Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Weighing in at a lean yet substantive 1 hour and 31 minutes, YOSHIKI: UNDER THE SKY is a veritable feast for the senses and may just be the one film – documentary or otherwise – of the holiday season with the biggest heart. It’s certainly the best-sounding one, with earnest and soul-affirming music which will stay with viewers long after the film itself has unspooled its final credits.
A quick primer for anyone reading this that may not know about this music documentary/love letter which hit North American cinemas on November 2: YOSHIKI: Under The Sky is a music documentary which showcases rightly lauded and acclaimed rock artist and composer Yoshiki leading a worldwide concert event festooned with some of the very best music artists working in the industry today. But this film focuses not just on any garden-variety run-of-the-mill concert. The particular event featured in this film – which is directed by Yoshiki (in a sure and steady directorial debut) – took place during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, lending this doc a more pressing sense of urgency and importance than it may otherwise have had during more “normal” times. As such, Under The Sky is an extraordinary time capsule, as timeless as it is timely; it captures and memorializes a moment when the entire world collectively held its breath in the very uncertainty of what was to come next.About some of the incredible performances to be had in YOSHIKI: Under The Sky – The Chainsmokers, St. Vincent, Sarah Brightman, Scorpions, HYDE, SUGIZO, SixTONES, Jane Zhang, Lindsey Stirling, Nicole Scherzinger, and other artists lend their wholly unique and stylized musical talents to the proceedings and do so with empathy and virtuoso. Highlights? The Chainsmokers rock it out and the real surprise for this jaded music aficionado was the expert plying of her craft by Sarah Brightman, who owns a stage like few others.
Yoshiki is no slouch in this debut directing gig, and Under The Sky is a positive upper at the end of the day, passing forth the message to audiences the importance of making the most of the lives we’re given while also appreciating it every single day. This reviewer had a particular soft spot for the live rendition of Forever Love on violin by Lindsey Stirling; get those handkerchiefs at the ready, readers: you’re gonna need ‘em!
A big plus for Under The Sky comes during the quiet moments where Yoshiki is speaking with each musical collaborator from the film. The Last Rockstars frontman is everything you hoped he might be: Sage, warm, full of humor and love. These candid vignettes serve as a beautiful interlude for the music itself and, in fact, adds additional weight to the concert performances.
Give yourself and those you love an early Christmas present this year by checking out YOSHIKI: Under The Sky.
