entertainment

X JAPAN to perform at Madison Square Garden

20 Comments

Popular rock band X JAPAN on Thursday said they will perform live at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sept 13, following a Paris gig on July 5. At a press conference, drummer/pianist YOSHIKI said, “When I saw a reunion concert by KISS in 1996, I wanted to do the same thing. I would like sing for my fans abroad. I also wish to have concerts in Asia, Europe and Latin America like the ones we did at Tokyo Dome.”

YOSHIKI also said the band may have to take on a new guitarist for some new songs.

The band, which disbanded in 1997, held its first live concerts in 10 years at Tokyo Dome last Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

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20 Comments
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I don't get it? MSG? Are the local malls booked?

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It'll be a sell-out, mark my words. You must be crazy with your "mall" comment, Hoserfella. They'll go on to sell out MSG and have an epic show for everyone who is lucky enough to get a ticket.

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Jeez, JT still think that Yoshiki is the singer? Two people pointed out the error on the previous story. These entertainment "stories" aren't credited to Kyodo so are they being translated in-house? The quality is pretty poor, either way.

I started translating the Jpn entertainment news over on japan-zone.com many years ago simply because no one else was doing it. There are a few alternatives now, but JT certainly isn't a decent one yet.

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Oh, and while I'm picking holes, the KISS show at MSG was in 1996.

<strong>Moderator: The mistakes have now been corrected. Thanks for pointing them out.</strong>

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sagecat, if this pathetic excuse for a "band" sells out MSG let alone the parking lot of a nearby DairyQueen, I'll eat my shorts. Just another no-talent hairband that can't play or sing. (I thought these were extinct as of '89?)

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So happy to hear the news as a big fan of them. But who will be a new guitarist if they really take on? Some fans say they hope it's Taiji, a former bassist of X who is also able to play guitar better than hide (hide said that!), but I am not sure. The person might be Sugizo (from Luna Sea) or Miyavi, they said.

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Ah, but here's the real question: Are they performing in the ARENA, or are they performing in the THEATER? The arena holds 20,000 people, but the theater holds as little as 2,000 people and as many as 5,600. I remember when I lived in New York City, Japanese acts would announce to the press that they were playing Madison Square Garden...but they'd conveniently leave out that their show was in the theater, not the arena.

Maybe I could see them playing the arena if they've got tour packages for their fans in Japan that they're heavily advertising. With the occasion of an X concert, a reason to go to New York City, the chance to see them in Madison Square Garden, and the weak dollar, maybe enough Japanese fans would go over to get a decent arena crowd for the show. If, however, the band is relying on New York area-based fans (including local Japanese fans), then I expect it'll be a theater show.

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Maybe they are giving the tickets away. Didn't they do something like that during that Tokyo gig the other day? And of course, many people like a good freak show, so who knows.

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Based on what they announced, they want to bring the stage show experience that existed at Tokyo Dome to whatever concerts they perform overseas. If that is the case, then they are likely going to book the arena. Would not surprise me if Yoshiki is a bit hesitant (thus the lack of what seemed a no brainer to announce something in Los Angeles as well) due to the uncertainty of how much tickets they can sell. Add the expenses they'll be incurring shipping a heck of a lot of equipment and it doesn't take much to figure out there is financial risk involved.

Since this is probably also a tour targeted at the overseas fanbase first, the initial ticket allotment might be skewed in that direction. That initial demand will probably determine the allocation for Japanese fans. With the Japanese fanbase, tour packages are going to pretty much be a given. When TUBE held their 15th anniversary concert in Honolulu, over 13,000 fans from Japan attended the show. There were packages through their fan club and various other packages by tour agencies. In fact, the number that made the trip outnumbered those attendees who were Hawaii residents. There were also a large amount of fans from Japan when Amuro Namie performed at the Waikiki Shell; probably more than half of the 6,000 in attendance. So long as their big artists perform in key cities, the Japanese fanbase will go.

Still, there should be a draw for X Japan as TM Revolution and Tamaki Nami drew around 4,000 (most did not even attend the expo and only went to the concert) in Anaheim at Pacific Media Expo in 2004 and L'Arc~en~Ciel 12,000 at Otakon 2004. If you can attract that many anime geeks and jrockers to Maryland, New York City should be a piece of cake.

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I have to say it again, I like X Japan but a reunion without Hide is not a reunion. Sorry boys when a band mate dies it's time to move on to other projects.

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What's with all the hating on X Japan? They're plenty talented, and unfortunately I can't think of many current bands that are actively producing the caliber of songs that they have and continue to make.

