hide with Spread Beaver
SE HURRY GO ROUND
1. SPREAD BEAVER
2. ROCKET DIVE
3. POSE
4. PINK SPIDER
5. DOUBT
6. CELEBRATION ~ with PATA
7. EVER FREE
8. DICE
9. TELL ME
10. MISERY
SECOND DAY- HIDE MEMORIAL SUMMIT 2
heidi.
1. Tell Me
2. 泡沫
3. レム
TOKYO YANKEES
1. Pre-emptive strike
2. Serial killer
3. Ace of Spades (Motorhead cover)
4. Hollywood Heartbreaker
LADIES ROOM
1.ダメージ
2.ジェットコースター
3.せっくすろっくんろー
Dir en grey
1.THE FINAL
2.REPETITION OF HATRED
3.GRIEF
4.miscast
5.CONCEIVED SORROW
6.dead tree
7.OBSCURE
8.DOZING GREEN
9.朔
10.THE ⅢD EMPIRE
The Underneath
1. Getting closer
2. Gekkoh
3. DOUBT
4. bite the bullet
D'espairsRay
1.POSE
2.69
3.ブリリアント
4.ミラー
MUCC
SE - Homura Uta
1. Ranchuu
2. Fukurou no Yurikago
3. Shion
4. FUZZ
5. DICE
6. Libra
Oblivion Dust
1. Genkai Haretsu
2. Microchipped
3. Never Ending
4. Radio Song
5. Designer Fetus
6. 24 Hour Buzz-
Luna Sea
SE 月光
1. PRECIOUS...
2. G.
3. Dejavu
4. SLAVE
5. SCANNER
6. IN SILENCE
7. BLUE TRANSPARENCY
8. ROSIER
9. TONIGHT
10. WISH
11. UP TO YOU
X JAPAN
1. Amethyst/World Anthem
2. Rusty Nail
3. SCARS
4. Silent Jealousy
5. hide past images with Forever Love as background music
・Last Live interview
・Talk with Ikushima Hiroshi
・Yoshiki's impression of the first meeting
・Yoshiki's house at Film GIG 1993
・Hey! Hey! Hey! footage
6. Piano SOLO
7. Without you
8. 紅
-> Yoshiki announces concert in Taiwan and plans for another performance at the Dome.
9.Endless Rain
10.I.V. feat Sugizo
-> Fireworks
INVINCIBLE BAND/MUTEKI
1. ピンクスパイダー(hide)
X JAPAN+LUNA SEA
Vo. TOSHI, RYUICHI
Gu, YOSHIKI, PATA, SUGIZO, INORAN
Ba. HEATH, J
Dr. 真矢
奇跡の復活ドーム3days、そして味の素スタジアムで行なわれた<hide memorial summit>の2days、その上で2008年7月5日(土)フランス・パリノールヴィルパント展示会会場、2008年9月13日(土)NY・マジソン スクエアガーデン、2008年8月2日(土)台北ワールドトレードセンターの海外公演が決定しているX JAPAN。
X JAPANをサポートするオーディエンスの言葉に、YOSHIKI自身が突き動かされていることがよくわかる。ここに書かれていることを素直に判断すれ ば、YOSHIKIは再び日本でのコンサートの意志を固めたと考えてよいだろう。おそらくYOSHIKIの意思を受け、海外公演と共に、スタッフは国内公 演実施のために会場・日程の調整に入っているはずだ。
X JAPANを動かすのはYOSHIKIではなく、YOSHIKIを突き動かすファンのエネルギーである。
無敵と書いてEXTASYと読む。
無謀と書いてYOSHIKIと読む。
無限の可能性と書いてX JAPANと読む。
そして、X JAPANと書けば、それはきっと世界最高のオーディエンス達と読むのだろう。
LIVE REPORT - 05.10.2008 Author : Heidi, Yoosh & Kreuz In hide's honor, some touching performances were given by DJ OZMA, DaizyStripper, Ra:IN, RIZE, and Versailles.
People were still trickling inside Ajinomoto Stadium when the first day began with Noriko Shouji, also known as "rocking mama," famous for being a fan of X JAPAN and other visual kei bands, and Matsumoto Hiroshi, hide's brother, who organized the event along with YOSHIKI. They both reinforced the message that the concert was a festive occassion whose objective was to have the feelings of everyone become one, and that emotion would achieve hide. They also spoke about the charity organizations supported by the event: Heart Ribbon Project, Japan Marrow Donor Registry, Orange Clover, Make-A-Wish Japan and Japan Society of Breast Health. The people in attendance received wrist bands with the names of the organizations, and some of the artists wore them as well.
