*Siam Shade :: Still We Go* is a fansite with information and news about Siam Shade and member's solo career (focusing on Hideki [栄喜]) for international fans. I will also talk about other classic J-rock / Visual Kei bands.
Today Siam Shade announced their website for their current 20th Anniversary Tour to buy related goods such as t-shirts or silicon bracelets for a limited time only. They ship both internationally and domestically. Check it out :)
All the most relevant members X Japan has had. Hide and Taiji, rest in peace.
☆♪☆♪☆ X-Japan :: A Short History ☆♪☆♪☆
X-Japan started out as a band called Noise. At the age of only twelve the leader of the band Yoshiki Hayashi and the vocalist and co-founder of the band Toshimitsu Deyama decided to form a band. Yoshiki being the great musician he is had begun to write lyrics and probably music at an even younger age. After his father commited suicide at age 33 Yoshiki wrote the song "Tears" for his father at the age of only ten. The song went on to become one of X-Japan greatest and most famous ballads.
In 1985 the band's name was changed to X. The first firm lineup of the band developed. The members at the time were Toshi on vocals, Pata and hide on guitar, Taiji on bass and Yoshiki on drums and piano. In 1985 the band released their first single "I'll Kill You" on Dada Records. X was known for visual kei (a music genre that involves feminine looks and obscure music) which was not praised during that time. Yoshiki founded his own record label EXTASY RECORDS in 1985 to ensure production for X (he gets even more amazing doesn't he?).
In 1988 the band's first album "Vanishing Vision" was released. This album brought into play some of the most recalled heavier songs for the band. Songs such as Phantom of Guilt and Sadistic Desire. It also brought to us the highly favorited rock ballad Alive. The band also made a cameo appearance in the comedy movie "Tokyo Pop" in 1988.
In 1989 X was signed to Sony Records and their 2nd album "Blue Blood" was released. This album provided Endless Rain which is likely the most famous of all of the band's ballads and possibly songs in general. Also it brought the song Kurenai another song on the most recalled list for this band. Other favorites brought about by this album included the rock n' roll hitter Celebration, the great depressive but beautiful song Rose of Pain, the pretty ballad Unfinished and another rock n' roll favorite from this band Weekend. There was also the Blue Blood Tour which was released on VHS and DVD.
They're one of the bands that started Visual Kei and probably the one who popularized it.
Still under Sony Records the band released their third album "Jealousy" in 1991 which was the last album that featured Taiji on bass. This album brought about rock favorite Desperate Angel, ballad favorite Say Anything and rock ballad favorite Silent Jealousy. X also had its first live (the Jealousy tour) at the 55,000 seat stadium Tokyo Dome. This tour was released on VHS and DVD as well.
In 1992 X changed it's name to what it is known as today X-JAPAN. They wanted to reach international fame. The final concert with Taiji the legendary "On the Verge of Destruction" tour was held at Tokyo Dome. X-Japan became the first ever band to sellout the Tokyo Dome for three days. Taiji was replaced by Heath after he and Yoshiki had an arguement over musical differences. He moved on to Loudness and has recently begun work with a band he started called Cloud Nine (YAY for Taiji ^_^).
In 1993 on Atlantic Records X-Japan released the album Art of Life. This album contained only one track. The 29 minute various musical themed song Art of Life. This song contains some of (if not) the most beautiful lyrics Yoshiki has ever written. It contains four guitar solos and a seven minute piano solo.
In 1994 hide released his first solo album "Hide Your Face". This marked the beginning of solo works for the members of X-Japan. Pata, Heath and even Toshi started solo projects. In 1996 X-Japan released "Dahlia" their final album. It brought the lasts of the favorites. Ballads like Tears, Forever Love, and Longing ~Togireta Melody~ and rock n' roll hitters like Scars, Drain and Rusty Nail. It brought us another tour the Dahlia Tour Final to VHS and DVD.
