Fujirockers: The official fansite of the Fuji Rock Festival

Earlier today I gave myself a hernia. That may seem an unusual introduction to a music review, but it’s pertinent. I skipped a couple of shows today because I couldn’t walk that far to see them. It’s only music, right?
But EKD was one band I really couldn’t miss. They’re the most underrated band I know. I’m sure that you could stick them on the White Stage, not tell anyone what you were doing, and the band would look right at home.
Instead, they’re playing the Naeba Shokudo. The smallest stage at the festival, but also one of the liveliest. It’s a good fit.
As I wrote before, one Fujirocker once described them as Manu Chao meets Dick Dale. That’s bang on. EKD worked the crowd up just as much as Mr Chao did. And here’s where we get to my hernia. Even in my crippled state, I was bouncing in the mud pit, arms around other fans, grinning like an idiot, and I though it was painful as hell, it was fun as hell too. It’s the biggest FRF party I’ve been to since Gogol Bordello played the Crystal Palace. There was a man wrapped in toilet paper climbing a tree to see the show. They outdid the wild Asakusa Jinta party at the same stage on Friday. It’s a shame that tens of thousands of people paid for a ticket but didn’t catch this show.
If FRF 2011 is remembered for anything, it should be that the Naeba Shokudo produced some of the most memorable moments, and EKD’s show was one of them.

Photo by Julen Esteban-Pretel. More here.