My all-purpose recommendation

My all-purpose recommendation

The one bit of advice that I give to those attending Fuji Rock for the first time (or those coming back after a long hiatus) is to figure out your footwear!

Going back to your hotel room or pup tent in between sets is probably impossible as you should be prepared to mosh around in one pair of shoes the whole time. That said, you better decide what it’s gonna be, and trust me, there are a million good choices out there such as Tevas, Keens, Wellies, Saucony (Kern’s pick), Blundstone, Crocs.

Personally, if I were to buy a pair of shoes for the festival today, I would take my friend Dave’s advice (a fellow blog writer) and get a pair of Gore-Tex lined, ankle high Nike ACG. This half-boot provides enough wet weather protection to muck your way around every footpath at the festival. It also has enough bounce to keep your knees happy on the Red Marquee’s concrete floor. And more importantly, it will give you enough traction to stay upright on the slippery slope near hilltop Heineken tent at the Green Stage.

However, this pair of shoes won’t help you if you plan to do the All-Night Fuji thing at the Orange Court where the mud climbs to mid-calf (go with the rubber boots for this). And it won’t help you either at the Gypsy Avalon stage which eats up Tevas and Chuck Taylors, and other cross-trainers posing as hiking boots (again, this stage probably needs rubber boots). And if you are half-interested in seeing Muse or Massive Attack, you should probably plan on some boots as well as the field in front of Green Stage will become very well trod and muddy.

But, you know what, I probably wouldn’t find myself at any of these locations. As any experienced music festivalgoer knows, everything happens on the fringes of the festival. Either in the hotel rooms or tents, the backstage area, the parking lot on the way-in or just a few feet off the pathway. That’s where we fall in love, share a smoke, find long-lost friends…

And, if you’re truly rock and roll, pay no mind to what you just read and just go and have a great time and try to look fabulous in those Cuban heels or doll shoes. A good friend of mine wore a pair of white-slip on loafers to the last festival and had a terrific time. Mind you, he spent much of the festival in his hotel room at the Prince Hotel!

(Author’s note: I have tried Blundstones and they fared well but collected too much mud. This year, I will be bringing back my Gore-Tex lined Keen hiking boots which fared fantastically last year.)