DJ OZMA
The first to enter the main stage was none other than DJ OZMA. Wearing hide's army style clothing and dyed pink hair, he made his appearance on stage to the sound of X JAPAN's World Anthem. But OZMA wasn’t alone; his entire dancing crew was dressed the same way, down to the pink hair. Although the stadium was not completely filled yet, DJ OZMA went ahead and started with his hit song Age Age EVERY KNIGHT. The people in attendance were fired up right away and many were familiar with his songs and choreography.
The audience continued dancing and cheering DJ OZMA on during his second song CHOU!, and when he began to perform his interpretation of hide's EVER FREE, the celebratory atmosphere he'd created skyrocketed. After this cover, he took some time to talk to the audience, showing his sense of humor with comments like, "You don't have to rush back to your seats, I'll be here for a while." When he shouted "WE ARE...?" out of the blue, the fans needed some time to understand what he meant.
After a couple more songs, OZMA finished the live with the song he began with, Age Age EVERY KNIGHT, this time supported by co-singers doing a TOSHI-cosplay. He even pulled down his pants during the last seconds of the song, displaying his underwear which was yellow with red hearts, a creative tribute to hide's guitar with the same pattern.
Setlist:
1. Age Age EVERY KNIGHT
2. CHOU!
3. EVER FREE
4. Spiderman
5. Shippu Jinrai
6. Junjou
7. Age Age EVERY KNIGHT
DaizyStripper
DaizyStripper, a new visual kei band, captured the audience's attention with their youthful looks and visible excitement as they took the stage. They started off their set with hide's ballad MISERY, which opened softly with only the vocal and piano until the rest of the instruments kicked in, making the song more powerful.
They continued with Dandelion which also opened quietly, but soon turned into a catchy pop-rock song that had the audience waving their hands in the air with the music. Vocalist Yugiri screamed and encouraged the audience to be more energetic and they happily obliged. Their third and final song, decade, was also mostly cheerful pop-rock. The band seemed to be full of energy as they ran around the stage with endearingly youthful abandon.
Setlist:
1. MISERY
2. Dandelion
3. decade
Ra:IN
At 2:40 p.m. Ra:IN made their appearance on the second sub-stage, to the right side of the main one. PATA entered first, with his double neck guitar, followed by Teru, D.I.E. and michiaki. The band has two very famous members, PATA (X JAPAN) and D.I.E. (Spread Beaver), so the number of people in the stadium increased.
Soon Ra:IN dove into their first song, and as they only play instrumental songs, many people sat back down in their seats, moving their heads in response to the performance. Without a break, the band dove into their second song, Metal Box, and PATA changed to a single neck guitar.
At the end of the second song, keyboardist D.I.E. thanked the audience for coming and said he'd been concerned when he realized it would be a rainy day. He started to yell "yeah yeah yeah" and soon after, Ra:IN began their fast paced third song, 382. PATA impressed the audience with his very fast solos, as D.I.E. raised the energy level by jumping around. D.I.E. then switched to his portable keyboard and began running around the stage. At the end of the concert they smashed both keyboards, the guitar and the bass.
Setlist:
SE
1. Indicator to the future
2. Metal Box
3. 382
RIZE
Crossover band RIZE began 15 minutes later than planned, but received a warm welcome from the audience. JESSE in particular, nowadays with long hair, had a great number of excited fans in the stadium. The quintet opened with their single from last year, LADY LOVE, and apparently the technical staff had some trouble enhancing the sound. Nevertheless, RIZE and especially JESSE continued rocking, running around the arena making contact with the audience and rolling around on the ground.
Their set continued with American Hero, their latest single, Live or Die, and Television Song, at which point the weather cleared up and several sun beams reached the arena. At that moment RIZE, with perfect timing, started their reggae-influenced song GHOST, which was even more amazing live than on CD. The next song was the highly anticipated PINK SPIDER cover RIZE released as a single last year. The audience was on flames again when the first notes floated out of JESSE's guitar. As was the case when bands performed cover songs earlier that day, everyone had a hide doll within reach to shake along to the beat.
Their last song for the day was the classic crossover song Why I'm Me, which inspired a lot of movement even in the chair-filled venue. Once again, JESSE made an effort to make personal contact with the audience by climbing the barrier between the stage and the fans. After that highlight, RIZE left the stage.
Setlist:
SE pikopiko
1.LADY LOVE
2. American Hero
3. Live or Die
4. Television Song
5. GHOST
6. Pink Spider
7. Why I’m Me
Versailles
Versailles made a stylish entrance, walking onto the stage one by one to heroic intro music, all in extravagant costumes and elaborate make-up as usual. And with a majestic air, vocalist Kamijo threw a rose to the audience, to which their fans responded enthusiastically.
