Fujirockers: The official Fuji Rock Festival blog

Love is all around

Despite what you may have heard the rain was tolerable last weekend. It mainly poured in the morning when people were still sleeping off the previous night’s revelries. The precipitation in the daytime rarely got more intense than sprinkles. People thought it was wetter than it was because of the persistent mud, the cooler temperatures, and the almost total lack of sunshine. In fact, if I missed anything deeply it was the glow of twilight behind the Orange Court or White Stage during a late afternoon/early evening performance, and I don’t think I’ve seen that for the last three years. If that’s a sign of climate change, then I’m against it. Continue Reading…

Ya'll stay away from drugs, y'hear?

I thoroughly enjoyed Kensington Hillbillys set on the Gypsy Avalon stage Sunday evening. The group’s mix of country classics and originals just hit the spot, and while the audience was rather spare, everyone clearly had a good time; and it occurred to me: American country music is one of the most popular styles in the world, so why doesn’t Fuji bring more country acts? I mean, this year they brough three top-line African acts, and always invite excellent reggae, blues, and other “niche” forms that connect to rock but aren’t actually “rock.” So why not country? Continue Reading…

Rebel Music

If any band at Fuji Rock required a crib sheet it’s Tinariwen, a collective of Taureg nomads from northern Africa who turned to the guitar as a means of expressing their rebellion against those authorities (mostly Libyan) who would restrict their lives. There are at any one time more than a dozen members, but only four came to Fuji, and while guitar freaks may be disappointed that the full complement of Tinariwen’s axe-slingers didn’t make it this trip (nomads’ lives are difficult to pin down), the ones that did show up were more than equal to the task of blowing away the jaded Field of Heaven habitues. Continue Reading…

Whistle while you work

That was some smooth scheduling. Ren Takada took the tiny Mokudotei stage on the  boardwalk between the White Stage and the Field of Heaven about a minute-and-a-half after Dachambo finished their very loud set. Takada is singer-songwriter of the quiet, thoughtful school, and while his music is perfectly suited for the forest setting it was staged in, it wouldn’t have done at all for him to compete with Dachambo’s frantic jamming. As it was, there also wasn’t anyone on the White Stage, though occasionally the sound check floated over. Continue Reading…

All together now

Japan’s premier jam band, Dachambo, has played the Field of Heaven at least once before because I remember seeing them there. They were good, but I was startled to see the crowd that had assembled for their Sunday show, which happened to greet a rather hot sun. Obviously, a lot of people knew more than I did, and as soon as the show started it became obvious: These guys had become more intense, and they were intense to begin with. As far as jam bands go, Dachambo are closer to Juno Reactor than to Phish, but they go light on the electronics and effects. And while all jam bands worth their wah-wah pedals reference world music, Dachambo actually plays it: Latin, African, reggae, hip-hop, even Bo Diddley figure centrally in their songs. Continue Reading…

Jun Saito, man of action

With Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra graduating to a headlining slot, some veteran Fujirockers might have missed their spirited show as a day-opener, but actually there were two ska groups doing the job at this festival: Mom Dad God on Friday (whose leader is a SkaPara alumnus) and Your Song Is Good on Sunday.  A younger but by no means unseasoned collective, YSIG is a bit looser. Fifteen years after they originally formed (under a different name), they still dress and look like college students, and when they took the stage promptly at 11 they warmed up with a blues-soul vamp that already had them sweating by the time they launched into their opening number. Continue Reading…

That's a lot of water

There was an earthquake last night. It happened at 3:54 am with the epicenter just off the coast of Fukushima. Magnitude 6.4. Here in Niigata is registered on the Japanese scale as a 1 or 2. Not scary, but noticeable. I’m sure the people partying at the Palace didn’t notice it, though. That place is pretty much a constant earthquake. But I was sleeping and I vaguely remember wondering if the building was shaking.

Meteorologically speaking (Is an earthquake meteorological? Let’s just assume it is), we are more concerned at Fuji about what comes from the sky and not from the earth. It’s pouring again this morning, which in itself shouldn’t be a problem. It was pouring yesterday morning but most of the day the precipitation was negligible. The forecast, however, predicts this general vicinity to be cloudy turning to sunny. At the moment that seems like wishful thinking, so let’s wish even harder.