On December 31, 1997 X-Japan held its final live at the Tokyo Dome. The concert was simply called "The Last Live" and was released on DVD. The members have since then focused on solo projects. hide has gone to the heavens now due to accidental suicide on May 2, 1998. 50,000 fans attended his funeral five days later on May 7th. Four people attempted suicide, two succeeded. X-Japan now Toshi, Yoshiki, Pata and Heath performed Forever Love at his funeral. Taiji came to see his friend off to the afterlife in a shocking but beautiful act of respect and morality.
A comment of a fan in youtube sums up Yoshiki's presence in the band:
Yoshiki is an amazing musician, usually the vocalists who get most of
the attention in the bands, but Yoshiki is too amazing, he is the main
guy of the band, even though he is a drummer and pianist, I consider him
the leader of that band, and this song is just an example of his work,
what an amazing person. Now you became older than your father, so live
without tears!
He wrote the amazing song Tears when he was 10 years old, after his father commited suicide. Hideki (from Siam Shade) is a fan of X Japan and at the start of his career, when X Japan was the main group in Japan he was really influenced by them and followed their music style.
☆♪☆♪☆ Hide and Taiji's death ☆♪☆♪☆
I remember watching Hide's death on TV news in Spain in 1998. I remember seeing a mass of fans going to his funeral. I was super shocked. I didn't know who X Japan were back then, and was just beginning to learn about Japanese culture. I didn't retain the name of the person who died - Hide - but years later I learned how a very famous Japanese musician called Hide from X Japan had a massive funeral and I connected that to the news I had seen years ago, realizing it was Hide the one I saw on TV.
Hide during X Japan's last live in 1997
Taiji died in 2011 officially due to a suicide too, although his fiancee believes it was a murder. The investigation has been closed but there's a petition on Charge.org so that people sign to reopen the case and investigation what really happened that day. Please go sign it.
Taiji
According to Wikipedia, "although Hide and Taiji are deceased, the band still considers them members and introduces them at every concert, with the group going as far as to play audio/video clips of them voice/guitar for some songs".
☆♪☆♪☆ 2007 reunion and 2017 live in UK ☆♪☆♪☆
On 2007 the group announced their come back and have been active since then. They were going to have a concert on March 2016 in Wembley stadium in London, UK, but Pata had to be hospitalized due to a sudden "life-threatening condition". Their live has been postponed to March 2017.
X Japan guitarist Pata is recovering after being treated in hospital for a "life-threatening" condition.
He was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a Tokyo hospital on January 15, the band say, where he was diagnosed with a severe blood clot.
Although he has since been released from the ICU and is said to be in a stable condition, doctors say he's not well enough to travel and the band have postponed all of their touring commitments and the release of their upcoming album.
Among the dates affected is a March 12 appearance at Wembley Arena in London, which has now been moved to March 4, 2017.
Bassist Heath says: “We truly apologise for the postponement of our Wembley show and new album. In order to present ourselves in the best condition for all our beloved fans, we’ve made a very difficult decision to wait for Pata's full recovery.
"Upon his return, we promise to do our best to play even better and show you the best version of ourselves on stage. Please stay tuned.”
Frontman Yoshiki also apologised to fans and, referring to the 1998 death of band member Hide, said they couldn't risk Pata's health for fear of enduring another tragedy.
He says: “My heart is filled with sadness. No words can describe how sorry I am to disappoint our fans. I know the show must go on, but at this this time I can only pray for Pata's recovery.
"I cannot tolerate more tragedy than what we’ve been through. I promise X Japan will come back strong, as we’ve done before, together with our fans.”
Singer Toshi adds: “We are truly sorry from the bottom of our hearts, for all the worries and concerns we’ve caused to our fans. X Japan is looking forward to playing with Pata again, and continuing our music journey together.”
The band were also due to issue a new, as-yet-untitled, album on March 11 – but that has been postponed with an updated release date to be announced in due course.
I really hope Pata recovers completely and they can perform in March 2017. I already got my ticket to see them ^_^ I arrived late to see their lives in the 90s, so I'm as happy as you can be that them or Siam Shade, among other bands from the 90s that disbanded many years ago are together back again, because now I can go to see their lives!
