"HEATH leaving," the relative importance of X JAPAN and a few more things

This is a blog that I maybe should have posted yesterday already, but frankly, after two days - well, half days, but "outdoors" is not a word normally in my vocabulary, not even for sports events (I don't attend any) - "outdoors," the press conference and maybe mostly the party after the live, pretty much all I wanted was another glass of red wine and my bed... even if the wine wasn't of the Y brand served at the party.

So, with my apologies for the delay, a few things of either concern or interest I'd like to mention now, since it'll take some time until official translations can be made.

"HEATH leaving"

Regarding that, here's the answer straight from the horse's mouth... or actually not quite, since it wasn't HEATH - neither he nor the others were present at the more or less impromptu YOSHIKI press conference after the lives - himself who answered the question, but from what I'd consider the next best source regarding things HEATH, namely YOSHIKI. Who, when he was asked, at the post live August 15th press conference, something like what would happen now that TAIJI had played with them again after all those years...

YOSHIKI: "HEATH is X JAPAN's bass. As I have said before, I am really very grateful to him for his indulgence over this [ie, TAIJI's appearance on stage with X JAPAN]."

Additionally he said that now that he had played with them, that maybe occasionally they'd have TAIJI come back "to have fun" with them, but very clearly, there was not the slightest idea of him being back in X JAPAN as a full member.

Confirming that, I guess, was that TAIJI was not even present among the guests at the following "member attended" after live reception/party.


The relative importance of X JAPAN

The USA, naturally, has an ambassador in Japan.

The next to last public thing John V. Roos did was to attend the 65 years Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6th. (He did not attend a similar ceremony in Nagasaki a few days later.)

The last public thing he did - though unlike his attendance in Hiroshima, I assume not on behalf of the US government - was to be at the August 15th X JAPAN live, to general surprise even attending the post live press conference with YOSHIKI.

I suppose pictures of him doing the "X sign" by now are known to most fans; his comment on being asked, by the Japanese media, what he thought about X JAPAN's music was along the lines that he had only very recently introduced to it, but "I love it and I think they'll do great in the States as well."

I don't know if that will make any difference to people inside the US; what I'm pretty sure about is that no other non-US band has received such an accolade prior to their first tour in the US...


In an aside, before I get to something else, at the same press conference, courtesy of a last minute indulgence of my request, by the organizers and YOSHIKI's office, to talk to him in English, we got his attention for a minute - strictly speaking, a 59 second exchange - that might be of some small interest to foreign fans. More about that later though.


The catastrophe that didn't happen

That is, the announced on one certain Japanese blog and apparently picked up overseas, though less in Japan itself, "catastrophe" of X JAPAN being in major financial trouble again for having not sold out even half the available seats at Nissan Stadium.

I don't know where the original blog owner got his information from - if it was information, and not wishful thinking; the "gentleman" in question seems to be not very fond of successful artists - but in any case, it didn't work out. Not only was the arena filled pretty much to capacity for the planned "viewer space" - part of the seating close to the front sides of the stage had been declared off limits from the start, as it would be hard to get any good view of the stage - but on both days, as the day went on, I saw for myself that seating actually had to be expanded beyond the originally planned space.

Official numbers haven't been released (yet) as far as I know - one number mentioned at the press conference was 130.000 attendants for both days combined - but simply from just looking at the filled ranks, I'd say X JAPAN still doesn't have to particularly worry about selling out arenas.


On a personal note, there is a thank you that I'd like to add, even though I'm pretty sure the one it's meant for won't see this. Still, I'd like to say it, a thank you, that is, to Dr. Ito of the emergency services room closest to the press reception desk in person, and, actually, by extension, to all the people backstage who make the much smaller workings of the stage happen perfectly.

Not that I had had meant to have anything to do with emergency services, nor would I have had, had it been my choice. It was actually a concerned staff member who, when I had a dizzy spell at the press reception desk after a rather long walk to that location, called the above mentioned doctor, who made it his business to make sure I was perfectly okay again before he released me to my seat in the press section of the arena.

Which, I know, is his job, but not only did he go about it with exceptional conscientiousness, he also made me realize that at events not only like X JAPAN lives, it's a great many "invisible people" who are necessary and there to take care of things most of us don't even think about, unless suddenly faced with them. For sure it was interesting to get a glimpse of that usually hidden side of things.

For myself, amusing was that, statistically speaking, I turned out to be casualty no. 14 on the 14th - suffering, like 8 of the other 13, from heat stroke, though luckily not a bad case.

Reporting on X might be hazardous to my health, though, my most impressive - I'd say "visible," but it's not in that location (laughs) - "souvenir" from day 2 is a large bruise on the right side of my rib cage, courtesy of two or three dozen overenthusiastic fans trying to see YOSHIKI close up, maybe even catch his fingertips for a second, during one of his runs, slamming me into one of the partition fences.

I'll survive. And look forward to report from the next X JAPAN event, that will hopefully come sooner than anyone here just now knows. Physical hazards included. It's worth it.

As is even the sorting through some several thousand stage pics... you'll see some of those once we get our galleries up!