And they are well-known around the world, don't underestimate their selling power. For their shows in Japan, a certain number of tickets were set aside for people coming from overseas. I'm guessing that some of those were in the "kankeisha-seki" because I got some last minute kankeisha-seki myself and a few rows ahead of me were some people who came from Brazil to see the show. Saw LOTS of international people at the Tokyo dome actually, especially Europeans and Americans. They weren't giving away tickets, the show sold-out well in advance. They DID sell off some kankeisha-seki about 2 weeks before the show, I'm guessing they might have been tickets that were originally set aside for international orders that didn't get sold by a certain date. It was hard though for some people who bought extra tickets and intended to sell them to do so in some cases though because the tickets didn't arrive in the mail until only 1 week before the show, making it tough to do internet auctions. But the Dome was packed.

A number of famous musicians and celebrities attended the show at the Tokyo dome as well, including some from overseas. YOSHIKI has lots of friends and connections in the music and entertainment industry around the world and you can bet this will be a big event when they play internationally. I wish them good luck and I hope that I can see X Japan again in the future. I also hope they keep using that badass hollogram effect to recreate hide on stage as well! But it would be nice if they got someone like Taiji back in the band (on guitar this time) or Sugizo to handle the 2nd guitar.

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They will be welcomed at MSG for sure. However, it will be considered more of a comedy act than a musical performance.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Dunno

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As soon as the announcement was made, a lot of fans were scrambling to get flight tickets and book hotels. I think it'll sell out. It seems a lot of people want to go to New York and seeing X in the process is like killing two birds with one stone. I certainly hope I'll be able to get tickets and go.

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Considering who the younger N.Y. crowd goes to see in concert these days, it could prove quite lucrative for X Japan to give it a shot. Why, just look at the trash (no, I'm not talking about the kind you find on the ground)that has appeared in Central Park shows recently.

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X JAPAN will win many new fans if they come to NY

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For their shows in Japan, a certain number of tickets were set aside for people coming from overseas

For most concerts (no matter what country), standard procedure by the bands business manager is to always pull blocks of tickets from the allotment for guests, VIP's, etc. These are usually premium seating. Often times, that guest list is in a constant state of flux until the day of the concert. However, and usually several hours before the doors open, those tickets which haven't been issued to the guest list are released for sale to the general public. Back in the day, we used to "upgrade" our seats by working the system to get these tickets.

For the Tokyo Dome shows, a US based marketing group was involved with coordinating ticket sales/tour packages to overseas participants. That is why tickets were earmarked for that overseas group. I'm sure something like this for Japanese fans will be utilized as a contingency plan in the event that demand isn't strong; it just makes prudent sense but as per my previous message, I doubt they'll have a problem with moving tickets.

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I was fortunate to get a ticket through a lottery hosted by a J-rock site for opening night, Mar. 28. I flew to Japan from Ohio. My best friend in Tokyo was somehow able to get me a hotel room 10 blocks from the dome. The seat was 13 rows back center stage, floor seat, so I assume that a group of seats was made available, perhaps by Yoshiki himself. I agree that such a lottery would be best for Japanese fans in New York and Paris. I suspect that the demand will be greater than the supply, as it was in Tokyo. This may very well be the next supergroup. I am a bit surprised that X chose such small venues abroad, but perhaps they are testing the water and plan for bigger venues in Europe and the US, etc. Anyway, having seen the Stones, ELP,Yes and Pink Floyd, X definitely is capable of exceeding these legendary bands in popularity. The concert exceeded my expectations in everyway and the Japanese fans were very polite and courteous to me, even though I was one of the few Americans in attendance in that seating section.

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"Just another no-talent hairband that can't play or sing"; -I doubt that people or the News will even bother about their reunion. It takes a lot more for people to still remember an artist to come back after nearly 10yrs. Many artist/band could be just forgotten after 1-2yrs. -Maybe you should get ready a pair of shorts, you will most probably need it.

"Maybe they are giving the tickets away. Didn't they do something like that during that Tokyo gig the other day?"; -Yea, no doubt that there are many artist/band around that "have" to give away their Concert tickets, but why would they Add in another show (30 Mac 08) at last minute if they couldn't sell their tickets?! The Dome rental & misc fee ain't cheap. And the scene before the Concert start was really intense, flooded with ppl.

"new guitarist:"

not really a replacement, just guests to play the part for the concerts.
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"Just another no-talent hairband that can't play or sing"; -I doubt that people or the News will even bother about their reunion if they are really just another some "no talent artist" as you said.

sry missed out some words >__<

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