The lead up to
X Japan’s drummer and band leader
YOSHIKI's latest live was a much mellower affair than normal - the odd
X Japan t-shirt aside, the usual black leather and platforms were eschewed and smarter attire favoured for his first non-rock concert in London. A staff member was still selling glow sticks however, so it wasn't a classical concert in the traditional sense. The large screen at the back of the concert hall showed the musician's promotional photo for the classical album, with his reflection in the black gloss of his piano replaced with a skull to emphasize his two musical faces.
Realizing that not everyone is familiar with the drummer's link to classical music, the concert started with a video expanding on the subject. In an interview at the Grammy Museum he explained how his father introduced him to it when he was growing up by frequently buying only classical vinyls by
Chopin and the like. However his father's suicide when he was still a boy led him to rock as a release for the sadness and pain. Following a question about how he reconciles his distinct "beautiful" and "aggressive" sides, clips of him figuratively and literally demolishing drum kits, topless but for a neck brace, were juxtaposed with him delicately arpeggioing up a grand piano to help illustrate his answer.
"Throughout my life Rock has always been by my side, but Classical music is in my bones."
To the dramatic orchestral track
Miracle, further clips showed him and
X Japan rocking packed stadiums and earning him his current revered status. Perfectly in time with the choral swell in the music, the man himself finally made his appearance. With an all-female string septet, which he insisted on calling his "sextet" as "it sounds much better", he gave a gentle rendition of
Forever Love. In this stripped back state it walked the very fine line between emotional ballad and muzak. Although it couldn’t be seen from that performance,
YOSHIKI admitted that he “had just had tea, so I am hyper. PG Tips – that’s a good tea! ”. That hadn’t changed since his
last performance in London three years prior.
He also performed a further few
X Japan songs, mostly short sections. There was a grand rendition of the chorus from
I.V., and that of a somber
Kurenai. A larger portion of time was dedicated to the ever epic
Art of Life, which whilst abbreviated, still clocked in at 10 minutes long. After setting up the recognizable piano loop on the keyboard, he let loose on the Kawai grand piano with the improvisation often seen during the rock lives. He delivered plenty of his favoured piano runs up and down the keys, ever flamboyant and passionate as is his style. It was at times artful and at others quite furious, seeing him pounding out clashing chords. He also included a new song in the setlist which was played by the strings only, so new that it is as yet untitled. From this brief preview it is a soft, quite serious piece and sounded promising.
YOSHIKI’s reputation is such that he is asked to write themes for special events and soundtracks frequently. He played the theme he wrote for the Golden Globes award ceremony, one of his most repetitive and standard pieces. The horrendous screensaver-style golden coin shower behind just added to the tackiness of the whole performance. Luckily the others weren't quite so dull, for example the ambitious and sweeping
Anniversary, which was written to celebrate the 10th year of the Japanese Emperor's reign in 1999. There were also a couple of vocal performances by guest
Katie Fitzgerald, a vocalist from his
Violet UK project.
Rosa, composed for the theatrical release "Goemon", was quite typical of an
X Japan ballad with a strong chorus that brings
Toshi's voice to mind.
Katie had a commanding voice but couldn't quite nail the top notes. Her vocals in
Hero, theme song for the upcoming animated film "Saint Seiya", did hit the mark though and the song was much more memorable as a theme. While his own compositions aren't classical in the conventional sense, rather more pop or rock melodies played with orchestral instruments, it's clear that the romanticism of certain composers has definitely stuck with him. He paid homage to
Tchaikovsky when he played the famous
Swan Theme, which was the most traditionally classical moment of the night.
He also decided to include a piano-only version of
Queen's
Bohemian Rhapsody in the mix, likely because of the concert location and also as he had always admired the band. The admiration seemed to stem from his first encounter with the jacket cover of the
Bicycle Race single and its naked biking lady, he revealed cheekily. The inclusion of this piano cover felt somewhat last minute as it was played quite haltingly and with a lot of glances at the piano score, as if he was sight-reading. It still provoked huge cheers however, as an ever popular track.
Credit is due to the young and pretty "YOSHIKI Sextet", who by no means played second fiddle to the main attraction. Their string-only performance of
Amethyst was moving and deeply powerful, owing to the simplicity of the arrangement compared with the drama of the orchestral version. Having a second cello in the group gave it and other pieces a much needed richness, and the fullness of the sound they provided made up for any reduction in instruments. This even applied to
Anniversary, written as a piano concerto with a full orchestra. The septet provided the body and a real driving force behind the flamboyant piano part, which varied between soft and rippling to strong and chord heavy.
YOSHIKI has utilized strings so often even in his rock tunes that he has a symbiosis with them.
He seemed to draw a definite line between his rock performance and the classical, not least with him promising not to stage dive like he did during his last live at Shepherd’s Bush. It wasn't long before the demanding perfectionist in him appeared. During his first MC, noise from an electric fan at the back of the stage caused a scramble to remove it as he called for someone to deal with the problem.
YOSHIKI wouldn't have gone without mentioning his old bandmates, and he did indeed give a lengthy and fond account of how the band was formed. Fans found his recollection of persuading the talented members to ditch their own quite successful bands to join his unknown one amusing. "Somehow, I got him to join my band," he repeated for each one, glossing over the details. He choked up when arriving at where they were set to take on the world but their plans were blown apart by the sudden death of guitarist
hide. After encouragement from the audience, he continued to dedicate his next song to
hide, ex-bassist
Taiji who died in 2011, and finally to his father.
Without You was played emotionally and was accompanied by moving video footage of him with the other band members bonding and playing massive venues, back when they tried to out hairdo each other. It affected some in the audience visibly, and the pianist himself wiped tears away at the end. Seeing the glory days brought back just how big they were, and fans were told that
X Japan will be playing in Madison Square Garden later this year and that it may signal the start of a new world tour. This news prompted a barrage of location requests, from Brazil to Hong Kong. It seems that things are far from over for the band.
The concert was wrapped up with
Endless Rain, a track that may not have been if
YOSHIKI had listened to objections from management that it was too soft for a heavy metal rock band. Due to his rebellious nature ("they told me to not wear makeup, so I put more on") he ignored them and it became possibly their best known song. A soft, mainly female, group of voices took up the repeating of the famous chorus for a quiet end to the programme.
The music star obviously cares a good deal about his fans, taking the time to accept mountains of flowers and gifts. He was given a panda by a Chinese fan, which he dubbed the “newest member of the band - X Japanda!". Giving in to the selfie craze he took one with the crowd behind, arms crossed in a mass of "X"s. Afterwards there was a gathering outside the stage door of those hankering for another glimpse of their idol. Not only a musician but a rock superstar, composer, national treasure, comic book inspiration, Sanrio character and even the face of his own credit card. Whatever your opinion of his music, there's no doubt that
YOSHIKI knows all about global domination, and that he does it with flair.
Setlist
1. Miracle (in video)
2. Forever Love
3. Golden Globe Theme
4. Rosa
5. Anniversary
6. Amethyst
7. Improvisation and Swan Theme from Swan Lake
8. Hero
9. I.V.
10. Bohemian Rhapsody
11. Without You
12. Kurenai
13. New composition
14. Art of Life
15. Endless Rain
