with Yoshiki

 Went to what has to be one of the best L.A. parties of the year so far at Soho House at the weekend. It was thrown by Japanese superstar Yoshiki, who, with his band XJapan, has sold more than 30 million albums around the world, although he has yet to break big in the U.S.
  The lavish party, which featured wine from Yoshiki’s own brand, Y,  will go a long way to help him as, in between drinks and sushi, served up by celebrity chef Katsuya Uechi of Katsu-Ya, guests, mainly journalists, were shown a 20-minute film featuring newsclips and concert footage from Yoshiki’s performances around the world.   Seeing the thousands of hysterical girls who greeted him wherever he went brought to mind the fan fever that surrounded the Beatles in the 1960s. There is another link to the famous British band as George Martin, who produced many of the Beatles hit records, also produced Yoshiko’s album Eternal Melody.
  Yoshiki, who is a classically trained pianist and talented composer as well as a red hot rock star, is subdued and modest offstage. But he knows what he wants. When he was told he couldn’t book the recording studio he wanted in Los Angeles for him and his band because the heavy metal band Metallica were using it, he simply bought the studio.  
  The last time Yoshiki and XJapan were in the UK they performed at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Next time, he tells me, he will be playing in a somewhat larger venue.
 “Where?” I asked.
  “Wembley Stadium,” he replied.