Is there a Kato in the house?

Though veteran blues guitarist Jun Nagami dropped her professional alias, Madam Guitar, for her performance at the tiny Naeba Shokudo stage with the power trio Punch Kiita Blues, some habits die hard. As Madam Guitar she assumes the persona of a forebearing, put-upon Japanese housewife; in other words, someone whose particular species of “the blues” is recognizable to the average Japanese person. With Punch, she didn’t wear the kimono or the elaborate hairstyle, but she was still wry and ironic. She even did a couple of Madam Guitar songs, like the priceless “Kato-san,” about the difficulty of being born with (or, in this case, married into) a name that’s ubiquitous, like “Jones.”

Thoughout the 45-minute set, Nagami kept the stragglers chuckling while ripping through a wide variety of blues-derived styles, from soul to funk to enka (which, real enka aficionados will tell you, is nothing but the blues), all with the help of her deft and sympathetic sidewomen: former Super Junky Monkey bassist Shinobu Kawai and drummer Grace.

photo: Yokoyama

Please pay attention

From what I’ve heard, Tyondai Braxton, the founder and main idea man of the super-math rock group Battles, left the band last year because he no longer could stand the tour grind. It seemed the end of the band, but the three remaining members, drummer John Stanier, keyboardist Ian Williams, and guitarist David Konopka, said they would, er, battle on. They went into the studio almost immediately and made Gloss Drop, a Braxton-less Battles album, and in a way it’s a big improvement. Braxton’s self-conscious iconoclasm, it turns out, was behind the rigid lockstep changes and the bizarre aural touches. Without them, the three members demonstrate a facility for art rock with the emphasis on rock. Continue Reading…

Riotous

One song from Ra Ra Riot’s second album sums up the band’s sensibility: “Too Dramatic.” It has less to do with willed emotionalism than with the band’s musical choices. Employing a full-time string section (well, violin and cello) isn’t so impossible for an indie band any more since The Arcade Fire showed up, but in Ra Ra Riot’s case it seems more a case of the band adjusting to the instruments than the other way around. Wes Miles is a good singer, with a clear tone and articulate phrasing. He can afford to be dramatic, and the words just flow out of him like water. The bass, guitar, and drum configuration, with keyboards occasionally thrown in, seem enough for the kind of soaring chamber rock Ra Ra Riot specializes in, so are the strings necessary? Continue Reading…

Mr. Positive

The late afternoon slot anywhere is the kiss of death. Everybody’s a little sleepy or punchy or conserving their energy for the night. Still, it seems more and more people who attend concerts bring chairs and nod off whenever they please, so maybe it isn’t as big a problem as in the past. Hanaregumi, the solo project of former Super Butter Dog vocalist Takashi Nagazumi, plays soft rock and soul influenced by American artists of the 70s, in particular those from Los Angeles, and while he can play loud and tough, for the most part his vocal style is patterned on smooth and subtle. Don’t get me wrong, the guy’s a better singer than 99 percent of the young men who claim such an occupation in Japan. But his peculiar strengths are with quiet songs that show off his detailed phrasing. He’s obviously listened to a lot of Paul Simon.

Dressed as if for a beach resort, Nagazumi was as nonchalant in his presentation style as he was intense in his singing, which is mostly in the higher registers. The music was comfort food, gospelly and uplifting in its attitude. So despite the siesta time slot, people poured down from the upper reaches of the Green Stage amphitheater to get close and personal with Nagazumi, which was only proper. Everything about the guy’s music is close and personal. He didn’t necessarily belong there, but the people who knew his music also knew what to do to appreciate it.

photo: Izumi Kumazawa

Looking for the sun

Fountains of Wayne took the Green Stage at 12:30 to the strains of Percy Faith’s iconic MOR 1960s lounge instrumental, “A Summer Place,” and it suddenly occurred to me the point of it. The opening song on the group’s latest album (as yet only released in Japan) is called “The Summer Place,” a somewhat unexceptional title but one that takes on even more meaning when contrasted with the Faith classic. It’s about a vacation home that has apparently remained in the family so that the people who used to spend their childhood summers there are now spending their adult summers in the same house, with all its memories, both good and bad. Certainly some of those memories involved listening to “A Summer Place” on the radio (or, even worse, their parents’ stereo). Continue Reading…

