X Japan's Bangkok concert was a storming success

[koshatko]

One by one, the concerts fell by the wayside. A national flood crisis, millions displaced, travel warnings, inundated access roads, logistical nightmares _ not exactly conducive to holding large-scale events. David Foster, Jason Mraz plus a host of international DJs cancelled their gigs in recent weeks. Pitbull's Nov 28 concert has also just been axed.



In the middle of the crisis one show went ahead. With many access roads submerged, the promoter bussed some fans in from CentralWorld. Others navigated heavy traffic on the raised expressway, but few taxis were willing to take anyone Muang Thong-bound. We travelled by van from Victory Monument, after standing in a queue that was literally half a kilometre long. This was X Japan, though, and 12,000 fans on Tuesday night were determined to make it.

That X Japan took the concert and their Thai fans seriously, that they put their hearts into the show, was obvious. An eccentric performance heavy on nostalgia and sentiment unfolded before a raucous sell-out crowd at Impact Arena. Androgynous Yoshiki, 45, was especially popular, as he struck topless poses atop his piano or drum kit to a cauldron of screams, while singer and Kim Jong-il lookalike Toshi, 46, went through what seemed an entire phrasebook of Thai expressions between long versions of songs including IV, X, Rusty Nail, Endless Rain, Jade, Silent Jealousy and Kurenai. The lively Thai and Japanese fans dressed in black T-shirts, or as cosplay nurses or manga characters, seemed to know the words of every song.

''You are X!'' Toshi shouted. ''We are egg!'' the crowd shouted back in a Thai accent.

Japanese tests, marked by the teacher, are covered in Os and Xs _ maru and batsu, or good and bad. It's a duality that marks much of social categorisation, and perhaps helped influence the band's name, inferring they're a band of outcasts. This in turn may have sparked the devotion the band inspired and continues to inspire in young fans, as those who consider themselves outsiders find a collective.

''I met Toshi when I was four years old,'' Yoshiki, who writes most of the band's music, told the crowd. ''In middle school we formed a band.''



That band was Dynamite, which became Noise, which became X.

X came out of the glam-rock era, and were recognisable by their garish costumes, voluminous hairstyles and even louder music. They added Japan to their name once they went global, to differentiate themselves from the US punk band X.

''It hasn't been an easy road,'' Yoshiki admitted. He spoke of the pain of losing Hide and Taiji, of the vicissitudes of modern stardom and breaking up the band in 1997.

When guitarist Hide died in 1998, found with a towel around his neck, tied to a door handle, it was officially ruled a suicide. At least three fans died of copycat suicides within a week. At his 50,000-strong funeral, 60 fans were hospitalised and 200 needed medical treatment in first-aid tents.

For 10 years, Yoshiki was active as a producer and soloist, but fans were always hopeful of a comeback, even when band members categorically said it couldn't happen without Hide. The band finally reformed in 2007, with Sugizo on lead guitar and violin and Pata and Heath continuing on rhythm guitar and bass. But tragedy would strike again.

Former bassist Taiji committed suicide in July, after a flight to Saipan during which he was agitated and assaulted a flight attendant. Three days later he was found hanged in his detention cell.

Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster and Thailand's flood crisis also affected Yoshiki deeply, he said. (The band is reported to have made a substantial donation to Thai flood relief efforts.)

''Despite everything. we always wanted to play Thailand,'' he said. ''We waited a long, long time. And we're so happy to be here.''

In the three-hour concert the band played only about 10 songs. The performance was marked by long solos and interludes as band members caught their breath. There was a 30-minute gap between the main set and encore, so long that fans began fearing the worst. Yoshiki has collapsed at previous concerts in Japan, and there is always a tension of impending tragedy surrounding the band. Nevertheless the crowd never stopped shouting encouragement, doing Mexican wave after wave, bursting into song, crossing their light sticks in a sea of red and green Xs while chanting ''We are X!''

Finally Yoshiki reappeared, in traditional Thai dress.

''I wanted to try this on but they told me it was for women,'' he said shyly. ''So I said it was perfect!'' Then he played the Thai folk song Duen Pen (Full Moon), as the crowd sang along. The band finished with Art of Life, and waved to the emotional crowd until midnight.

The band has long inspired the sort of devotion in fans that some might find obsessive. When the concert was under threat due to the national crisis, the promoters BEC-Tero were inundated with emails by fans begging them not to cancel, saying they would come by boat if they had to.

''While we understand that there is a serious event unfolding around us, we also have an obligation to fans to do our best to make these shows happen,'' Neil Thompson, deputy managing director of BEC-Tero, told the Bangkok Post.

''The situation definitely affects the mood of the people, both those directly affected and those who are not. The scale and scope of the flooding has been really difficult to predict.

''There are so many other aspects that add difficulties to organising concerts and events such as safety, logistics, transportation, access to the venue, commute time, combined with our own staff who have been affected directly by the flooding.

''We follow the long-standing tradition that the show must go on,'' he concluded.

This was the last concert standing in a season of cultural attrition. So ask not if Toshi's voice could still hit every note, if the guitar and violin fingerwork was flawless, if the Impact Arena sound system and acoustics could carry virtuosic deftness and subtlety as evenly as noise, if these forty-somethings had as much energy on this, the last stop on their world tour as on their first in London, five months ago.

Ask instead if this was the most raucous, good-natured and heartfelt concert of the year, and the answer might surprise you





www.bangkokpost.com/arts-and-culture/music/2659...