Their set began with The Love from Dead Orchestra, which immediately plunged the audience into the band's unique world of hard metal guitars and Kamijo's smooth melodic voice. They continued with Shout&Bites, which the audience waved their hands along with. In their usual theatrical style, the band members swirled and spun along with the music. When Versailles started playing their hit The Revenant Choir, the excitement in the venue surged as people head banged and threw their arms in the air. After the song, Kamijo threw a kiss to the audience and they all bowed before they left the stage to the accompaniment of loud cheers.
Setlist:
1. The Love from Dead Orchestra
2. Shout&Bites
3. The Revenant Choir
LIVE REPORT - 05.10.2008 Author : Yoosh, Heidi & Kreuz The tribute continued with MarBell, Maximum the Hormone, Phantasmagoria, T.M. Revolution, hurdy gurdy, and hide with Spread Beaver.
After Versailles, the rather unknown but nonetheless interesting gothic, shoegaze rock band MarBell appeared on the second sub-stage, led by female singer MAR. But after the previous act it was difficult for the young band to really fire the audience up again. Unfortunately, many people chose that moment to leave the arena, so they missed an entertaining but brief show of four nice songs, including the jazzy Teno naru kata he and the slightly hide-influenced Tokyo Spider.
Setlist:
1. Narcolepsy
2. Teno naru kata he
3. Miss All Birthday
4. Tokyo Spider
Maximum the Hormone
Next it was time for Maximum the Hormone to rock the main stage. Apparently, the majority of the approximately 30,000 people were especially excited to see MTH, so they returned to their seats and waited for the quartet to begin. Just a few minutes after MarBell left the sub-stage, female drummer Nao led the guys to the stage and started off hitting the drums hard to the first riff of What's up, people?!, challenging the audience to bang their heads synchronously. After this warm up, Nao gave the fans some time to rest and talked a bit, giving her self-introduction alternating between a cute, quiet voice and loud screaming. With the second song, Zetsubou Billy, the end theme for the anime Death Note, the audience finally completely belonged to Maximum the Hormone.
Another song (Buiikikaesu) and one MC later, MTH continued with their next upbeat neck breaker Tsumi, and although there were chairs all around them, a number of people got riled up and started to mosh around a bit. For their last song, Koi no megalover, everyone made choreographed dance movements along with the music, and for some minutes it seemed every person there was a huge fan of the band. But even the best live of the day so far had to end at one point, and Maximum the Hormone made their exit after a dynamic but short twenty minutes.
Setlist:
1. What’s up, people?!
2. Zetsubou Billy
3. Buiikikaesu
4. Tsumi
5. Koi no megalover
Phantasmagoria
Phantasmagoria was a pleasant surprise on the program since they disbanded last year. They came on stage screaming to the audience, encouraging them to get stirred up. With their brightly colored hair and clothing they showed off their trademark visual look, and started their short set off with Kami uta. Opening with rhythmic drumming, the song evolved into a melodic hard rock number. The audience, full of energy and happy to see the band perform again, did specific movements along with the song while the band ran around the stage.
They finished off with the ballad Gensoukyoku ~Eternal Silence~, a softer, poignant song with a piano intro, which created a completely different but inspiring and emotional atmosphere.
Setlist:
1. Kami uta
2. Gensoukyoku ~Eternal Silence~
T.M.Revolution
When the T.M.Revolution sign appeared on the big screen, the screams of fans filled the whole stadium. The show began a little after 5:40 p.m. with Nishikawa Takanori's appearance on the main stage all dressed in black with a leather coat and chains. He began singing as fire explosions lit up the stage. The excited crowd sang and danced along with Nishikawa who, also very excited, ran continuously from one side (first sub-stage) to the other (second sub-stage).
After Zips, Nishikawa said he was very happy and thankful to be a part of such a great event. He continued, saying sometimes he thought about why he was in the event, and realized the important thing was to be in that place thinking only about the same person with everyone.
After singing resonance, Nishikawa shed the leather coat and began singing mugen no Ark. In the middle of the song, he also took off his vest, showing his bare back. The crowd's excitement escalated as they jumped to the electronic beat with him.
After LOVE SAVER, Nishikawa announced the end of his show, asking everyone to clap and jump together for his final song. The whole stadium obliged and HIGH PRESSURE began. Strips of silver paper floated all over the arena, and his performance ended to the sounds of enthusiastic applause and screams.