☆♪☆♪☆ Where to buy the ticket for the 4th of March, 2017 live in UK ☆♪☆♪☆
They have moved their concert of March 2016 in Wembley stadium in London, UK, to Saturday 4th of March, 2017.
You can still buy your ticket here from the ticket website linked at their Official Website (ticketmaster) or from AXS.com website. Both websites seems to have different seats available. I got a better seat at AXS. There's both international shipping option and e-ticket option.
The group look after their reunion in 2007. Sugizo, one of Luna Sea's lead guitarrist and leader, has joined them. How cool is that?
9th May, 2016: The CDs will be available for shipping from 11th May instead of the 10th. 3rd May, 2016: The CDs for Hideki III will be restocked and available for shipping from 10th May instead of 11th.
1st May, 2016: Since the 28th of May Hideki is out of stock of his CD Hideki III and it will be restocked on the 11th of May. In the meantime, you can still order it and when they arrive he will ship them to you.
☆♪☆♪☆ New CD 「栄喜III ~No fate~」Hideki III ~ No fate ~ ☆♪☆♪☆
Hideki, Siam Shade's vocal and main lyrics writer, announced the 21st of March in his blog he would be releasing a new CD album on the 16th of April 2016 with 10 new songs called "栄喜III~ No fate ~" (Hideki III ~ No fate ~). It's his 3rd album using his name with his real kanji 栄喜 (Hideki), hence 栄喜III (Hideki III), and his 8th as a solo artist.
「栄喜III ~No fate~」Hideki III ~ No fate ~
01.JUMP
02.No fate
03.Love is Limited
04.close my eyes
05.break silence
06.ride on time
07.Madness
08.Always live your life
09.take me on
10.Never be afraid
Last year on 7th March 2015, he wrote an entry about 7 songs he had written, which he's including in his new CD album, which includes 10 new songs (those 7 + 3 more). He said he was going to play them in his following live (in 2015). And that the ones that he liked best were "No fate" and "Never be afraid" among the 7 he had written which were Jump, Madness, No fate, Break silence, Close my eyes and 2 more... (I'm not sure if Never be afraid would be among those 7 songs he mentions).
2015-03-07 21:47:42
テーマ：ブログ
Never be afraid というまた新たに曲が増えました。
まだ音源化はされていませんが、
バラードを抜いて、ライブ先行でやった新曲は
Jump,Madness,No fate,break silence,Close my eyes,
これに、また２曲増えるので、７曲新曲が
増えたという事ですね。
次のライブで、この７曲全部やりたいな。
いや、６曲にしようかな...
一曲ライブでやって、自分的にしっくり来なかったんだよね。
俺的には、,No fateと、今回のNever be afraidは
かなり気に入ってます。
さてと、詩が決まったので、ライブ用のコーラスを録音しますね。
それ蛇！
☆♪☆♪☆ How to buy it ☆♪☆♪☆
You could buy the CD in the live at Shimokita Garden livehouse on the 16th or 17th of April 2016.
Now it's available at his website store. It's not up at his iTunes store yet.
Buying his CD "Hideki III" for fans in Japan:
If you are in Japan, you can buy it at his personal store (see the link above or click here). He stated at his blog that he isn't planning to distribute his CD at physical stores. He will be selling it digitally "at iTunes and others" shortly (he doesn't specify where else).
Buying his CDs at a physical store in Japan:
Except for "Hideki III", you can find some of his CDs at Tower Records if they haven't run out of them when you go. They are in the J-Pop Section, under the HI sillab for Hideki. I'm pretty sure you can find them at other stores but this is the one I know. They may also have Acid and Detrox CDs under the respective initials, I guess.
Buying his CD "Hideki III" for fans from outside Japan:
This CD is and will only be available at his website, so you will need at proxy service that ships outside Japan to get it.Or you can wait for the digital version and buy it at his iTunes store.
Buying his CDs at from outside Japan:
For other releases, you can find his CDs at Amazon Japan or CDJapan, that I know of.
I'm positive there may be many more that ship outside Japan so if you any, let me know in the comments.
If you prefer to buy the digital version, you also can check out his iTunes store.
