will find interesting too.

currently followed diet: ovo-vegetarian