Setlist:
SE
1. ignited
2. Zips
3. vestige
4. resonance
5. mugen no Ark
6. LOVE SAVER
7. HIGH PRESSURE
hurdy gurdy
SEIZI KIMURA of hurdy gurdy made his appearance on stage to a calm ballad-like intro before he began talking to the audience. He then had them clap along as he started an acoustic cover of hide's LEMONed I Scream. As the audience was always thrilled to hear hide covers, it was a promising start for hurdy gurdy's performance.
He talked a bit more and again had the audience clap along before his next song, FLAKE. The music was generally calm and acoustic, and since he was alone on the stage with his guitar, his act stood out from the rest of the bands that played. His last song, FLAME, continued in the same style with the audience clapping along.
Setlist
1. LEMONed I Scream (hide cover)
2. FLAKE
3. FLAME
hide with Spread Beaver
Next came the most highly anticipated presentation of the day, and as expected, the stadium filled up with even more people.
To the sound of HURRY GO ROUND, several images and clips of hide were shown on the big screen, leaving many fans teary-eyed. Suddenly, the sound became digitized and the member introductions began, first Joe, and then Ina, Die, Kaz, Chirolyn and Kiyoshi. At the back of the main stage, in the heart where "memorial summit" was written, an image of hide appeared. Fireworks shot out over the stage and ROCKET DIVE began with the song's PV playing on the big screens.
When POSE started, synchronized fire blasts shot up with the beat, and several images of hide singing POSE appeared on the big screen. When DOUBT ended, Ina spoke for a bit, saying it would be a night to remember and that they were showing the same power as 10 years ago, and then he called PATA to participate. PATA appeared on stage and began a solo, and then started CELEBRATION. On the big screen a video showed hide with long hair dressed in red, singing with a megaphone. The audience all jumped together and sang "hey celebration" in the chorus.
When the music ended, PATA left the stage, at which point hide appeared on the big screen, saying, "Everyone, tomorrow this is not going to continue. I know that you are not satisfied yet, I know it very well, that we still have much to play. Let me play, lets play!" and then ever free started with the song's music video. When they played DICE the screen showed several scenes of hide with long hair and short hair playing DICE at his various concerts.
After DICE, Chirolyn addressed the audience: "Are you having fun? I am having so much fun! It has been 10 years, fast huh? Well, even after 10, 20, 100 years, hide will live in me forever. Ah, this is super fun. Ajinomotooo, I am always at your service!" He then struck a pose like he was eating rice. At the audience's silence, he said, "You were supposed to laugh. "Well then, everybody ok?? hide, everything ok??" On the screen, hide said "Thank you very much," at which point TELL ME began. An explosion of silver strips of paper flew over the audience. Kiyoshi introduced the members and said, "Let's everyone scream together for hide, on guitar and vocal, Matsumoto Hideto!" and the whole stadium erupted in screams for hide. They then greeted the audience, leaving an open space between them for hide. The fireworks continued and the video for MISERY played on the screen. The final SE was GOOD BYE.
And with this ballad of GOOD BYE, the first day of the event ended perfectly. The song carried the same feeling that everyone in the audience had: a mix of sadness and joy. Sadness for remembering the loss of a person so important for the modern pop culture in Japan, but joy that his unstoppable and genuine happiness is still being shared even ten years after he left us.
Fortunately, there was a second day for this unique experience to be shared. Everything went well, making this festival one of the biggest moments in the Japanese rock scene!
LIVE REPORT - 05.11.2008 Author : Yoosh, Heidi & Kreuz The second day of the hide Memorial Summit began with performances from heidi., TOKYO YANKEES, LADIES ROOM, and Dir en grey.
NORI then introduced Matsumoto Hiroshi, hide's younger brother, and asked the audience to pay attention to them because everything else was unimportant. He also discussed how TOKYO YANKEES had been invited to be a part of the hide memorial only ten days before the concert; NORI had called Hiroshi asking if it would be possible for TOKYO YANKEES to be a part of the event, and Hiroshi responded, "I-I'll...find a way...!!"
The stadium held a crowd three times bigger than the previous day's, and while it wasn't sold out there were very few seats left. NORI stated that everything had come together because of Matsumoto Hiroshi's hard work and offered him a bottle of champagne, making a toast. Hiroshi then took the opportunity to thank everyone present, all the volunteers and all the artists involved.
heidi.
heidi. was given the honor of kicking off the second day of the summit and they started appropriately with a cover of hide's TELL ME which immediately created an elated mood. As usual they were dressed simply, as opposed to the visual style, in mostly black loose fitting clothes. The audience danced happily along as they continued with the upbeat Houmatsu. A large number of people had already shown up at the venue and waved their arms along to heidi.'s energizing music.
