toe2010Fuji Rock 2010 hosts what I just today decided is the greatest band on the planet: toe. It seems like in rock music there has always been an inverse relationship between instrumental virtuosity and emotional resonance, a phenomenon which interestingly never occurred in jazz. Lots of post rock bands have been gamely flauting that law over the past decade, but I believe toe has achieved the complete destruction of it. I’ve got 33 cuts of theirs stretching over eight years of albums and EPs, and there is not a single note, not a single bit of information etched into a CD or hard drive, that is not five solid and immutable stars of perfection.

If you like the indie-rock melancholy of Broken Social Scene you will like the vibe of toe, and with musicians this jaw-droppingly great there is nothing like witnessing their feats in person. My only regret is that it will be my first full show of the whole fest, 3:40 pm Friday at the White Stage, and I fear it will set my expectations too high for the rest of the weekend.

Further down the list of renown, but in much the same vein of virtuosity, there is a Frenchman named Christian Vander playing at the Gypsy Avalon at 9:00 pm on Saturday night. I know nothing about him or the band he founded in Paris in ‘69, Magma, but Wikipedia had me at “he is known both for his unique songwriting, virtuosic drumming, and shrill falsetto improvisational/scat singing”. I’ve decided to do no research at all for this show, but instead have been letting it sit under my Christmas tree as a gift-wrapped present, and intend to enjoy the reveal of what it is as much as what it actually turns out to be. If the weather is fine, the gently sloping lawn of the Avalon is a great place to kick back and open yourself up to whatever random experience emanates from the stage.

One show I am deeply regretting having to miss is Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue at the Crystal Palace tent at 11:45 pm on Saturday night. I’ve written before about how each year recently trad bands and street party music have caught fire at Fuji Rock, and this year I reckon Trombone Shorty’s New Orleans funk and hip-hop could be one to burn the muther down. They will also play 6 pm Saturday at the Field Of Heaven, but late night at the Crystal Palace tent (if you can get in) is always pure bomb.

Finally, I’m a sucker for the classics for sure: John Fogerty, Fishbone, Broken Social Scene, each of their sets are tops on my list this year. Broken Social Scene just released an excellent album, Forgiveness Rock Record, that half a decade later finally makes up for the turgid affair that was their self-titled follow up to their 2002 masterpiece You Forgot It In People. But even Fishbone, who are only half their classic line-up and are a long way from their glory period that ended somewhere around 1993, have nonetheless managed a smattering of decent and even one or two great songs on otherwise unremarkable albums since then, just enough to fill out a set that will likely be more than half classics anyway. I mean, hell, they have a song from 2006 called Let Dem Ho’s Fight, and I can’t imagine not enjoying seeing that one live, even if it probably won’t make it into my shuffle.

And as for Fogerty, well, as Dylan has been proving for years, once an artist hits a certain age it’s a gift that they’re even still able to grace the stage for you. Just thinking about hearing all those Creedence classics coming from the man himself early in the evening (around suppertime) on Saturday at the massive green stage is making me sweat. If anyone feels like hoe’ing down with me for Willie And The Poor Boys, meet me down front.

-Kern