【シカゴ･タイムアウト】 X Japan at Lollapalooza 2010: Live review and photo gallery
Dear Perry Farrell, thank you for no-wait Port-A-Potty lines, the Columbus Dr. walkway and the artery-clogging (Kuma’s) Judas Priest cranberry/walnut/bacon/bleu cheese party in my mouth…but thank you most of all for X Japan. Engineering the first stateside import of Japan’s (mostly) quadragenarian metal monsters was the coup of the festival, and as expected, faces were in fact melted.
Ascending the stage to a chorale that wouldn’t be out of place in later-version Final Fantasy soundtracks, band co-founders Yoshiki (drums, piano) and Toshi (Steve-Perry-eat-your-heart-out lead vocals) gave the cue and huge bursts of crimson flame launched us into “Rusty Nail.” A tidal wave of air pressure preceded the staggering guitar onslaught as a neck-braced and velvet-robed Yoshiki hammered the skins as though the crowd were a few zeros larger than the couple thousand throwing up its signature, crossed-forearm “X”’s. “Chicagoooooooo. Are you ready to rock?” screamed the cowhide jacketed and leather pants-sporting singer. It would not be the last, nor the second or third to last time this inquiry would be made. As promised in his interview with me last month, Yoshiki and company stuck to the harder numbers, shying away from its notoriously dramatic ballads, and here moved on to “Jade.” Perhaps what makes this brand of metal distinctly Japanese is the juxtaposition of speed metal and epic-sentiment lyrics, as in this little ditty with guitarist Sugizo’s brain-stabbingly thrashy solos alternating with dripping lines like: “‘Cause you are beautiful, your scars are beautiful / Like the jade / You’ll still shine, when you sink into the sea / When all the bleeding scarlet jealousy goes away with me.”
X Japan loyals alone will have noticed the slo-mo video image of former member hide (Hideto Matsumoto) projected on the screens during an interlude. Having died of an apparent suicide in 1998, an assessment his band mates and fans contest, the guitarist has taken on almost mythic status perpetuated in part by his 2008 “ressurection” via 3D hologram to 150,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome. It’s actually quite touching that after twelve years the profoundly famous band continues to honor his memory.
But back to the pyro! An inclusion on the “Saw IV” soundtrack introduced many Americans to X Japan for the first time, and Toshi was insistent that the Lolla newly-faithful sing “In the rain…I’m calling you, dear” from the hit, “IV.” Given that the band have pervaded nearly every aspect of Japanese culture (branding a racing team, condoms, fashion line, etc) he seemed genuinely perplexed that not everyone knew the lyric as inherently as the Empire Carpets jingle, but continued flurries of double kick-drum blast beats and lusty, cortex-crushingly flying-V solos kept the audience perpetually transfixed through till the monumental closer, “X.” The call-to-crossed-arms is an absolute shredfest, and could only have been topped by X Japan being chopper-lifted from the stage…but they need to save something for next time, right?
So, Perry, we still need to talk about misfires like the inclusion of Neon Trees and the pouring of Bud in place of Goose Island…but hats off to you, good sir, for the staggering Hello Kitty ear-Howitzer that is…X Japan.
