J-rock Nostalgia Hours

[adevyish]

This Side of Japan posted that this month is the anniversary of Rusty Nail going No. 1 on the Oricon Charts, so of course it’s time to rewatch the Last Live performance (cw: flashing).

Every time I watch the Last Live I feel a sense of nostalgia for something I wasn’t old enough to be part of at the time. The ultimate concert experience is the crowd singing along to Endless Rain with no backing for a full minute. I did experience a singalong like this at an X Japan concert in 2010, but the QE Theatre is not Tokyo Dome. (Still an amazing experience, of course.)

It’s funny, because I don’t consider X Japan one of my bands of all time, but it’s definitely one of my most memorable concerts. Similarly, hide’s solo music is not really my thing but I always associate certain yellow jackets with hide (cw: flashing).

I feel similarly towards any formative j-rock band with great stage presences like Luna Sea (who I have also seen live). Instant nostalgia hit whenever I watch their live videos even though I only got into them well past their golden eras. The key imo is that the live video has to feel low budget and chaotic, like this one of cali≠gari’s — I don’t connect as much to their newer live videos! There’s something essential about the joy of making and performing music to the feeling of concert nostalgia.

Time to re-rip Ja, Zoo because I like Pink Spider now!

Comments

[superborb]

I feel like X Japan captures a lot of the "sound" of that era for me, which contributes to the nostalgia?

[adevyish]

Yes, I think you’re right! I did listen to a lot of other early v-kei but in many ways X Japan is one of the more accessible bands to reminisce with. (Thanks to Yoshiki being all about his legacy which means we have HD live videos on Youtube.)