This is weird
here the full version with Yoshiki at the end.
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I was in both shows. Seeing both was a must as not all X songs were played in the same day except for Kurenai, Tears, Endless Rain and Art of Life. The show really felt like an “Art of Life” show, mainly focused on his struggles and losses and stuff and his “new” found direction in music
I didn’t really like the non-X songs. The feature artists performances were just meh including the Korn song. I hated the Forever Love cover by the singer, his rendition just doesn’t hold weight over Toshi’s and the emotional impact of that song was lost on me(it was one of my faves too -.-) I forgot the song titles but there were a couple of songs sung in Italian that was actually good.
The X songs are absolutely fantastic. Maybe because I see his struggle physically but it is unfortunate Yoshiki can no longer drum as much as he was able to. The drum solo was probably the most teary I got from the show especially when I was at a closer seating position and was able to see him play his heart out just for brief moment like in his X days.
If he does more shows, I think I will try to keep seeing them. The classical Art of Life is seriously good to hear live
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Cool! Thanks for the mini report!
I wasn’t at these particular shows, but it’s really hard for me to hear the guest vocalists butcher X-Japan songs. Only Katie Fitzgerald from Violet UK (with Yoshiki until 2015? 2017>) did them justice IMO. Since then it’s been a disaster (especially that lady Beverly and her overdone style made all the Yoshiki Classical concerts of past years unlistenable to me).
Was there a significant difference in concept between “Scarlet Night” and “Violet Night” as he had promised?
Edit: I had a peek at the WoWoW broadcast of “Violet Night”. Sorry…not for me. Except “Art of Life”. Don’t dig the set list. Don’t dig the vocals. Gonna watch some YouTube with Katie now instead…
No, not really. It was mainly the X Japan songs that the Orchestra played that were different and the special guests each night. The guests I guess were his friends. Otherwise, both shows were mainly about his personal journey, losses (band members and family) and moving forwards. The second show, he did almost broke down though.
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Thanks. Sounds exactly the same as the Japan shows, then, plus the American guests. I was expecting something new. I find the guest sections always pretty boring. It’s obviously his friends (like when he had St Vincent in New York IIRC) and that’s why they’re here, but musically the collabs don’t work IMHO.
The end of Freak on a Leash… yikes. Yoshiki doesn’t know how to groove it would seem.
Before Forever Love was played, the singer commented he only learned it the day before … yea it showed. I don’t really care if the singer sold millions of albums, the emotional weight of the song got lost when Japanese lyrics weren’t sung with sincerity and tone used was more English than Japanese.
One thing I forgot to mention, and I wasn’t sure if it was normal for Yoshiki’s orchestra, but the orchestra was mainly composed of string instruments. There was no brass or wind instruments. There was a lack of power in most of the songs
Forever Love for reference, this was really good with a complete orchestra:
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Yeah, I still have the DVD of this. I liked that a lot better than what he does know. Also he knew better than to have randoms contribute vocals to X-Japan songs best kept instrumental.
That was also the time people believed Violet UK was coming for real. Brilliance and Nostalgia…
(NB: this clip features a then still unknown Nicole Scherzinger towards the end - ironic she ended up becoming more famous than Yoshiki in the West)
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Made this its own thread! Feel free to share reviews, clips from others, and all. I saw someone film like the Freak on the Leash breakdown lol
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