SOME THINGS WE JUST LIKE

SOME THINGS WE JUST LIKE

Though my tastes are unimpeachable, I would never presume to tell you what to do, think, or feel. This may sound strange coming from someone who makes a living selling his opinions, but I don’t necessarily think those opinions are going to be shared by all, regardless of what some of my editors believe. When I write a movie or music review, all I can do is try to reveal how the particular subject matter struck me, and then hope that anyone who’s reading it will be able to translate those feelings for his or her own sensibility. I never tell anyone “you should see this film” or “you should buy this album,” even if I think you would be a better person if you did.

So I’m not going to tell you what you should see at FRF ‘10. By now you probably already know what you want to see, though if I had to make one recommendation it would be to take in acts or attractions that you know little or nothing about in a spirit of adventure. If you find yourself liking them, the unexpected pleasure of the encounter is probably the best, and certainly most memorable, thing you’ll take away from the weekend. Sometimes I like to give this notion of discovery a perverse twist. For instance, I really don’t like the music website Pitchfork; or, not as much as I used to, anyway. Though the news is still useful and the essays occasionally enlightening, the reviews are mostly rubbish. So I always look for the act playing at Fuji that earned the lowest Picthfork rating, and this year the honor goes to The Entrance Band, who was given a miserable 2.2 points by whatever grad student was assigned their CD. The album may not be any great shakes, but the qualities that Pitchfork found wanting I think would probably make for a killer live show, especially at the loose and louche Field of Heaven. If you want a description of the band’s music, see Sean’s preview. All I want to say is that Pitchfork thinks they suck, so they must be fun.

Another backhanded sort of recommendation I would make is to not automatically think that you should attend the performance of a particular artist simply because you really like that artist’s regular gig. So despite a certain level of curiosity, I will not automatically go to see One Day As A Lion, even though Rage Against the Machine remains the best single show I’ve ever seen at Fuji. Ditto for Atoms for Peace. Except for PiL and maybe The Dead Weather, I can’t think of too many artists I like who were as impressive in their side projects as they were in their day jobs. Taylor Hawkins doesn’t count because nobody cares what he does in Foo Fighters anyway; and, of course, John Fogerty was Creedence Clearwater Revival once upon a time, not to mention God.

But for the record this is what I’m looking forward to: Sunset at the Orange Court; sitting as high as possible on the hill in front of Gypsy Avalon; Matt & Kim at the Naeba Shokudo; running into an acquaintance, the older the better and totally unexpectedly, while walking through the World Food Court; the kids who line up right in front of the Green Stage for the first act on Friday morning; finding out which acts agreed to play the pre-fest gig at the Red Marquee Thursday night; the second (or third or fourth) wind that makes Sunday night the most indescribable party on the planet; more sunny weather than I have any right to expect.

And keep this in mind: the Green Stage is the sole venue where the only beer option is Heineken. You don’t have to settle for it at any of the other stages, but you have to put in the effort to look for the alternatives.