Awww holly.x, you are sooo lucky. envious ... I'm amazed nobody tried to snatch that piece of lace from you!
I managed to switch to much better seats at the concert itself (row 15, next to the middle runway) but nobody threw anything in my direction! Although I will swear (like a silly fangirl) that Pata, Heath and Sugizo seemed to have stopped and smiled (or, in Sugizo's case, made a funny pouting expression) in my direction when I jumped on my chair and screamed their names as they walked past.
I know that X Japan's fans are divided in their views about Yoshiki's drum solos. But because I was so close to the drums this time (not as close as holly.x though, since he was at the end of the runway and I ended up having to stare at his back the whole time), I really did enjoy it. Yoshiki's manic (almost self-destructive) energy and intensity while drumming was contagious and quite exhilarating. One of my friends (who's a J Rock fan but not an X Japan fan) became a Yoshiki-fan convert because of this. She became an X Japan-fan convert because of the X-jumps.
I really believe that this is the power of X Japan and their live concerts. The energy is so palpable that most people in the audience ends up being swept along by it (even if the set list hardly changed or playbacks had been used at some points). The Japanese guys next to me were openly crying during Endless Rain and Art of Live while very sedate, serious executive-types (who seemed to have obtained free VIP tickets of some sort) also ended up waving their light sticks, doing X signs and singing along to Endless Rain by the end of the night.
Although Tokyo last year was better because the audience, the band and the general atmosphere seemed more emotional, I did enjoy the Taipei concert and will still want to spend the money to attend their next concert if possible!
