Ach :( X-Japan Postpone Wembley Show

Here’s the PR:

Due to completely unforeseen circumstances, X JAPAN have announced that their show at SSE Arena Wembley, scheduled for March 12, 2016, has now been postponed to March 4, 2017. All tickets sold will remain valid for the rescheduled date.

X JAPAN’s guitarist, PATA was admitted to the ICU at a hospital in Tokyo on January 15, 2016. He was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition, which included a severe blood clot. He recently came out of the ICU and his condition has thankfully stabilized, however his doctors do not consider him fit to fly until he has made a full recovery.

After much discussion, X JAPAN has announced a suspension of their current performance commitments, which include the Wembley show. Given the unfortunate circumstances, the release of X JAPAN’s new album, scheduled for a March 11, 2016 has also been postponed. Expect a rescheduled worldwide release date for their as-yet-untitled new album to be announced soon.

X JAPAN members have released the following statements:

“My heart is filled with sadness. No words can describe how sorry I am to disappoint our fans,” says YOSHIKI. “I know the show must go on, but at this this time I can only pray for PATA’s recovery.  I cannot tolerate more tragedy than what we’ve been through. I promise X JAPAN will come back strong, as we’ve done before, together with our fans.”

“We are truly sorry from the bottom of our hearts, for all the worries and concerns we’ve caused to our fans,” adds TOSHI. “X JAPAN is looking forward to playing with PATA again, and continuing our music journey together.”

“We truly apologize for the postponement of our Wembley show and new album,” says HEATH. “In order to present ourselves in the best condition for all our beloved fans, we’ve made a very difficult decision to wait for PATA’s full recovery. Upon his return, we promise to do our best to play even better and show you the best version of ourselves on stage. Please stay tuned.”

“There is no X JAPAN without PATA,” adds SUGIZO. “I will wait for him, for as long as it will take.”

So Phil Anselmo is a Racist Douchebag

Proof

Here’s the thing: that rant was shot back in the mid 1990’s. Some folks will recognise Anselmo’s ridiculously racist rhetoric “black on black crime… no one cares about black on white crime” as no different to the language FOX News uses in order to denigrate blacks, black advocacy groups and black protesters today. And FOX News are about as racist as it gets (allegedly).

What a douchebag. And I was a Pantera fan too 😦

XJAPAN Announce World Premiere of Documentary Film

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X JAPAN (L-R): Pata (guitar), Heath (bass), Yoshiki (composer, drums, piano), Toshi (vocals) and Sugizo (violin, guitar)

As X JAPAN lay down tracks in a Los Angeles studio for their as-yet-untitled album, Japan’s most iconic rock band have announced that the world premiere of the new documentary film from Passion Pictures–‘WE ARE X’–will take place this week at the Sundance Film Festival. ‘WE ARE X’ explores the evolution, groundbreaking history and hopeful future of the land of the rising sun’s most legendary rock group. X JAPAN have sold 30 million singles and albums combined and continue to tour the world performing sold-out shows to massive arenas in 16 countries throughout the U.S. and Europe.

On Friday, January 22 at 9pm, YOSHIKI–songwriter, drummer, classically-trained pianist and the creative force of X JAPAN–will perform live with a string quartet for the first-ever Sundance Festival Base Camp party, presented by Canada Goose. YOSHIKI will headline the Festival Base Camp, a new outdoor venue located at Swede Alley, behind Main Street. Other artists confirmed to perform include Dan Deacon, Flying Lotus and Neon Indian.

 “It’s overwhelming to see the full documentary ‘WE ARE X,’ says Yoshiki of X JAPAN. Stephen Kijak and John Battsek opened doors, which I shut and never intended to re-open.  I didn’t realize that on the other side, dark memories could co-exist with a meaningful future. Audiences will be a witness to our history and future.”

Saturday, January 23 will mark the world premiere of ‘WE ARE X’ in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Prospector Square Theater in Park City at 2:30pm. YOSHIKI and the film team will be on hand for the red carpet at 2:00pm and a Q&A after the premiere. ‘WE ARE X’ was created by the production team behind the Academy Award- winning film Searching For Sugarman: producer John Battsek (Passion Pictures) alongside renowned director Stephen Kijak (Stones In Exile and Scott Walker: 30 Century Man— (executive produced by David Bowie). From X JAPAN’s massive success (over 30 million albums, singles and videos sold) and sold-out tours worldwide, ‘WE ARE X’ chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of this legendary quintet who will never give up. On Sunday, January 24, YOSHIKI will perform live at the ASCAP CAFÉ at Sundance at 4:00pm.

 X JAPAN initially split up in 1997 after playing their fifth New Year’s Eve show at the 55,000-capacity Tokyo Dome; they have now sold out the Tokyo Dome a record 18 times. The group reformed in 2007 and have released three singles: “I.V.” in 2008, “Jade” in 2011 and “Born To Be Free” in late 2015. They’ve been touring worldwide ever since–and in October 2014, the group performed their debut Madison Square Garden show in New York before announcing the new album and ‘WE ARE X’ film releases slated for 2016.

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Shadown Corpse Release Out Now!

Japanese gothic heavy metal band Yousei Teikoku’s latest album Shadow Corpse has finally been released to overseas fans via iTunes USA. The band released their previous 2 albums Pax Vesania and Gothic Lolita Agitator on iTunes last year to support their appearance at Lantis Anisong World Tour in Las Vegas. 
 
Yousei Teikoku, whose name means “Fairy Empire” in Japanese, has contributed 15 songs for anime series and video game soundtracks including Future Diary, Magical Pokan, Innocent Venus, Kurokami: The Animation, The Qwaser of Stigmata, Mai-HiME, Valiant Knights and Tokyo ESP.
 
 Yousei Teikoku on iTunes 
Yousei Teikoku will return to America for a special one-night performance at A-Kon 27 in Dallas, Texas, during the 3-day Japanese anime and culture event June 3-5, 2016. Yousei Teikoku’s loyal subjects will also have a rare chance to meet front-woman/vocalist Empress Yui in person for autographs and a Q&A session. Pre-registration is now open at A-Kon’s website:

Babymetal Announce 2016 Tour AND New Album For April 1!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKK! That’s April Fools Day isn’t it?

I have no plans to go to the Wembley show but the Tokyo Dome sounds awesome. The Tokyo Dome’s capacity is around 55,000 which means it will be about as INSANE a live show as one would imagine.

Are you going to any shows next year?  And what do you think the new album will be like?