Vampires Everywhere to tour North America with X Japan

[Snapback]

Yeah sure theyll get a 2 hour timeslot but think of all the breaks Yoshiki likes to takes due to his health. So think of the actual playing time. Doesnt sound like a lot of time

[Sander]

It's highly unlikely Vampires Everywhere! has a sizable fanbase - especially not a fanbase that is willing to pay like $82 (like at the Toronto show) to see some band who have like, 5 songs.

Well they have almost 13,000 fans on Facebook (and over 22,000 on MySpace, but bands there just spam everybody with invites so that number isn't really realistic) and a lot of comments have said that people are actually buying the tickets (tho mostly it's whining about them not coming to someone's hometown/-state). So I guess the concerts (specially the LA one) will have a small VE following. Plus, there really are quite a few people who have mentioned that they really like both X and VE.

[Beauty/Broken]

Looks like they got picked because they're all emo Visual.

[sai]

They asked me who I would prefer to see them play with. I had to bite my tongue and not respond with 'anyone but you.'

I hate emo-screamo music with a passion. It's awful.

[roseofpain84]

I'm hoping you people aren't think that if there was no opening act X would play longer.
At best, you'd get to your homes earlier....
Anyway, as I leave in Europe and can't attend the lives I don't give a rat's ass about who or what the support band is.
And if I were to see X I still wouldn't care. Going to see them would be enough for me.

But the fact that some of you started bashing the band again just when the band's name was announced is really pissing me off.
I don't care how much VE suck or how much you dislike them but seriously.......you people are just SO goddamn annoying sometimes.
90% of the times you have nothing good to say but when it comes to something bad you will immediately jump in and curse and whine and bash Yoshiki or Toshi or anyone and all of them.
I honestly can't understand that but whatever.....if you really think that the opening act is going to have that much of a zomg huge impact on the live...go ahead and continue yelling.
Mind you, that I'm still in the other side of the ocean and I wish I had the chance to see them even if it meant having to sit through 3 hours of an opening act as bad and annoying as the one for Juno Reactor when I saw them 2-3 years ago.

/whining off.

[TheCrimsonIdol]

While I have stated that I don't like this Vampires Everywhere band, I never said it will put a wet blanket on my night. I mean, I'm finally seeing X Japan live!

Believe me, I've seen MUCH MUCH MUCH worse bands than Vampires Everywhere.

[sai]

I'm still looking forward to this concert more than anything-- I really want to see X. Have for years. But sometimes wanting to rant a little about stupid management decisions is okay. It's not hurting anyone and it's getting out our anger so we don't actually treat the band like crap when they get on. I'm not going to boo them--I'll probably just ignore them and fight my way up to the front during the time they have alloted.

I'd actually be rather disappointed if they were treated badly--not because I think their music is anything but sub-par, but it makes the entire set of fans look bad. I think most of us feel the same way--get out our anger now so when we have to deal with them it'll be either less worse than we were expecting or just as bad as we were expecting. There's not going to be any surprise in it at all.

[Sander]

I don't care how much VE suck or how much you dislike them but seriously.......you people are just SO goddamn annoying sometimes.
90% of the times you have nothing good to say but when it comes to something bad you will immediately jump in and curse and whine and bash Yoshiki or Toshi or anyone and all of them.

Ummm I don't think anyone bashed or whined about Yoshiki or Toshi here... We have whining about them in other threads (which I try to keep minimal and encourage constructive criticism, but hey, some people just never learn) but I don't think it has happened here. Plus most of the people who whined here listened to the band first.

[roseofpain84]

I don't care how much VE suck or how much you dislike them but seriously.......you people are just SO goddamn annoying sometimes.
90% of the times you have nothing good to say but when it comes to something bad you will immediately jump in and curse and whine and bash Yoshiki or Toshi or anyone and all of them.

Ummm I don't think anyone bashed or whined about Yoshiki or Toshi here... We have whining about them in other threads (which I try to keep minimal and encourage constructive criticism, but hey, some people just never learn) but I don't think it has happened here. Plus most of the people who whined here listened to the band first.

WHAT THE FUCK YOSHIKI YOU SON OF A. That's bullshit, I paid to see X Japan and ONLY X Japan, the ticket says X Japan, FUCK THIS SHIT

[Sander]

Okay, yeah there was that... But I believe it was more of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I don't think anyone believes it was Yoshiki who actually chose them.

[Feudal]

I don't care how much VE suck or how much you dislike them but seriously.......you people are just SO goddamn annoying sometimes.
90% of the times you have nothing good to say but when it comes to something bad you will immediately jump in and curse and whine and bash Yoshiki or Toshi or anyone and all of them.

