24th May 2014: Evening in Montmartre

I was going to atted Yoshiki Classical concert in Paris on Sunday, so I made planes with a a friend to meet up with her over the weekedn so we could do some stuff together. We booked a hotel close to the venue, Le Triannon. I arrived in Paris in the evening of Friday the 24th and met my friend direcly at the hotel – the first thing we noticed was that the area was not the safest, but we could still get to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur to see it lit.

And also to see a nice view of the Eiffel Tower all lit up.

25th May 2014: Under ground, above ground

On Saturday morning we went to Catacombes de Paris, the Catacombs of Paris. The ancient quarries and mines of Paris became the final resting place of more than six million people. In the late 18th century it was decided to eliminate a good portion of the quickly-overcrowding cemeteries and graveyads of Paris and for a 1786 the bones were carried to the catacombs at night. Today they are consisdered a museum and thus managed as such.

After the catacombs we moved onto the Ille de la Cité, the “island of the city”, an island in the middle of the Seine, to visit Notre-Dame de Paris, our Lady of Paris, a magnificent Gothic cathedral built in between 1160 and 1260. In the 19th century an extensive renovation was carried out, and a few features were added, such as a the gargoyles and a replacement spire for the original one. We climbed the towers and were treated to a really cool Paris view before going inside.

Leaving Notre Dame, we headed our the Île de la Cité and passed by Saint Germain l’Auzeroix, which mostly dates from the 15th Century and used to be the church for the Louvre inhabitants.

At the Louvre, by the way, there was a humongous queue, so as both of us had seen it before, we decided to skip going inside.

We passed by the Luxor Obelisk, an Egyptian monument which is over 3000 years old, located in the Place de la Concorde. I’ve always found that name very ironic considering that many people were guillotined there. But hey, the obelisk is cool and all.

We continued walking up the Champs-Élysées until we got to the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile (the “Triumphal Arch of the Star”. Okay Paris. Okay.), which is one of the biggest triumphal arcs in the world. It was completed in 1840 and it honours the casualties in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

From there we took the underground back to the area of the Sacré-Cœur, which we could see at the end of the streets.

And to finish the day, we had some Japanese food because why wouldn’t we?

26th May 2014: Bad weather, queue & Yoshiki

On Sunday, we started off back in the Île de la Cité and we walked around Notre Dame on our way as my friend wanted a walk along the Seine.

We took the underground towards Les Invalides (Hôtel national des Invalides or The National Residence of the Invalids), a complex of buildings erected between the 17th and 18th centuries and that hosts the military museum and some notable graves, among them Napoleon’s.

Afterwards we took the underground to Champ de Mars, the long park where the Eiffel Tower stands. The Tower was built as an entrance to the 1889 World’s Fair exhibition and it was controversial at first (and rather ugly if you ask me, but hey to each their own). Eventually, it became so famous that it was not taken down as originally planned, and to-date it is one of the most visited landmarks of the world.

As you can see in the pictures, the weather might not have beent he nicest, but we made our best. We walked all through the Chaps to the Trocadero on the other side. There were very few people on the street so I convinced my friend to take a ride in the carrousel over there, because I’m insane like that. Soon after we had left, a group of random people decided to emulate us.

After this, we said goodbye. I headed off to Le Triannon for Yoshiki Classical, and my friend towards the airport as she had work on Monday. Yoshiki is one of the most important figures in Japan’s musical scene. He is the leader of the iconic band X Japan, and also trained in classical music. He wrecked his health when he was young, though, so he is not in the best shape. His recital Yoshiki Classical was meant to be a reimagination of some songs of his career, just him and his piano and some invited artist. I have to admit that it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been to, and I don’t regret attending one bit. Although this was my first concert alone, I didn’t feel strange in any way.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but this surpassed any and everything I could have thought of. Yoshiki is a wonderful human, and he spoke in English during the whole event – he is living in America now, collaborating with people like Stan Lee and Marilyn Manson to do more great stuff. For me, seeing him in person and playing his piano was a heart-bursting experience.

Although Le Trianon is a seated venue, tickets were not numbered. I arrived at the queue round 17:00 for a 19:30 concert. It was not a good line – French fans seemed to have no sense of personal space, and the person behind the person behind me was invading my space, and I’m not exaggerating.

