"We show you the place where life and dreams become one" - if anyone would ask me, whether X JAPAN are serious with that, my answer would be, that they are. Because on August 14th, not only one dream became true at that night.
The first dream was "Saikai no yoru", X JAPAN reunited - okay that became true already anyway - and the second, to see them live with my own eyes. Indeed, there are many fans who have seen them already playing several times, but it was the first live I've seen personally and the dream I was longing for even when everyone called me an idiot to keep up that dream, as X were disbanded back then. The third dream was, however, to see X playing together with TAIJI, if only for one time - and even that one, which was in my opinion the most unlikely, became true. Even now I ask myself, if that was real or just another dream. But yes! It happened!

I arrived at Nissan Stadium quite early in the morning and as expected, not as the first one (and glad about that - must be boring alone at such a huge place...). Some fans were already positioning themselves ready for the merchandise stall which was expected to open at 10 a.m., yet there were quite some hours to go and the atmosphere was relaxed.

The weather on that day was cloudy with high levels of humidity (which was so high that one may call it useless to even consider having a shower). However, the main concern amongst fans was the expectation of a relatively dry evening, free of rain. It should be noted that prior to the concert, rain was very constant and heavy due to the lasting impact of the typhoon. Fortunately for X and their fans, the weather throughout was positive with only a few drops of rain.

But let's return to the merchandise!

The line got longer in a very short amount of time, so much that the queue stretched beyond the stadium to the adjacent street. When the merchandise stall finally opened at 10am, it was great to see the huge crowd who had already arrived to purchase X memorabilia; this was no less boosted by the opportunity to buy solo material by each member, including TAIJI. With so much to buy, it was difficult to decide what to purchase without being reminded about one’s own financial limitations. That being said, it must have taken three hours or more of waiting in line to be able to buy the merchandise.
The time until the concert was quite far away. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity to see the cosplayers posing for the cameras.

When the gates finally opened to enter the stadium, on route to the seats there were numerous bouquets placed as greetings for X JAPAN's live and a corner with the famous pachinko machine of Sankyo that is fully designed in X’s style.

The stadium... well, it is a stadium! So it's hard to say whether you gained a good spot or not. I had a place somewhere in the middle and even there it was hard to have a look at the real stage as the members weren't much bigger than ants from my perspective. Fortunately, the screens allowed everyone to see enough to follow the show.
Yet there was more than one hour left until the show started when I went into the stadium and reached my seat.  A couple of clips were shown at the big screens, containing the PV shooting of "Jade", "Kurenai" and excerpts from X JAPAN's debut at Chicago's Lollapalooza festival, therefore fans were kept entertained while they waited for the start of the show.

The concert itself had a refreshing style. As announced before, the introduction was a new composition- however, it slightly reminded me of its predecessor "Amethyst". The music and the pictures shown on stage complemented each other perfectly. The members entered the stage and even now I can't really believe what I was seeing. Everything felt somehow familiar to me...

The introduction turned into "Jade" and the crowd went wild instantly, jumping and head banging.
I spare myself naming every song in order now - if you wish to see the setlist, you can check back our news for that day. I would much rather spend time highlighting the more special moments of the show. SUGIZO and PATA playing together during the guitar interlude was just breathtaking - I'm a fan of 'talking' guitars anyway. That is, one playing a line, the second guitar responding to it. When the melody turned out to become very familiar, I admit it felt somehow nostalgic. It was "Love Replica" and I instantly got to see the PV of that song in my inner eye.

Some of the songs actually moved me so much, that I couldn't help myself not to get teary-eyed. Especially during "Tears", but also "Kurenai" while other fans were busy with screaming "HIDE" as response to his guitar intro.

Another surprise was the version of "Say Anything" accompanied by violin. This song gives me the feeling of 'good old times' which made this concert so precious. It felt like X really stepped a little closer to their roots, even though it isn't really comparable to the shows in the beginning of the 90s, but nobody expected that anyway.
Simply put, the concert was a felicitous mixture of old and new songs, combined with breathtaking pictures on the screens and additional fireworks. The highlight for me, however, was TAIJI's guest appearance for the earthquake-song "X" - on bass: TAIJI! on bass: HEATH! on guitar: PATA! on guitar: SUGIZO! on guitar: HIDE! on drums: YOSHIKI! on vocals: ToshI! shichi nin no X wo ikuzeee!!! .... X! It rather resembled the Muteki band appearances during the Extasy Summits in the beginning of the 90s but they for sure rocked the stadium. I can't tell whether or not I’ve ever screamed that loud ever in my life before, but it for sure was worth it  (being hoarse would have been an honor... damned, I wasn't... ;D)

I hope the estimated 65000 fans in the stadium caused an appropriate little earthquake. ;)
Unfortunately, TAIJI joined X for only that song and my hopes to hear songs like "Desperate Angel" and "Voiceless Screaming" vanished into thin air with it. Nevertheless, I was glad that "X" rocked the stadium so much.

All in all the concert fully reached my expectations - though a drum solo was missing in the first night, but considering the circumstances, regarding YOSHIKI's health, I can thankfully go without it and am glad that he saved his power for the second night instead. As for the new drum style, which YOSHIKI mentioned in the press conference before, I can't say much at all. It is true that he didn't move his upper body as much as he used to do years before, but I'm no educated observer in that sense, and can't tell much about a difference (I'm glad that he didn't take his neck brace off, though).

What else shall I say? Well, regardless of all critiques that may have occurred afterwards, I enjoyed the concert and it for sure was the best one I’ve seen in my life. X is ready to take over the world! So let’s go and let’s support them overseas, as well and show them the faces of the international X fan community!

Written by: Maverick
Edited by: TG

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