Ummm I don't think anyone bashed or whined about Yoshiki or Toshi here... We have whining about them in other threads (which I try to keep minimal and encourage constructive criticism, but hey, some people just never learn) but I don't think it has happened here. Plus most of the people who whined here listened to the band first.

WHAT THE FUCK YOSHIKI YOU SON OF A. That's bullshit, I paid to see X Japan and ONLY X Japan, the ticket says X Japan, FUCK THIS SHIT

Sorry if it's too much for you to handle...but I have just as much right to complain and express my anger about this as you do condemning me for it. In my opinion, this is the best X Japan forum with the most accurate, up-to-date information with freedom of speech and sharing songs, videos, torrents etc. Yes, I raged hard about this and I still feel really angry about it, but until we find out (if we do) who was responsible for setting up this band to open for X Japan, then I still feel like I can come down on Yoshiki. I mean hell, we all know how controlling Yoshiki is, do you really think this would happen without his opinion or consent at all? No. You make it seem like Yoshiki is some god and we can never criticize him or go easy on him because he is going through a lot. Pft, yes, he is a very busy man who has a lot on his plate and has gone through a TON of crap through his life in the industry but he's rich as fuck, more successful than most artists could dream of and is continuing to live his dream. Everyone has their faults and it's only human to critique them.

[sai]

I believe I just found our missing link.

Watch Vampires Everywhere's "My Immortal" "Immortal Love" video. Now, go trace down the new Rusty Nail PV. Or the opening for Jade. Opening for Jade may be better, actually

Scrub Blondie's face.

Now, look who we have here!

[Unoriginal Name X]

Ha ha! Nice catch. Did not notice that.

[Feudal]

OMG lol that's sooo funny and definitely amazing catch.

[sai]

*bows*

[HerrAmn]

Holy crap! Hahaha. You know what's funny? When I saw the girl in that video (Vampires Everywhere! video that is) I thought "Why does she remind me of X Japan?" haha.

[anna_lepard]

Holy cow.  vampy band sound horrible What is Yoshiki think ?

[Jrockergirl]

Have to say I wasnt really expecting an opening band for X Japan, but you take what you get I watched the video and well all I know is its a nice way for me to get a few drinks before the show starts. I'm just counting down the 12 days for the LA show and right after the Oakland show.

Im looking forward to seeing X Japan and only them, the opening show just takes away from the whole live show but it's normal for bands to have an opener....lets just hope X Japan does some nice long sets.

[sugizo]

Kinda disappointed to see there will be an opening band and I'm sick of all the vampire stuff that's in pop culture these days but honestly, I don't think they sound THAT bad.

I just hope this doesn't take any time away from X's time on stage.

[Sander]

...then I still feel like I can come down on Yoshiki. I mean hell, we all know how controlling Yoshiki is, do you really think this would happen without his opinion or consent at all? No. You make it seem like Yoshiki is some god and we can never criticize him or go easy on him because he is going through a lot. Pft, yes, he is a very busy man who has a lot on his plate and has gone through a TON of crap through his life in the industry but he's rich as fuck, more successful than most artists could dream of and is continuing to live his dream. Everyone has their faults and it's only human to critique them.

I'm sorry but you have misunderstood me. What I pointed out to roseofpain, who pointed out that any time anything goes wrong everybody starts bashing Yoshiki and Toshi, that nobody in this thread has done so. She then pointed your post out and I was like, oh yeah there's that, but otherwise not really. I don't have anything against constructive criticism (as you can see from a lot of other threads), though I do like to see it stay as constructive as possible and not turn it into a whinefest. But that's that.

About who picked the band, the MOST probable scenario is that the US promotion agency/management picked out the band and MAYBE showed Yoshiki a video/audio clip and said 'This is what we are getting, I hope you don't mind'. It's possible that it only reached Yoshiki's Japanese management, as they are known for often working quite independently (postponing concerts and making other important decisions). There are other options possible, but I can't imagine Yoshiki having a bigger role in it due to his busy schedule and the limited time left until the tour starts. I'm not trying to make you go easy on him, I'm just trying to bring out the most probable scenarios, which in this case, in my opinion, is what I wrote a few lines back.

[Beauty/Broken]

I don't see why everyone is getting so pissy.

No one usually gives a shit about the warm-up bands anyway. I've just got back from seeing Muse at Wembley and they had 6 warm-up acts over 2 nights, none of which the crowd really paid too much attention to. Most fans ditch the warm up and turn up before the main act.

And the notion that X's show will be shortened because a warm-up is bullshit. Muse played for nearly 3 hours after 3 warm-up acts, and X Japan don't play short shows, the Lolla' set was under a strict time limit, this is their own gig, they can play as long as the local authorities allow it.

And think on the plus side, these guys are like the pop-punk emo equivalent of Visual Kei, probably the closest genre to X Japan's demographic which exists in America. If stringing these guys along for a few shows draws in a couple hundred fans from a similar genre then it's a shrewd business move.