After Houmatsu ended, there was a short MC before they continued on with another cheerful song, Rem. The band's enthusiasm climbed as they moved around energetically throughout their set. The dynamic performance was a very promising start for the day.
Setlist:
1. TELL ME (hide cover)
2. Houmatsu
3. Rem
TOKYO YANKEES
Guitarist NORI appeared first, toting a towel which he threw to the audience. YOSHI and UDA appeared just after him, and TOKYO YANKEES launched into their first song. Since the band's vocalist UMEMURA passed away last year, NORI and YOSHI took turns singing. After the second song NORI encouraged everyone to work harder, just like them, now that they were working as a 3-piece, to honor those in heaven like hide and UMEMURA. During Ace of Spades, a flag with the word "Muteki" appeared on stage, suggesting that at the end of the show, the legendary session band "Muteki Band" would revive.
Setlist:
1. Pre-emptive strike
2. Serial killer
3. Ace of Spades (Motorhead cover)
4. Hollywood Heartbreaker
LADIES ROOM
Looking very exited Hyakutarou, Nao and George made their way on to the stage and quickly launched into DAMAGE while a roadie carried the "Muteki" flag around the stage. Just after the second song, Hyaku said that last night had really nice and quiet bands, but today they would torture the audience. They gave an exhilarating performance but their set didn't draw the most attention due to its brevity, so after the last song the band proceeded to trash their instruments, which had the desired effect of stirring up the fans.
Setlist:
1. Damage (hide cover)
2. Jet Coaster
3. Sex sex & Rock'n Roll
Dir en grey
Before the curtain was even drawn for Dir en grey to go onstage, the stadium erupted into enthusiastic cheering. Evidently this would be one of the highlights of the day. Dir en grey started off with THE FINAL and the audience went wild, head banging and throwing their arms towards the stage in ecstasy. People sang along easily with the calm parts and went nuts at the harder sections, and the atmosphere throughout the entire stadium was more energetic than ever so far.
They continued with REPITITION OF HATRED, a more violent song that again had the audience head banging along with the band to the heavy rhythms. GRIEF continued in the same noisy way and the audience clapped along excitedly. Next up was a cover of X JAPAN's Miscat and the audience seemed pleasantly surprised, waving their arms along as they enjoyed the moment. After a short pause they continued on with the emotional CONCEIVED SORROW, during which the audience stood still taking in the intensity of the music to its fullest.
When the intro to dead tree was heard the audience cheered again and started moving their bodies to the music. Kyo conveyed his inner pain physically by hitting himself and cutting his chest. Next up was OBSCURE and the uncensored, graphic video was shown on the large screens while the band played, and Kyo threw in some improvised screams at different points in the song. DOZING GREEN and -saku- inspired more head banging and the audience looked like a sea of whipping hair from above. Kyo screamed "last song" and they finished with THE IIID EMPIRE. They exited after throwing their microphone stands and instruments around the stage in a last violent burst of energy, and Shinya tossed his drumsticks into the audience. They all seemed to be in good shape and put on a stunning performance that reminded the audience what a talented band they are.
Setlist:
1. THE FINAL
2. REPETITION OF HATRED
3. GRIEF
4. Miscat (X Japan cover)
5. CONCEIVED SORROW
6. dead tree
7. OBSCURE
8. DOZING GREEN
9. -saku-
10. THE IIID EMPIRE
LIVE REPORT - 05.11.2008 Author : Yoosh, Heidi & Kreuz The event continued with performances from THE UNDERNEATH, D'espairsRay, MUCC, and Oblivion Dust.
If Transtic Nerve hadn't changed their name, style, and visuals probably more people would've watched their set, since Transtic Nerve was one of the bands that hide had helped over the years. However, unfortunately The Underneath was an unknown band for most, so quite a few people in the audience got up and left their seats during their show. Nevertheless, it was a dynamic and entertaining set.
When Gekkoh ended, vocalist Taka addressed the crowd, saying hide had taught them many things and thanked him for everything he'd done to help the band. He then asked the audience to help The Underneath prove how much hide remained in their hearts and started to chant hide's name. They launched into Doubt and followed with Bite the bullet.
D'espairsRay entered the stage all dressed in white and started their set with a cover of hide's POSE. The audience seemed pleased both to see the band and hear another hide cover and immediately started jumping and waving their arms.
The next song up was SIXty∞NINe, which inspireed more jumping from the audience while Karyu ran along the wide stage and ZERO spun around like a whirlwhind. They continued with their calmer but still catchy and enjoyable new single BRILLIANT. The last song of their set was MIRROR, which again brought the audience to life, jumping around while enjoying the upbeat finish to the performance.
