Asia: X Japan Sideline, More Jacky Cheung Arrests

X Japan was forced to cancel the final night of a sold-out three-day concert stand at the Makuhari Messe convention center east of Tokyo after a strong typhoon barreled through the area Sept. 30. The cancellation was announced at the last minute when all the local railroads shut down early because of the storm. It was a serious decision on the band’s part because many fans had already made the trip to Makuhari, some from overseas, in fact. 

It was the band’s biggest concert stand in 8 years, with 100,000 tickets sold for the weekend.

The band was already set up to play the show, since they had performed in the same venue the previous two nights, so they decided to play as scheduled but to an empty venue. The concert was being recorded for broadcast on a Japanese satellite station, so they went ahead with the show and streamed it live for fans to watch at home over a Japanese video service that hosts a Yoshiki Channel, named after the band’s drummer and leader. 

The band did its usual set list, complete with choreography and the special effects they are famous for, but when the cameras panned over the audience, the seats were all empty. 

The 33,000 people who had tickets for the show will receive refunds. The concert is still available on demand from the satellite station.

More Jacky Cheung Arrests
Three fugitives from justice were arrested while attending a concert by Hong Kong superstar Jacky Cheung Sept. 28 in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province. That made 10 who’d been apprehended by authorities during Cheung’s current sold-out Chinese tour. 

According to the Straits Times, Chinese police posted a message on their Weibo home page saying, “So, it actually is true that you can catch fugitives at Jacky Cheung concerts!” Cheung was to play another concert two days later in the city of Xianyang, and the Shijiazhuang police asked their counterparts in Xianyang if they “were ready.” 

Apparently, they were. The Star Online reports that “another 13 people who committed various crimes were also picked up” during the concert in Xianyang on Sunday. In turn, the local police then notified their counterparts in Kunming, where Cheung was scheduled to perform next. The Star reports that net users are now proposing that Cheung consider “holding part of his concert tour in prisons where most of his fans would be.

It wasn’t certain whether the criminals who attended the two recent concerts were caught using facial recognition technology, as were previous fugitives at other concerts on the tour.

Asked by reporters last May about his tour’s uncanny ability to attract lowlifes, Cheung reportedly said, “I guess people still need entertainment no matter who they are.”