Go check out the comments Vampires Everywhere are getting. Loads of their fans are buying tickets to see them with X Japan. It's basically ensuring that X fill their venues and also making sure that X Japan are introduced to a whole new demographic who are most likely going to dig their music. I don't understand why people are being so overprotective and irrational. This is X Japan breaking into America, how the hell did you think they were going to do it? Play once at Lollapalooza and suddenly come away as super-stars? What a joke. If you talk to any small band then they'll tell you that they only play gigs to pick up fans and build a fanbase, at such a small level there is simply no money in it.

[Jorge]

Stop and think what kind of message this delivers to serious music lovers that may were a bit curious about checking out X-Japan. If you ask me there's no way this can benefit X-Japan.
For them to be coupled with some kind of gimmicky and looked down upon act can ruin their image for alot of people and press, it could just happen that X's entire show will be judged with the same state of mind after seeing such bullshit. Its all about how you portrait yourself when trying to break the market, and this just isnt the right way.

Just imagine you happen to know Vampires Everywhere, for whatever reason(maybe you've seen it on mtv), and you're not part of some kind of scene and obviously think that shit is kind of weird, fake and musically terrible.. Now you're walking down the street or surfing the internet and you come across a flyer for one of the concerts, you've never heard about X-Japan so all you see is some weird dressed Japanese guys (one that's wearing a fucking pirate outfit) that are touring with Vampires Everywhere.. There's no way you are thinking about checking X-Japan out now, for obvious reasons. People naturally assume the opening and main act are musically somewhat, while this may be an unfair assumption, it definitely is the case.

So all that can happen in my eyes is that X gains the interest of some Vampires Everywhere fans, and loses the possible interest of everybody else, not to mention every X fan is just going to be annoyed by the scene and music they get coupled with at the concert.


Its not just an opening act for an established band, its a new thing in the US and it's very possible that ALOT more people know Vampires Everywhere, including press.

[Mytrhil Taralom]

You know, I actually like vampires... Didn't know that the vampire/twilight thing had gotten this far Here in Holland I've mostly seen vampire books... and since I don't mind more of those I was more or less ok with it.
This is indeed to much. I think the music would be "ok" without the screaming, but then it wouldn't really fit their image XD Maybe they are not that bad live?

[TG]

I don't see why everyone is getting so pissy.

No one usually gives a shit about the warm-up bands anyway. I've just got back from seeing Muse at Wembley and they had 6 warm-up acts over 2 nights, none of which the crowd really paid too much attention to. Most fans ditch the warm up and turn up before the main act.

And the notion that X's show will be shortened because a warm-up is bullshit. Muse played for nearly 3 hours after 3 warm-up acts, and X Japan don't play short shows, the Lolla' set was under a strict time limit, this is their own gig, they can play as long as the local authorities allow it.

And think on the plus side, these guys are like the pop-punk emo equivalent of Visual Kei, probably the closest genre to X Japan's demographic which exists in America. If stringing these guys along for a few shows draws in a couple hundred fans from a similar genre then it's a shrewd business move.

Go check out the comments Vampires Everywhere are getting. Loads of their fans are buying tickets to see them with X Japan. It's basically ensuring that X fill their venues and also making sure that X Japan are introduced to a whole new demographic who are most likely going to dig their music. I don't understand why people are being so overprotective and irrational. This is X Japan breaking into America, how the hell did you think they were going to do it? Play once at Lollapalooza and suddenly come away as super-stars? What a joke. If you talk to any small band then they'll tell you that they only play gigs to pick up fans and build a fanbase, at such a small level there is simply no money in it.

This.

[Jorge]

I dont agree about the Muse statement... Everybody in the whole fucking world knows Muse, so an opening act really is just an opening act and people know exactly what to expect from the main act. This ofcourse is not the case with X-Japan. I also don't agree about the demographic and the general opinion it has. It's just not something you want to be compared with. Its as simple as that. The few hundred fans you gain with it may work the exact opposite for other possible fans, something really logical when you are talking about extremes.

[Sander]

Just imagine you happen to know Vampires Everywhere, for whatever reason(maybe you've seen it on mtv)...

LOL no. These guys will not get on MTV, ever.

Also, no one ever judges a performance of a band by the opening act, ever. If they do, they are newbies and suck.

Also, there is almost zero promotion for the whole tour, except for generally really positive articles online (and a few on paper). There are no fliers anywhere (as far as we know) and that one ad someone said was on a free metro newspaper in Toronto (I think) is probably small and probably doesn't include VE.

Also, VE has a reasonable underground following, but people who have heard about them but don't like them probably will forget about them in a few days.