Homura Uta could be heard while the stage curtain was raised and MUCC entered one by one to great cheers from the audience. They started off with Ranchu and the audience jumped and headbanged along to the music while Tatsuro ran around on stage like a madman. The whole band was lively and energetic as they continued on with the calmer Fukurou no yurikago from their new album, which had its own unique mood and kept the audience excited. The next song, Shion, also from their new album, had a mystical atmosphere with chanting but also some growling thrown into the mix.
After this Tatsuro took a break to talk to the crowd before the band continued on with the lively Fuzz. The audience clapped enthusiastically along to the music while Tatsuro played the harmonica and YUKKE beat away at his double bass. The guitarist from The Underneath came on stage to play the hide cover DICE with them before they ended their set with Libra. As the audience cheered they all bowed deeply and left the stage.
Setlist:
SE - Homura Uta
1. Ranchu
2. Fukurou no yurikao
3. Shion
4. Fuzz
5. DICE (hide cover)
6. Libra
Oblivion Dust
Oblivion Dust, a band that reunited last year, was the last act to appear on one of the sub-stages for the second day, and they were ready to give their best, starting with their cover song Genkai Haretsu, which was already released nine years ago on a hide tribute album. The sound was a bit better than it was for MUCC, but once again many people left the arena while singer Ken Lloyd, guitarist K.A.Z., bassist RIKIJI and their support members provided an energetic performance.
Unfortunately there were more problems with the sound, which the engineers never got under control during the entire set of six songs including the cover of Genkai Haretsu, MICROCHIPPED, NEVER ENDING, RADIO SONG, DESIGNER FETUS and 24 HOUR BUZZ. The audience enjoyed it nonetheless and celebrated the last "small" band of the day but, of course, couldn't wait for the big fishes to come.
Setlist:
1. Genkai Haretsu
2. MICROCHIPPED
3. NEVER ENDING
4. RADIO SONG
5. DESIGNER FETUS
6. 24 HOUR BUZZ
LIVE REPORT - 05.11.2008 Author : Heidi, Yoosh The long awaited highlight of the hide Memorial Summit was the final section, which included Luna Sea, X JAPAN, and Muteki Band.
Considerably more people had arrived when it was time for LUNA SEA, and the entire audience was clapping in anticipation for their performance. As the curtain raised, the stadium erupted with screams of joy as everyone in attendance clapped along to the intro while the members entered the stage one by one.
The performance started with a bang as the band kicked off with PRECIOUS. The audience waved their arms happily and sang along to the familiar music while Ryuichi swirled around on stage, showing his happiness to be performing. The next song was G and the audience were still waving their arms continuously towards the stage in unison. Dejavu was clearly a favorite and everyone sang along, alternating between jumping, head banging and waving their arms around to the music. The band interacted with each other playfully and seemed to be enjoying this just as much as the audience was.
During SLAVE each member was shown on the screen and the audience screamed out their names happily, clearly excited about another reunion of this legendary band. LUNA SEA also did a hide cover and the audience went wild again as they played SCANNER. There was a small pause before they continued with the softer, emotional IN SILENCE, which had the audience stretching their arms longingly towards the stage during the chorus. INORAN was now on acoustic guitar while SUGIZO and Ryuichi sang together, urging the audience to join in with them. Ryuichi screamed "blue transparency" before the song began and everyone cheered while the band ran along the wide stage, making sure all in the audience got a glimpse of them. ROSIER was, as always, an audience favorite and the crowd went wild waving their arms frantically and screaming along to "rosy heart." Ryuichi had the audience cheering and throwing their arms in the air, which only further increased during J's monologue in the song.
TONIGHT was another audience hit as all danced along to the bright tune. As they continued with WISH, glitter was shot out over the audience from cannons located on stage. After catching the sparkling pieces of plastic the audience waved them around in unison, creating a sea of moving sparkles. Ryuichi allowed the audience to sing parts of the song and they screamed as loud as they could in appreciation, while SUGIZO dashed around the stage at full speed.
After the song Ryuichi spoke for a while before the set ended with the ballad UP TO YOU, during which the audience waved their arms calmly along to the music. The band members all threw water bottles and drumsticks into the crowd and waved happily as they left the stage. Everyone in the stadium seemed to have truly enjoyed the performance and loved seeing LUNA SEA so glad to be performing together again.
