Sep 19 2018
X JAPAN played a special concert as the headliner of TV Asahi Dream Festival 2018 at Makuhari Messe on September 15 in Chiba, Japan. The band gave the audience of 15,000 an advance look at the band’s energetic performance just two weeks before they kick off their three-day series “X JAPAN LIVE IN JAPAN 2018 THREE DEEP RED NIGHTS AT MAKUHARI MESSE” on September 28 for 100,000 fans.
Sep 19 2018
YOSHIKI — composer, classically trained pianist, rock drummer, and leader of rock group X JAPAN — accepted an invitation to meet with the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on September 13, 2018, conducting the 90-minute conference entirely in English for the room filled to capacity by foreign news agencies stationed in Japan.
YOSHIKI fielded questions about the international success of the X JAPAN documentary film We Are X, X JAPAN’s upcoming album, and his emergency neck surgery last year. When discussing his friendship and collaborations with world-famous artists, such as his co-appearance with Marilyn Manson at Coachella or with Skrillex at FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL, he surprised reporters by revealing his upcoming collaboration with superstar soprano Sarah Brightman.
Sep 12 2018
YOSHIKI has donated 10 million yen to the areas affected by the Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake.
Upon receiving the news of the large scale damage caused by the Hokkaido earthquake on September 6, which brought more destruction to Japan following Typhoon Jebi two days earlier on September 4, YOSHIKI posted a message of support on his official Instagram.
“I recently learned of the typhoon and earthquake in Japan through the American news. I’m praying for everyone’s safety, and that there can be a swift recovery. My prayers go out to all those who are affected by typhoon and earthquake in Japan.”
Sep 12 2018
SCANDAL
House of Blues Anaheim
September 9, 2018
Concert review by Nhu Nguyen
A healthy line of Scandal fans snaked in front of House of Blues in Anaheim Sunday night hours before the 8pm start time for SCANDAL from JAPAN US & Mexico Tour 2018 “Special Thanks” – they’d waited three years for the band’s return to the states and they were not disappointed as cheers to songs and shouts of “I love you!” to the four members filled the night. Band leader Haruna often reciprocated the adoration by yelling out “Anaheim!” to the audience’s gleeful reaction.
SCANDAL appropriately kicked off the night with “Shunkan Sentimental” popularized as the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood anime’s ending theme. The applause escalated as they went into the second song “Awanai Tsumori no, Genki dene”. From “Stamp!” to “Platform Syndrome”, the members threw a power-pop-punk block party heavy with J-Pop flair.
Sep 09 2018
YOSHIKI completed his 5th Anniversary solo concert series on September 1st at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, bringing the total to 10 sold-out performances over 6 days.
“EVENING WITH YOSHIKI 2018 IN TOKYO JAPAN 6 DAYS 5TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL” ran from July 13th to 16th, with additional shows August 31st and September 1st, including six dinner shows and four breakfast shows. The competition for tickets reached its highest level in the history of the concert series, with pre-sale lottery applications exceeding 100 times the number of available tickets. All concerts sold out immediately, with a large number of fans visiting from countries all over the world, such as the United States, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong, Denmark, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Sep 07 2018
SCANDAL
Playstation Theater, New York City
Live Report by Marc Bowie
September 5, 2018
SCANDAL kicked off their “Special Thanks” 2018 North American tour with a furious show at New York’s PlayStation Theater on September 5th that entertained from beginning to end, powering through a nearly two-hour set peppered with old favorites and choice new cuts from HONEY, their latest album.
Like high school kids let out for summer break, the foursome seemed in high spirits throughout and their infectious glee was appreciated and returned. The crowd gave the band a typically warm, although perhaps unusually polite, Gotham welcome, singing along in key places and responding with enthusiastic shouts to vocalist HARUNA’s mostly English call-outs. For an act that hasn’t played the city for ten years SCANDAL clearly has a devoted local following.
Sep 05 2018
Japanese trauma techno pop band URBANGARDE has announced the release date of the their next album, Ai to Gensou no URBANGARDE (“URBANGARDE of Love and Fantasy”). Due for release on November 21, 2018, the first-press limited edition of the album will also contain the DVD of URBANGARDE’s 10th anniversary concert “KEKKON SHIKI” recorded live at Nakano Sun Plaza on April 8th.
Ai to Gensou no URBANGARDE continues the band’s celebration of their 10th anniversary, coming just a few months after their April album release, Shoujo Fiction. The new album will feature a collection of the band’s favorite songs from their previous albums, plus rare, unreleased tracks and two new songs.
Sep 05 2018
The newly-founded association SYNC NETWORK JAPAN has launched with the goal of delivering Japanese contents to the world.
Located in Takeshiba Minato-ku Tokyo Japan, in an industry based on the foundation of Content x Digital, the CiP Association (Contents innovation Program) is taking a step forward. Their newly established organization,”SYNC NETWORK JAPAN,” functions as an agent specializing in the promotion of Japanese tourism and content, with the goal set on expanding to a global scale.
Sep 02 2018
HYDE
HYDE LIVE 2018 – ZEPP OSAKA BAYSIDE
August 1st, 2018
Live report by Michelle Minikhiem
Photos by Takayuki Okada
Opening on a huge matte painting of an alleyway in the neon hellscape of a near-future city, the stage was bathed in the light of matrix rain. HYDE climbed off of a large stone throne set between the keyboards and the drumset to shamble up to his microphone. Adorned in a blacklight-paint splashed coat and vivid red mask, he looked like a rockstar pulled from the abstract world of Neil Gaiman’s Mirrormask.
HYDE resembled a punk Phantom of the Opera as he conducted the ecstatic crowd to sing the chorus of his newest single, “AFTER LIGHT”. The mask was ditched at the start of “LIPS” as he screamed to the crowd in almost perfectly-accented English, “I wanna see you get crazy, Osaka!” and “Let me hear your voices, come on!”
Aug 31 2018
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