X JAPAN Leader YOSHIKI Makes Surprise Appearance With SKRILLEX At Fuji Rock Festival; Video
July 30, 2018, 6 years ago
This past Saturday, July 28th, Yoshiki made a surprise appearance on stage with DJ and producer Skrillex at one of Japan’s biggest outdoor music events, Fuji Rock Festival ’18, held at Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata, Japan.
The 40,000 fans at the main stage were shocked by Yoshiki’s arrival, but soon began cheering and shouting for the unexpected collaboration between two globally famous artists. As Skrillex played a special mix he created for Yoshiki, Yoshiki began to perform X Japan’s “Endless Rain” on a crystal piano. At the otherworldly intro, loud cheers shook the venue, and the voices of tens of thousands of fans sang the song’s famous chorus while Yoshiki played accompanied by Skrillex’s guitar.
Watch the video of the Yoshiki and Skrillex performance below.
Yoshiki then moved to his drum set for one of Skrillex’s top hits, “Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites,” creating an amazing fusion of classical and rock music with EDM. Yoshiki shared his thanks with the audience, “Thank you Skrillex! Thank you everyone here! You all are awesome!” Skrillex responded in Japanese “Domo arigatou! (Thank you so much!)”, gaining further applause from the audience. Fans continued chanting “WE ARE… X!” long after Yoshiki left the stage.
Yoshiki and Skrillex became fast friends when Skrillex visited Yoshiki’s L.A. studio several months ago and pitched the surprise collaboration. Yoshiki accepted enthusiastically and made last-minute changes to his recording schedule for the forthcoming X Japan album to return to Japan for the Fuji Rock Festival appearance.
After his performance, Yoshiki appeared on Yoshiki Channel to talk about the event: “It was so satisfying! The fans were warm, and I was touched to hear everyone. The audience was wonderful.”
Skrillex also joined the Yoshiki Channel broadcast and revealed the reason for choosing “Endless Rain”. “I’ve visited Japan a few times, but this was the first song I sang here,” he said.
The pair talked further about being artistic comrades from different genres who mutually inspire each other. “Like hip hop expanded through collaborations,” said Yoshiki, “I want to expand as well and contribute to the revival of rock in this world.”
