Lunatic Fest Day 1 at Makuhari Messe, Tokyo, was an unexpectedly emotional day for me. It wasn’t my first Luna Sea live and so I wasn’t expecting to burst into tears. But when X Japan started their performance, my tears kept falling and didn’t stop till the end of Luna Sea’s act.

I was introduced to Japanese Rock (J Rock) through X Japan, and even though Luna Sea was the band that cemented my love for J Rock, X Japan will always have a special place in my heart. Listening to their music on loud helped drown the pain that I was in during a particularly trying time of my life and I sought refuge in the music of Luna Sea and X Japan.

I never did imagine that I’d have the opportunity to watch X Japan live, since by the time I got into them, HIDE (lead guitar) had passed away and X Japan was no more. So, to stand there in the live hall , listening to Yoshiki on the drums and piano, and seeing him in tears as he talked, I broke and man, all the feels. When they showed the tribute messages for HIDE and Taiji (ex-bassist) during We’re X, I cried even more.

I suppose Day 1 of Lunatic Fest was not only emotional for me, but for many of the performing bands as well. Many were Luna Sea’s senpai (seniors), like X Japan, Tokyo Yankees, and Ladies Room and this seemed to be some sort of reunion for them to perform on the same stage. It was really reminiscent of the Extasy Summits that X Japan used to organise back when Luna Sea was just starting out.

There were also tributes to HIDE (of course, as no HIDE, no Luna Sea); Luna Sea did a rendition of Pink Spider, the tribute message and HIDE’s voice during We’re X, and Yoshiki brought HIDE’s heart guitar and played it when all the bands were on stage to perform Luna Sea’s Precious together. Yoshiki added that this way, it’s like HIDE’s with them today :~( That performance of Precious was awesome and like a blast from the past to Extasy Summits. It was also pretty funny seeing Luna Sea being all subservient in front of all their senpai.

There are so many things that I can say about Lunatic Fest Day 1, but I think I want to keep it personal here. All I shall say is that Luna Sea throws an awesome party. I shall end here as I sit soaking my aching feet which stood for almost 12 hours today and with tears in my ears as I think back on tonight.