Yoshiki stands in his rightful place setting the stage for X-Japan
The second last stop of their first North American tour, X-Japan rocked Toronto’s Massey Hall last night.
I’ll admit, I know very little about X-Japan. What I do know is that they are huge superstars in Japan: frontman/vocals Toshi and drummer/songwriter Yoshiki knew each other since school, where they played together in a band which eventually evolved and lead to the wildly successful X-Japan. What followed was a band break-up, the death of a fellow bandmate, then a reconciliation and a reunion. Drama aside, their North American tour while highly publicized, didn’t make a much of a blip outside the fandom within the mainstream. But that’s not the question.
With the competition becoming increasingly dense with musicians being able to self-produce and distribute, does X-Japan need to appeal to the masses to become successful in North America?
More photos from the concert after the jump.
For those unaware, X-Japan is considered a metal rock band. They were the pioneers that lead to the evolution of what is known as visuel kei in Japan — think glam metal where the guys looks like pretty women. How they differ from many Western metal bands is in the diversity of speed metal tracks mixed in with quiet ballads and sometimes just instrumental classical elements of just a grand piano and violin.
In a transcript interview with Yoshiki, the face of X-Japan, stated that they were approached several years ago by North American labels who wanted them to make a choice between the hard rock and ballad elements of their sound. The labels wanted to essentially have them be one-dimensional, which is certainly not what X-Japan is, nor is what their fans love them for.
Yoshiki (on drums) and Toshi – “Reunited and it feels so good
The audience in attendance was very predictable. The crowd of mostly Asians ranging from goth to emo to harajuku were all in good spirits jumping and screaming their lungs out even before X-Japan had hit the stage chanting, “We Are (乂Д´)X! We Are (乂Д´)X!” Some fans had even brought their plush dolls of Hide (the deceased member), holding him up as they swayed with the music.
Toshi seemed to be having a lot of fun with the audience, squirting those lucky fans in the front row with his water bottle before pelting it into the crowd. He even at one pointed flashed a V sign to fans flashing cameras away. Despite not saying a word, Yoshiki charismatically danced back and forth behind his double kick drum set up and his Kawai silver piano making it difficult (for me at least) to focus my attention to other members.
Yoshiki – drummer and pianist
Looking around at the audience, I did wonder if X-Japan would be the band to really break out into North America. Yoshiki even stated he was surprised how many international fans there were and while tonight’s show was full, it still sported rows of empty seats (then again it’s a Thursday, there was a hockey game and it’s Canada. They play a second show tonight as well, which should have packed house.) This is certainly a good starting point to build from.
If previous Japanese representatives were Utada, Puffy AmiYumi and BoA (okay, I’m stretching it a bit with BoA) then X-Japan would give a nice injection of testosterone. Cuz really, Yoshiki is fucking sexy when he’s beating those drums and playing the piano.
All in all, I really didn’t know what to expect other than a night of really loud and dramatic music. My thoughts on X-Japan not compromising their style and sound to suit American labels is encouraging and perhaps will also encourage new fans to try something new. Will they attain the success they have in Japan? Most likely not. But if half of it is possible, it’s certainly worth a shot to try.
Footnote: I actually ended up buying a ton of merchandise, but was slightly disappointed I couldn’t walk away with CD.
