You know, I can’t really find anything snarky to say. Huge props for doing right by the fans.
On December 30, Japanese musician Yoshiki hosted a free concert at Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld-Expo Arena. The event was held in lieu of the planned “Yoshiki Classical Special feat. Orchestra” event on December 29.
An oversight by promoter Puffin Entertainment, Ltd., saw a failure to apply for the Entertainment License needed to host the show. The announcement was made at the venue’s discretion, during concert rehearsal. The final decision was made two hours before showtime. The series of events took place at 7:00PM on December 29, 2016, and were broadcast on NicoNico Douga’a Yoshiki Channel.
In the wake of the cancellation, Yoshiki hosted a press conference on the morning of December 30 to explain the situation. At the conference, Yoshiki explained that, effective immediately, all ticket purchases for the concert would be refunded. Ticket prices for the December 29 event ranged from $580 to $1,280 HKD ($74.79 – $165.05 USD).
Furthermore, the Yoshiki will host the free concert as a private event for those who had purchased tickets to the show. All ticketholders, plus a guest, would be admitted free of charge. Over 6,000 people attended the production, which is unprecedented in the history of Hong Kong’s concert industry.
After saying farewell to the folks in Hong Kong, Yoshiki has his sights set on the United States. The artist will host a pair of shows at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall.
To promote the upcoming events, Resonance Media released a series of photos from Yoshiki’s Hong Kong performance.
Yoshiki will host shows at Carnegie Hall, on January 12 and 13, 2017. Much like the other shows in this series, the artist will be joined by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. Yoshiki will perform original compositions with the orchestra, in addition to several traditional classical pieces.
Tickets to the concert, which will be held at Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium, are on sale with ticket prices ranging from $40 to $105.
A pair of VIP packages are also available for both concerts. The standard VIP package, priced at $299, includes a “Great Parquet” ticket, a T-shirt, a tote bag, an autographed poster, and a “Yoshiki Exclusive Classical Picture Disk.”
The $999 “Meet and Greet” package includes all the items at the $299 level, in addition to a laminate lanyard, a metronome, a meet-and-greet session with Yoshiki, and admission to the sound check.
Yoshiki has been active in the music world since 1977, when he founded the band Dynamite (later Noise) with childhood friend Toshi. After Noise disbanded, the two joined forces again to form influential rock group X Japan. The group is widely credited as a pioneer of the visual kei movement, and also served as a launchpad for Yoshiki’s independent music label “Exstasy Records.”
Since X Japan’s dissolution in 1992, Yoshiki has maintained several solo projects, including Eternal melody and Violet UK. In the mid 2000s, Yoshiki played drums and piano in short-lived supergroup S.K.I.N.
Source: Resonance Media (Press Release)
