Plenty to cheer about this year

Plenty to cheer about this year

Another Fujirock has come and gone. Here are a few of my most memorable moments:

Best performances of 2010:

Alberta Cross: Whoever was working the boards of this show should be given a medal. The band’s 3-guitar attack sounded perfect, and vocalist Petter Ericson Stakee proved he could hit the same notes live as he did on album. Jeff’s review here.

Beardyman: Magic comes out of this dude’s mouth. I saw all three of this beatbox/DJ’s shows, and aside from the occasional meandering club thump, was blown away every time. Reviews here and here.

The Human Cannonball: Yes, you read correctly. This guy, in a blaze of smoke and thunder, flew out of a cannon and into a nearby net. Nightly. More on him here and here.

Best venue:

For years running, the Palace of Wonder’s Crystal Palace Speigeltent wins by a mile.
Kitty Daisy & Lewis and Mustang made it feel like a honkytonk. Ozomatli made it feel like a Hollywood after-party. Cumbias Cumbias Cumbias made it feel like a Colombian Carnival. No matter the act, the Crystal Palace delivers the best shows.

Surprises:

Emeline Michel: With an amazing rhythm section backing her up, this sultry chanteuse got a very muddy Orange Court moving.

Gellers: It takes real balls to play your own take on Radiohead’s “I’m a Creep” while Thom Yorke is still onstage a few hundred meters away, but these clangy, electropunk screamers pulled it off.

Vato Negro: Free-form guitar riffs spraying like lava with Hercules on drums. Music for the moons of Jupiter. More here.

Disappointments:

One Day as a Lion: In all fairness, this show rocked. Hard. But the crowd didn’t know the material – they were there for one thing only: Zach de la Rocha to play Rage covers. He didn’t, so the crowd’s pent-up excitement never exploded.