It was a total road of discovery which lead me to X JAPAN, so I think the ultimate destination for the end of that road would undoubtedly be X JAPAN live in concert.

I found out about the band only months after they had officially gotten back together, though at the time I wasn’t aware of that. I only knew that they were an older band with amazing music that I instantly fell in love with; so much so that I can’t even imagine how my life might be now had I never heard their sound.

3 years ago a fire broke out at my grandparent’s house (both of whom are Japanese) and due to their old age, were relocated to a Japanese nursing home. Sadly, only a year later my grandmother passed away and it became even more obvious than before that the house would not be returned to. Thus I was given the task of removing all items and furniture that had not been damaged and to organize them for the entire family to later sort through should they want to take something with them. While doing this I came across many things- things I remembered seeing around the house as a child and new things which I found interesting or aesthetically pleasing (clothing, books, pieces of art, etc), all of which were Japanese or Japanese influenced. The sadness of losing my grandmother and the beauty of some of these items prompted me to take them home; they were keepsakes of my childhood, my grandparents’ existence, and ultimately, unbeknownst to me at the time, the starting point of the journey that would lead to Japanese music and above all else, introduce me to X Japan.

As an artist I thought, ” what other things like this could I find that might inspire me? What does this culture have to offer that I might thoroughly enjoy?” So I set out on none other than the internet.

Even though I find music the greatest of ‘the arts’, I had no idea what kind of music was made in Japan or where to start looking to find out. I didn’t even know Japan made metal/rock music, and as a lover of that genre’ that just shows how immense the boarder is between east and west media. So I did what most Westerners do when they think of Japan. I searched for anime.

After finding a few shows I also heard a few songs that I liked from the soundtracks they included in their episodes. I would research these shows to track down those songs and from there, the artist. After artist hopping for a while through youtube I began to notice the words “X” or “X JAPAN” as a pattern in the comment section of countless videos. They revolved around people debating stuff about Japanese songs- the influence, which artist was better than the other, who started what, etc. X and X JAPAN constantly popped up as something more or less referred to as ‘The God of Japanese Metal.’

I couldn’t not look this band up.

They were good. The instrumentalists were very talented, extremely coordinated and technically brilliant and the singer could belt it out like nobody’s business. But it wasn’t until I found Art of Life that I knew it was all over. The deal was sealed. It was the live version from Tokyo Dome 1993 and I listened to it –a 30 minute song– 5 times in a row. I even know where I was and what time it was when I did this. It was that big of a deal.

The next day I looked up everything about the band: who the members were, who contributed what to the sound, how they came together, where they came from and (the biggest one) every song they made (I always drool over songs like “Rusty Nail”, “Orgasm”, “Celebration”, “Scars”, and “Weekend”).

X JAPAN’s track record is simply amazing. Who knew the drummer and pianist were the same person? How cool is it that hide paints his own guitar? How funny is it that Toshi became lead singer by chance?

But the band was from the 90s. They were all the way in Japan. hide had passed away.

And then one day I saw the news that… they’ve been reunited??

After the official reunion they made I.V., Jade, and mostly recently Born to be Free. They’re back and good as ever and finally within reach to all of us who never dreamed they would be. They’ve influenced me (no, pushed me) to pursue my own music. I’ve been writing songs like I never had before I discovered them. The messages in their songs give me energy and reassurance, they inspire me to be a better person and musician every single day. Yoshiki has become my musical muse.

I think it’s very sad hide isn’t around to perform with the band during these concerts, but I don’t think there could be any better 6th member than Sugizo (who I aso adore and would love to see live). I have no doubt each and every show will be amazing and I would CHERISH the chance to be a part of the history they’re making for themselves with this FIRST EVER AMERICAN TOUR!

With or without radio X JAPAN is going to be big here in America. This is only the beginning and once word gets out about how talented these guys are there will be no stopping them; I think they just might be the ones to break through that eastern-western boarder and make the big splash that Japanese bands have been trying to make for years. And for time to have lead me here right now while it’s all happening… It’s just simply amazing being able to watch it all unfold around me.

The only thing that could possibly top that is standing face to face with the music as X JAPAN plays it live right in front of me. A true ‘dream come true’ ending.