X Japan in NYC!
My weekend was pretty darn great. I won VIP tickets to see X Japan at Madison Square Garden. I already had a floor ticket so I was going one way or the other but I can't say no to VIP!! Thus I found myself Saturday night front row on the left-hand side of the stage against the railing about as close to the stage one can get as an audience member. It was definitely a night to remember.
I feel very lucky to say that I have now seen X Japan in concert 5 times and Yoshiki another two times for non-X related shows. One of the X Japan shows had Taiji on stage for a short while. Oh Taiji, crazy Taiji. RIP Taiji. And poor hide. hide will always be there in the wings watching over Sugizo and the rest of the band and all of us die-hard fans. hide won't be forgotten anytime soon, that's for sure!
Every time I see X in concert I remember how I fell so damn hard for the band in the late 90's. It was an incredible rollercoaster ride as a fan - I can't even imagine what it would be like as one of the band members. But somehow they came through and pushed so hard and found fans in unlikely places. Who would have thought back in the 90's that X Japan would ever play at Madison Square Garden in NYC?!! Crazy, but they did.
The rest of the weekend went by quite quickly - though the bus ride home was a bit of a horror due to my hangover the day after the show. Well, it was worth it. And while in New York I got to visit one of my new favorite perfumeries, Le Labo, and bought myself a wee travel-sized bottle of not-inexpensive perfume. And hangover ramen happened with a nice dude I met on the bus ride over.
It was... rather nice. I still find myself nervous every time I have to go up to NYC but little by little as I make another trip up I find myself less nervous and less stressed out, just a bit. I don't think I can ever conquer NYC nor am I sure that I could ever live there but... it's not the worst thing ever anymore. Which is good. I'm hoping that I've traveled enough now that a city in my own home country won't make me incredibly nervous.
So anyway, everything is settling down a bit now as I get more comfortable in my new job. Life is flowing on and while I cannot say I find myself truly happy I do feel myself becoming a bit content once again. Unsurprisingly there is already international travel plans brewing for springtime. Oh yes. More travel. Something to look forward to.
I feel very lucky to say that I have now seen X Japan in concert 5 times and Yoshiki another two times for non-X related shows. One of the X Japan shows had Taiji on stage for a short while. Oh Taiji, crazy Taiji. RIP Taiji. And poor hide. hide will always be there in the wings watching over Sugizo and the rest of the band and all of us die-hard fans. hide won't be forgotten anytime soon, that's for sure!
Every time I see X in concert I remember how I fell so damn hard for the band in the late 90's. It was an incredible rollercoaster ride as a fan - I can't even imagine what it would be like as one of the band members. But somehow they came through and pushed so hard and found fans in unlikely places. Who would have thought back in the 90's that X Japan would ever play at Madison Square Garden in NYC?!! Crazy, but they did.
The rest of the weekend went by quite quickly - though the bus ride home was a bit of a horror due to my hangover the day after the show. Well, it was worth it. And while in New York I got to visit one of my new favorite perfumeries, Le Labo, and bought myself a wee travel-sized bottle of not-inexpensive perfume. And hangover ramen happened with a nice dude I met on the bus ride over.
It was... rather nice. I still find myself nervous every time I have to go up to NYC but little by little as I make another trip up I find myself less nervous and less stressed out, just a bit. I don't think I can ever conquer NYC nor am I sure that I could ever live there but... it's not the worst thing ever anymore. Which is good. I'm hoping that I've traveled enough now that a city in my own home country won't make me incredibly nervous.
So anyway, everything is settling down a bit now as I get more comfortable in my new job. Life is flowing on and while I cannot say I find myself truly happy I do feel myself becoming a bit content once again. Unsurprisingly there is already international travel plans brewing for springtime. Oh yes. More travel. Something to look forward to.