X JAPAN To Play Madison Square Garden?

“Reactivated Japanese rockers X JAPAN will play their first-ever concert in the U.S. on September 13, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The band will also perform in Paris, France on July 5.

Professionally filmed video footage of X JAPAN’s March 28, 2008 concert at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan can be viewed below.

Performing with X JAPAN at the band’s three reunion shows at the Tokyo Dome were GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Richard Fortus and former LIMP BIZKIT and current BLACK LIGHT BURNS member Wes Borland.

X JAPAN’s influential lead guitarist Hideto “Hide” Matsumoto committed suicide in May 1998.

Fortus and fellow GN’R guitarist Robin Finck played X JAPAN’s “Endless Rain” as part of their guitar duet during some of GN’R’s Japanese shows in July 2007.

X JAPAN’s new song, “I.V.”, topped iTunes‘ daily charts upon its release on January 23 in both Overall Sales and Rock categories.

X JAPAN is the first Asian artist to chart high worldwide on iTunes and the Billboard music site Billboard.biz.”

Pulled this from Blabbermouth and find it very surreal? X is hugely popular in native Japan and has a bit of a European following. As for the US I seen it only to be sparse at best. Very little known and only in the underground 80s metal circle. Not only for the fact they have to call themselves X-Japan due to the US punk band X even made for more confusion and loss. The first X record “Vanishing Vision” is exceptional on all accounts a must for fans of Loudness, Anthem and Dead End. They start going more pop with each release that followed and becoming less and less interesting as they not only loose their image and originality but also their legendary guitarist Hide to suicide in 1998 which I remember hearing shut down Tokyo for a day of mourning? So yeah these guys were huge, by Japanese standards though not worldwide and certainly not US by any means. So my concern is, how the hell are they gonna fill Madison Square Garden? Helloween wasnt even able to do that on the one show back to the US in 20 years. They had to play I think it was the WWE theatre? And touting guest appearances by second rate members of Guns and Roses and Limp Bizkit surely cant be a selling point? Those 2 names alone are enough to keep me away! I mean really, X is a melodic metal band that leaned toward hair metal when they finally gained any sort of worldwide recognition. Im thinking they need to bring in members of Lizzy Borden and Savatage rather than the above. Good luck to them its certainly about time but I dont see it goin down without allot of empty seats or even the same reaction as below: