Sadly,on the first night,late onstage arrival means we don't get this.
The band's late arrival has forced the rozzers to pull the plug if
the show breaks curfew,and an appearently exhausted Hayashi ends the
night instead 'collapsing' through his kit and being carried offstage
by roadies.
The following two nights far outstrip the first's misfire,though.Playing
for upwards of three hours,X JAPAN are faultless.When the crowd,unprompted,
sing the chorus of IV(from the SAW IV soundtrack) unaccompanied for 10
minutes before the song starts,it's incredible.When Wes Borland and GN'R
guitarist Richerd Fortus appear onstage,it's dazzaling spectacle of light
and volume.And when late guitarist hideto Matsumoto appears as a hologram
to enormous cheers,it's downright weird.But above all,X JAPAN are sheer
solid entertainment,and when a 20-munites drum solo can truthfully
count as a staggering high point in a three hour set,those early-birds
at the merch stand don't seem so mad after all.