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X Japan stages a concert in Taipei, Taiwan on Saturday, May 30, 2009. [Tungstar/sina.com.cn] |
After several sold-out gigs in Hong Kong and Taipei, X Japan, the best-selling Japanese band of the 1990s, plans to rock Beijing and open next year's Shanghai World Expo with a comeback tour.
Two meeting sessions for fans are set to be held on June 13 in Beijing and June 14 in Shanghai, according to an announcement on the band's official Chinese fan site.
A Beijing concert is slated for late October at the National Stadium, though the exact date is yet to be announced.
The all-male visual rock band has long been promising a show at the "Bird's Nest". As early as last October, there were rumours that they would stage the first post-Olympic commercial show at the world famous Olympic venue.
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X Japan stages a concert in Taipei, Taiwan on Saturday, May 30, 2009. [Tungstar/sina.com.cn] |
The Shanghai leg was confirmed by Yoshiki Hayashi, the drummer and leader of the band, in an interview after their Taipei show last weekend.
"Actually, organizers of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo have sent us an invitation for an opening concert," he said when asked about their further overseas tour plans, "and we feel it a great honour."
In Taipei, Yoshiki appeared on stage in a white wedding gown and entertained up to 20,000 crazy fans during a three hour concert.
X Japan was founded by Yoshiki and vocalist Toshi in 1982. The band achieved mainstream success in 1989 and released five albums altogether before they were disbanded in 1997 due to disagreements among the members.
In 2007, the band announced its reunion as well as a plan to tour the world.
While old footage of deceased guitarist Hide is still used in the current live shows and a new guitarist, Sugizo, officially joined the band on May 1, the five person band claims itself to be a six man group.
(CRI June 2, 2009)