Setlist:
1. PRECIOUS
2. G.
3. Dejavu
4. SLAVE
5. SCANNER (hide cover)
6. IN SILENCE
7. BLUE TRANSPERANCY
8. ROSIER
9. TONIGHT
10. WISH
11. UP TO YOU
X JAPAN
The X performance was approximately three hours long with all the encores.
When the letter X appeared on the screen the empty seats filled up in a matter of seconds and a storm of screams filled the stadium. While Amethyst played over the speakers, the fans screamed the names of their favorite members, especially HIDE's. After the intro with a feminine voice introducing X, the curtain opened and Prologue ~world anthem~ began. YOSHIKI appeared wearing a red shirt followed by HEATH, PATA and TOSHI, while in HIDE's usual spot the famous "Yellow Heart" guitar was on display. Rusty Nail began and pyrotechnics filled the stage and even after LUNA SEA's performance, no one seemed tired; in fact, the audience was in ecstasy. With his unique high voice TOSHI screamed, asking the audience to show their Japanese spirit. Then Scars began, with more fire shooting in time to the music as HIDE images appeared on the screen for the twin guitar solo with PATA. TOSHI asked the arena to scream louder, which they did and a riled up YOSHIKI kicked the gong beside his drum set before heading over to the piano to play the intro to Silent Jealousy. As TOSHI began singing a capella, YOSHIKI returned to the drums to thrash his kit.
After Silent Jealousy, the screen began to play a video in hide's memory. With Forever Love playing in the background the first video showed an interview with Shouji Noriko right after the Last Live. In the second video, HIDE was speaking to the host, Ikushima Hiroshi, about X. In the third video, HIDE was talking with TOSHI about how he first met YOSHIKI. HIDE said he'd always heard YOSHIKI had a reputation for being very destructive but when he met him, he thought he was a really cute kid. With Tears now playing over the speakers, a film gig video began with TOSHI looking for HIDE, then PATA, HEATH and finally YOSHIKI. Another interview with hide was followed by the famous HEY HEY HEY interview where HIDE and YOSHIKI argue about their eating habits. There was one more interview with HIDE explaining the difference between being in X and his solo career. For the conclusion, the video returned to the first interview with Shouji Noriko leaving many people in the audience in tears. Along with the series of covers that had been played throughout the afternoon in memory of the great guitarist, this poignant memorial during X JAPAN's set gave the evening a real sense of gravitas and set the festivities of the music in the wider context of the event.
While classical music played, YOSHIKI appeared with two bouquets of red roses. Descending from the stage he walked around throwing roses to each side of the arena. Then he returned to the stage, took his seat by the piano and began to pray. He began with some improvisational playing, then started a little piano solo followed by Without you. Many of HIDE’s pictures were shown on the screen and then TOSHI appeared from the darkness. As he started to sing the already tearful audience became even more emotional.
When Without you finished, YOSHIKI began to play Kurenai on the piano, then headed over to the drums, while on the screen HIDE was shown playing his solo with the same clothes he wore at the Last Live. A sea of silver ribbons were thrown all over the arena and even the people crying then started once again to jump, scream, and raise their arms, taking their cues from the music. At the end of the song, TOSHI's voice cracked a bit as he said his goodbyes to the audience.
During the break, the audience made a human wave that spread across the whole arena, over and over. Suddenly someone appeared on the stage holding a flag with "Muteki" written on it. YOSHIKI reappeared on stage carrying TOSHI on his back and after a quick spin round, both sat on the floor. TOSHI remarked that everything had been really nice so far, and YOSHIKI inquired if he'd gotten any fatter. At that point YOSHIKI announced that the date of a new concert had been been decided. He went on to say he wanted to do a concert in Japan as well, in Tokyo Dome, but due to some problems that occurred in the past, he was afraid they wouldn't let him play again there. He continued, saying it was best to leave Tokyo Dome in the past and go now to Osaka Dome. YOSHIKI then announced the concert that had been decided wouldn't occur in Japan but in Taiwan, on August 2nd.
YOSHIKI then headed over to the piano and began to play the chorus of Dahlia, and from Dahlia he proceeded on to Endless rain. TOSHI sang at YOSHIKI's side, while images of HIDE were shown on the screen. By now the whole arena was singing Endless rain along with TOSHI. The band went quiet for a few minutes, all members sat watching and listening attentively to the audience singing the chorus over and over to them. As Endless rain drew to a close, YOSHIKI started to play the introduction to I.V.. At that moment TOSHI called SUGIZO back on stage, and asked that everyone sing the refrain "in the rain... find a way." TOSHI complained that HEATH and PATA weren't singing along with them and moreover that YOSHIKI would not return until the crowd sang in one loud voice. YOSHIKI left his drums for a period to sit at the front of the stage, pausing to tease SUGIZO gently for while with TOSHI asking why a member of LUNA SEA was suddenly on stage. The chorus continued for some time until YOSHIKI went to the drums and the band began to play the song in earnest.