Also, if you see some ad for the X Japan tour, or a really positive article, then you won't go to the concert without checking them out on YouTube before. If you like what you see, you'll go to the concert, even if there's a crappy support band. Because everyone knows (as some have pointed out) that opening acts are generally crappy bands that promoters want to promote.


And finally, no one has considered that they might actually be decent live. If they are not, feel free to flip them off and then play poker with friends.

[Jorge]

Just imagine you happen to know Vampires Everywhere, for whatever reason(maybe you've seen it on mtv)...

LOL no. These guys will not get on MTV, ever.

Why? Because MTV has quality in a high standard? I so see them coming on MTV. They are singed with Century Media records afterall. I'm talking worst case scenario's here. When breaking the market an opening act can really help you.

Also, google 'Vampires Eveywhere MTV'. I have no clue what that first link is, could be nothing, could be uploaded by someone, dno.

[TG]

Is the issue here a case of getting to the front, so you're closer to the stage? so you can say to your friends "I was at the front and Yoshiki stared at me!" I really don't understand what the fuss is about with regards to the support. Are people worried that the Vampires Everywhere fans might claim their precious spot on the floor?

Just about every band out there has obscure and unknown support acts, it doesn't matter if they're good or not, you paid to see the main band, nothing has been taken away.

If you're the type of person who doesn't listen to X because of the support act, then I seriously question your logic behind that. Any rational music fan would take time to check out the band's music before making such hasty decisions.

[Jorge]

Is the issue here a case of getting to the front, so you're closer to the stage? so you can say to your friends "I was at the front and Yoshiki stared at me!" I really don't understand what the fuss is about with regards to the support. Are people worried that the Vampires Everywhere fans might claim their precious spot on the floor?

Just about every band out there has obscure and unknown support acts, it doesn't matter if they're good or not, you paid to see the main band, nothing has been taken away.

If you're the type of person who doesn't listen to X because of the support act, then I seriously question your logic behind that. Any rational music fan would take time to check out the band's music before making such hasty decisions.

Not really. I'm not even going to see the concerts since I live in Europe, and I dont think anybody cares about precious spots being conquered by Vampires Everywhere fans. Ofcourse you visit the concert for X, and nothing else, that is the case if you are a fan of X. Anybody else could think otherwise. Atleast, thats how I see it. Lets just hope i'm completely off track. I just can't think of any reason how this could not work at their disadvantage besides ticket-sales, if anybody can, please say so

I dont really get where you're coming from with that last statement. Please don't confuse me with someone that cares alot about the actual topic, I just like to see different point of views.

[Beauty/Broken]

Stop and think what kind of message this delivers to serious music lovers that may were a bit curious about checking out X-Japan. If you ask me there's no way this can benefit X-Japan.
For them to be coupled with some kind of gimmicky and looked down upon act can ruin their image for alot of people and press, it could just happen that X's entire show will be judged with the same state of mind after seeing such bullshit. Its all about how you portrait yourself when trying to break the market, and this just isnt the right way.

Just imagine you happen to know Vampires Everywhere, for whatever reason(maybe you've seen it on mtv), and you're not part of some kind of scene and obviously think that shit is kind of weird, fake and musically terrible.. Now you're walking down the street or surfing the internet and you come across a flyer for one of the concerts, you've never heard about X-Japan so all you see is some weird dressed Japanese guys (one that's wearing a fucking pirate outfit) that are touring with Vampires Everywhere.. There's no way you are thinking about checking X-Japan out now, for obvious reasons. People naturally assume the opening and main act are musically somewhat, while this may be an unfair assumption, it definitely is the case.

So all that can happen in my eyes is that X gains the interest of some Vampires Everywhere fans, and loses the possible interest of everybody else, not to mention every X fan is just going to be annoyed by the scene and music they get coupled with at the concert.


Its not just an opening act for an established band, its a new thing in the US and it's very possible that ALOT more people know Vampires Everywhere, including press.

News flash. X Japan are a 'gimmicky and looked down upon act' and always have been. X Japan fans are called X Freaks for a reason, on the most part both inside and outside of Japan we're just a bunch of eclectic weirdos to everyone else.

I'm not sure what alternative you'd have in mind. X Japan playing a 'one man live' in America is fucking stupid. This isn't Japan, things work differently, and X's overseas fanbase is NOT big enough to justify the concert venues they have chosen alone, let alone charging large sums of money for tickets for their show to be the only act on the bill.

If X decided to bring along a few Japanese bands with them then they would be further alienating themselves by restricting their shows to JRock fans only. X Japan are going for the American market, not the existing JRock sub-culture.

Having a support act which has nothing to do with the JRock scene and has a fanbase which are likely to buy into X Japan's eclectic sound and appearance is a good business move. If you're gonna be all elitist on the subject then it speaks volumes about you, not whoever is responsible for booking this band as an opening act. End of.