He will be helding two live concerts in Shimokita Garden, in Shimokitazawa station, Tokyo, on the 16th and 17th of April 2016. He will likely be singing the songs of his new CD "Hideki III ~ No fate ~".
16th April 2016 (Saturday) Open at 17:30 / Starts at 18:00
17th April 2016 (Sunday) Opens at 16:30 / Starts at 17:00
You can buy the tickets through these websites (domestic sales within Japan only):
- Ticket Pia: チケットぴあ (Code:284-091)
- Lawson Tickets: ローソンチケット (Code:73950). You can also buy them through the machines available in the conbinis throughout Japan.
- e-Plus: イープラス
☆♪☆♪☆ In Japanese ☆♪☆♪☆
新しいCD「栄喜び III ~ No fate ~」の曲を演じるかもしれないです。
栄喜SOLO @下北沢GARDEN 2days LIVE
2016/4/16(土) Open 17:30 / Start 18:00
2016/4/17(日) Open 16:30 / Start 17:00
チケット発売中!!
・チケットぴあ (Pコード:284-091)
・ローソンチケット (Lコード:73950)
・イープラス
In October 2016 they will be having 3 last concerts as part of their national tour 2015-2016 celebrating their 20th Anniversary since their debut as a major group.
SIAM SHADE 20th Anniversary year 2015-2016
最終公演「FINAL ROAD LAST SANCTUARY」
10th of October - Osaka, Grand Cube Osaka
15th of October - Miyagi, Sendai Sunplaza Hotel
20th of October - Tokyo, Budokan
It makes me kinda nostalgic/sad and at the same I feel it's epic that they do the last concert at Nippon Budokan, just like they did in 2002 for their last concert before disbanding...
"After singing, Hideki said 'We have decided to conclude this 20th anniversary peforming at our Sacred Land (聖地), Nippon Budokan (in Tokyo). See you again in October!' giving us a great surpirse. The last performances for the 20th anniversary will be in Grand Cube Osaka, in Osaka (10th October, holiday), Sendai Sunplaza Hotel in Miyagi, Sendai prefacture (15th October, Saturday) and Nihon Budokan, in Tokyo (20th October, Thursday). I'm sure the thoughts they have put on the title "Last Performance" (最終公演のツアー) will get to the 6th member (referring to their fans)".
As of now, there's no information regarding how to buy tickets from outside Japan. In the last concerts they made available a website in rakuten for international fans to buy them, so may be they will be open a website to make them available as we approach October...
In the meantime, if you speak Japanese and have a way to get the tickets delivered to you (they only ship to Japanese addresses) and see this message in time maybe you can still enter the lottery for the first tickets. I'm not sure how the lottery thing works because I have never used it but you have to register at http://eplus.jp/ss16f/ and follow the steps to complete the membership. It will require you to have a Japanese cellphone and a Japanese shipping address to complete the membership.
Once done, you get to enter the lottery. I guess they will be selling the best seats to the people who win the lottery. Afterthat, they will be selling the rest of the tickets regularly from a website they haven't disclosed yet. On their website, the only info available is that the regular domestic sale for Nippon Budokan tickets will start the 27th of August. There's no information yet for the Osaka and Miyagi lives.
I know there is a very complete website called Siam Shade Everlasting but it's been on hiatus since 2013 so I thought I would like to make a website about my favourite Japanese group and help fans get updated about their news.
You can write to me in either English, Spanish or Japanese a message in the comments section or send me an email.
*************
Presentación en español
Sé que existe una web llamada Siam Shade Everlasting pero ha estado parada desde 2013, así que he pensado que me gustaría hacer una web sobre mi grupo japonés favorito y ayudar a los fans a mantenerse informados sobre sus novedades.
Podéis escribirme en inglés, español o japonés.
** Al comenzar a escribir el blog he visto que escribir en 3 idiomas me consumiría demasiado tiempo, haciendo que no pueda implicar el suficiente tiempo en el contenido, por lo que he escogido escribir en inglés. Sin embargo, si alguien quiere traducir alguna entrada al español puede hacerlo dejándome un mensaje en los comentarios o mandándome un email.