Setlist:
SE Amethyst and ~world anthem~
1. Rusty Nail
2. Scars
3. Silent Jealousy
4. Without you
5. Kurenai
6. Endless rain
7. I.V. (guest sugizo)
Muteki Band
After I.V. ended YOSHIKI, wearing a lace shirt from h.naoto, kicked the gong once more and returned to his piano to play a sample of Pink Spider. One of the staff members brought him HIDE's heart-covered guitar, causing a great wave excitement amongst the audience. TOSHI then called Shinya from LUNA SEA to play with them, so together with SUGIZO, YOSHIKI and PATA playing guitar, HEATH on the bass, and Shinya drumming away, he sang Pink Spider. The audience went crazy with various fans waving HIDE dolls in the air. It was an interesting performance; while fitting for X JAPAN to have played this song in tribute to HIDE it was interesting for the change in attitude to the original and the rougher rock sound that X JAPAN brought to the classic pop sound. It was, nonetheless, a memorable performance and with the reappearance of the famous red-heart 'Love me' guitar HIDE's presence hadn't felt stronger all evening.
After Pink Spider ended, YOSHIKI called Ryuichi from LUNA SEA while TOSHI called INORAN and J back to the stage. With all of LUNA SEA back on the stage, Ryuichi asked YOSHIKI to play the drums for one of the songs. After Shinya grabbed a guitar, Ryuichi and TOSHI sang Believe together with PATA, INORAN, SUGIZO and Shinya on the guitar. HEATH and J were on the bass while YOSHIKI pounded away on the drums.
The show would soon be coming to an end, and Ryuichi remarked to TOSHI and YOSHIKI that everything was perfect. While YOSHIKI was at the drums and Shinya played a tambourine, TOSHI invited to the stage Tatsuro from MUCC, Hizumi from D'espairsRay, and Nishikawa Takanori from T.M.Revolution. Band members from LADIES ROOM, Versailles, Oblivion Dust, Spread Beaver and the others members of D'espairsRay and MUCC showed up on the stage, some holding the "Muteki" flag while others appeared on the stage jumping and screaming.
The one who started to sing X was Ryuichi, followed by Tatsuro and then Nishikawa. The refrain for X was replayed many times so HIZUMI and TOSHI could sing as well. Playing the guitar there was Miya from MUCC, SUGIZO, INORAN, PATA and YOSHIKI, now playing with the black guitar and red rose symbol. Shinya was on drums while J and HEATH played bass. The whole arena was doing the X jump and the stage was full of people playing, singing and jumping. It was truly a unique and incredible sight, and it seemed nothing could surpass Muteki Band, the invincible band.
Towards the end of the show while Say Anything was playing, YOSHIKI threw the black drumsticks inscribed with his name into the crowd. YOSHIKI also handed a big HIDE plushie (a little over a meter tall) to PATA, who then gave it to TOSHI. YOSHIKI brought to the center of the stage the plushie of TOSHI while PATA brought out HEATH's. One of the staff then brought out PATA's plushie and YOSHIKI arranged the five in the center of the stage. HEATH, YOSHIKI, TOSHI and PATA bent the plushies over repeatedly as though they were bowing and thanking everyone for the concert. For a moment, HEATH stood bouncing his plushie up and down while PATA's fell face down onto the stage. Seeing this, PATA who was holding onto YOSHIKI's plush let this doll fall too, much to the amusement of the audience. Eventually they let each plushie fall and set them to lie side by side at the front of the stage as the memorial came to a close, while behind, the words "X JAPAN" illuminated in yellow shone on the screens at the back of the stage.
Setlist:
8. Pink Spider (guest Sugizo, Shinya)
9. Believe (LUNA SEA with X JAPAN)
10. X (with LUNA SEA, T.M.Revolution, MUCC, D'espairsRay and others)
The Memorial Summit was an incredible event of live music and a fitting tribute to hide, bringing together fans new and old and a variety of musicians either directly linked with or inspired by hide. Nowhere was this more evident than in the Muteki Band whose vividly memorable performance created an unsurpassable finale. The Memorial was a rollercoaster of emotions for the fans, with tears during the poignant memorial videos to sheer elation during the final performance of X and hide's presence could be felt throughout the event, in the small tributes from the bands who played, in the covers and finally in the magical set that X JAPAN played with such passion to remember the life of hide so fondly.