Best of 2008

Another year gone, another year filled with Japanese music, spread out across the whole globe. Almost a constant stream of bands came from Japan to perform in overseas events or even toured across several continents. For many of these bands, it wasn’t the first time for them to perform overseas and especially in Europe it started to look like the offer was bigger than the request. On the other hand, the Jmusic market in South America was blooming slowly but steadily, and more bands dared to visit the South American continent as well.

Unfortunately, this year was full of bands splitting up again and somehow, a few disappointing cancellations took place as well. However, many artists did successfully perform overseas, and also Japan was full of interesting events.

JaME was also working hard again, coming to a total of 104 interviews, 112 live reports (twice the amount of last year!) and 244 (the Review Challenge '08 might have something to do with this...) reviews on the English version.
With that said, we would also like to thank all the managements and artists that put their faith into us, as well as our readers. Without any of you, none of this would have been possible!

So here we go, the rundown of 2008 with a number of events selected as the most important of 2008, by the JaME team.


January, February: girugamesh in Europe

As for Japanese concerts overseas, 2008 started rather quietly. girugamesh was one of the few bands that weren’t impressed with Europe’s wintery temperatures, and toured various countries. It wasn’t the first time the band played live overseas, having already performed at a few festivals worldwide, but this full tour was a first and definitely another leap forward for the young band whose career continued to rocket in 2008.


March: X JAPAN Reunion in Japan

Not a happening overseas, but one in Japan that cannot be left unmentioned. After LUNA SEA’s revival in December 2007, it was time for the legendary rock band X JAPAN to do three revival concerts in March. It was certainly a bombastic event, with neither pains nor expenses spared to create a fantastic show, though of course not everything went as planned. Also JaME was involved, with the possibility to buy tickets for one of the events and with various coverage of the live, press conferences and so on.

Unfortunately, the various promised overseas revival lives were continuously postponed or canceled for a variety of reasons, which became a big disappointment for the countless fans.

March, April: Taste of Chaos in the USA

This year's edition of the Taste of Chaos tour in the USA came as a very welcome surprise for many American JRock fans as D’espairsRay, MUCC and the Underneath took part in the extensive tour. With over thirty concerts, they performed all across the country which gave many fans the opportunity to see these three bands live.

American CD releases were also included in the promotion of the bands, and it’s sure to say that next to their already existing fan base, they have caught quite some attention from American rock fans and must have garnered many new fans.

In November, MUCC also joined the European edition of the tour, which was much smaller and mostly took place in the United Kingdom.

April: T.M.Revolution in the USA

After being busy with his band abingdon boys school for quite some time, Takanori Nishikawa resurrected his solo-career this year. With various activities through the year, the electronic pop artist put his stamp on 2008, but the most memorable for his US fans was his performance at Comic-Con in New York, his first American performance in four years.



May: hide memorial

On May 2nd, ten years had passed since the talented solo-artist and guitarist hide had passed away. Various memorial events were held, starting with a big concert that took two days with a variety of bands in Tokyo.

Also JaME created a rather extensive tribute to hide, namely a series of articles in which various artists, bands and friends of hide wrote how much he had meant to him. Next to that, there was plenty of coverage of the lives and press conferences held.

May: L'arc~en~Ciel in France

Following the trend, the immensely popular L’arc~en~Ciel also performed overseas this year. Calling it a 'world tour' but only including Asia and one concert in Paris, fans from all over Europe came to see the quartet live in France.




May, June, July: miyavi World Tour

Never one to stay out of the spotlight, rockstar miyavi gave a better version of a 'world tour' this year. Starting in the USA, he headed to South America where JaME Brazil took care of his performances. Europe was next, and then Asia and a series of concerts in Japan followed.

The majority of the concerts were sold out, and miyavi had no problem to rock the stage wherever he went in the world. Also JaME was present again, just like we have been at all of miyavi’s previous overseas adventures, with various interviews and live reports during the tour.

July: Japan Expo in France

The visitors, but also number of artists attending the French event Japan Expo keeps on growing every year. This year, there was a vast number of bands, albeit most of them smaller in fame than the previous years which gave them the opportunity to introduce themselves to a bigger audience.

Part of the line-up were the bands AciD FLavoR, Aoi, BETTA FLASH, CATSUOMATICDEATH, lost color people, machine, Ra:IN, SCANDAL and also miyavi made an appearance. The result was very varied, giving a representation of the diverse Japanese music scene.

July: Anime Expo in the USA

Just like every year, when the Japan Expo takes place in Paris, the Anime Expo is held in Los Angeles, USA. AX offered a whole different line-up of artists, and this time idol Shoko Nakagawa, rock bands LM.C and GaGaalinG, and vocalist Riku (Phantasmagoria, chariots) were present.



August: GLAY in the USA

After being around for twenty years but never performed outside of Asia, also GLAY hopped on the bandwagon and held a brief tour in the west coast USA to the delight of many GLAY fans. Who knows, maybe they were also bitten by the overseas bug and will return to foreign shores soon!



September: Aya Matsuura in Japan

Although a performance of idol Aya Matsuura in her home country isn’t that unique, the fact that JaME was able to cover it with a live report and an exclusive video message was, seeing as we had established our cooperation with Hello!Project. Always looking for a way to appeal more to pop fans and also cater to their needs, this was definitely a step forward for the pop side of JaME!


November, December: Dir en grey in the USA

Still controversial as ever, Dir en grey held a US tour that also included two Canadian dates in November and early December. So far, it was their lengthiest solo-tour, including over twenty performances all across the country. The tour coincided with the release of UROBOROS, their newest studio album that was rewarded with many positive reviews from various (overseas) media.


November, December: MONORAL in Latin America

Since last year, the JRock scene in South America has been growing rapidly, and more and more managements and bands have realized the JRock goldmine that countries such as Brazil, Chile and Argentina are.

The first band to hold an extensive Latin American tour, were the rock duo MONORAL who performed eleven times in four different countries, guided by the Brazilian JaME team.


Also, if you're curious to see what the English team members consider their personal 'best of 2008', check out this weblog post.

We hope to see all of you back in 2009, and wish you all the best for the new year!