Conversely, the venue was quite ready for us, entry was well organised and smooth. Theatre staff, speaking in French and Japanese, made sure that ticket holders did not bother the local commerce nor their patrons. Judging by the faces of the sellers around, they were not used to people queuing for the theatre.

Gates opened around 18:45, and I managed a seat on 7th row, in what I thought it would be a good position to actually see Yoshiki’s face as he played. The stage was equipped with the Kawai piano, a synthesiser, and the seats for the strings, along with a standing microphone. I took in the relative positions of everything to chose my seat. The screen showed the Yoshiki Classical World Tour banner, and staff members sold insanely expensive glow sticks.

By 19:50 the audience had started to get nervous,but the members of the press were being shown in to their seats, which meant that the interviews were over. The concert finally started at 20.05, with the entrance of the supporting musicians – three violins, two violas, two cellos. The assistant gave them the tuning note and the video launched behind them. It started with a fragment of the Golden Globes museum interview, where Yoshiki explained the two sides of him, the destructiveness of heavy metal and the peace of classical music. This was illustrated by short clips of X Japan drumming and other activities, such as playing for the Emperor, or Yoshiki Symphonic, all to the music of Miracle.Finally, Yoshiki walked in, sat in front of the Kawai and played the intro of Forever Love.

He did quite a lot of talking between the songs, with a few words in French, but mostly English. He explained that we would have two parts (I used the intermission to go get goods and buy an overpriced bottle of water).Throughout the concert he introduced the strings by name, he remembered all of their names even with effort (and named them Yoshiki Sextet with great mischievousness), and Katie Fitzgerald, the vocalist of his Violet UK project. he himself said that he had too many open fronts and that he had been recording with X Japan forever, but also with Violet UK. He put the blame on himself for being a perfectionist and thus never finding anything finish-worthy. Katie rolled her eyes at him. They seemed to have a good chemistry going on. At the very beginning he told us that he was used to being in the back of concerts, playing drums and that being so close and seeing us made him nervous. He joked that as it was a classical concert he would not stage dive.

As he played the piano the screen behind him projected images, some of them abstract, some of them related to the song, such as roses for Rosa, stills of the Saint Seiya film for Hero, or raindrops for Endless Rain.

He spoke about the history of X Japan and his own – he started playing piano when he was four, the same year he met ToshI. He picked up drums at ten, in Chiba. He reminisced about how he hunted down Pata, Taiji and Hide, ”having to break their bands to get them to come to his band”. Then he spoke of Taiji’s and Hide’s passings, and not talking to ToshI for about ten years. At this point he broke down. It makes one wonder about the kind of pain this man harbours in his soul. You could feel the rage as he pounded into the piano at some points, and yes, I am sure he was crying during the song he dedicated to his father, Taiji and Hide. He said that he had learnt that big venues and stadiums did not really mean anything, but that the support of the fans was what kept him going.

He played an improvisation of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, and a song he had heard on the radio the day before. He confessed that being on tour he lost track of days and places. He was aware of time and space enough to announce that the upcoming October concert in the Madison Square Garden may be the start of a new X Japan tour, but I do not think any of us believed him.

All in all, I knew that he is a great pianist, musician and artist, and after the concert I am completely sure that he is a good person, too. It’s not an act, a persona that he created for the stage. Nobody is that good at feigning pain. He picked up a bunch of presents from the crowd on the first couple of rows himself, be it flowers, plushies, flags, and was thankful for all of them.

Setlist:
1. Miracle (during the video)
2. Forever Love (X Japan)
3. Golden Globe Theme
4. Rosa (Violet UK)
5. Anniversary
[Intermission]
6. Amethyst (Strings only)
7. Swan Lake Improvisation (Tchaikovsky)
8. Hero
9. I.V. (X Japan), fragment
10. Hymne à l’amour (Édith Piaf cover)
11. Without You (X Japan)
12. Kurenai (X Japan), fragment
13. Art of Life (X Japan)
14. Endless Rain (X Japan)

After the concert, I went back to the hotel. I would have loved to stay a bit longer, but it was night already and the area did not feel… Nice. In the following morning, Monday the 27th, I just headed for the airport and came back home. It was a very complete weekend!