I know a doctor who can remove that for you

The J-pop trio Clammbon seemed an odd choice to open the second day festivities. The group’s willfully quirky song structures and melodic non sequiturs, combined with keyboardist Ikuko Harada’s adult-child vocals, would have made more sense at Gypsy Avalon, or maybe Orange Court in the late afternoon. There are a lot of new people who show up on Saturday morning, fresh from their working weeks, and they probably want to jump right in. As a trio, Clammbon is better suited to taking you by the hand and wading in. Continue Reading…

A fine gray morning

Everybody who is here will agree that it rained all day Friday, though such a statement needs to be qualified. For the most part it sprinkled on and off, so most festivalgoers had more trouble contending with the resultant mud than with the rain itself. The forecast had hinted that the worst would be over by Friday, so that seemed like a good omen.

This morning (Sat.), however, it’s a steady downpour, and one can see the effect as soon as one reaches the entrance. Very few people are exchanging wristbands. There aren’t even any scalpers. (It was 9 when I arrived, so this could change, but I doubt it.) What that definitely means is that few people are coming up for the day on the spur of the moment, and while that isn’t a sizable portion of the usual Fuji crowd, it has to mean something. Apparently, some forecasts changed last night, and there were reports on the news of heavy flooding in Niiagata and Fukushima Prefectures, as well as warnings of the dangers of mudslides. Naeba doesn’t seem to have to worry about mudslides, and the river that runs through it, while certainly swollen, doesn’t seem at risk of overflowing. That doesn’t mean the rain isn’t a drag, though.

It takes two

I was shocked–shocked–when I showed up for Amadou and Mariam’s Field of Heaven show Friday evening and found the venue very sparsely attended. Hadn’t anyone heard how awesome this Malian couple was? Superstars in Africa and later an equally huge draw in Europe, they are veterans of a certain musical style almost as prominent as James Brown. Their professionalism precedes them, or it should, so why the low turnout? Continue Reading…

Ron will not start a riot

The Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith appeared frequently at the first few Fuji Rock Festivals in Naeba, and at perhaps the first one a female member of the web team who didn’t know who he was met him by accident at the World Food Court one night and they talked. Later, a few of us noticed and told her who her interlocutor was. She was surprised. “We talked for about fifteen minutes and he never mentioned once that he was a musician.”

Sexsmith’s unassuming personality is central to his high reputation as a songwriter’s songwriter, though it doesn’t do much to his reputation as a performer. Probably the most exciting thing about his show at the Field of Heaen was his boldly striped jacket. Backed by a tasteful three-piece group, he ran through almost two dozen of his three-and-a-half-minute songs, almost all of which use common cliches as titles: “Hands of Time,” “Get in Line,” “Thinking Out Loud,” “Hard Bargain.” It might be too much to expect Japanese audiences to “get” Sexsmith’s clever word play and sad sense of the world, but they definitely get his way with a melody, and there were a lot more people fixed intently on his show than you might expect. The guy definitely has fans here (Smash, the Fuji organizer, once released one of his albums on its short-lived boutique label), and in the late 90s he used to tour Japan almost yearly. For some reason, he doesn’t any more, though he’s continued to release albums fairly regularly. In a way, his professionalism got the best of him during the gig. He clearly wanted to communicate with the audience but had to fall back on other cliches. (”It’s great to be here,” “I hope you like it…”)

The need for a connection was so acute that during one song, he sang the line, “heavy clouds hanging around/the sun refuses to shine,” and pointed his guitar at the grey sky, and though the audience reacted, it seemed it was not an acknowledgement of the dodgy weather but rather a performance tic. He did the guitar-point thing several times afterward.

But he was definitely affected by the reaction. He dedicated his last song to Japan, which he said “has had a tough year. Please know we’re pulling for you.” The song is “Former Glory,” as in “your eyes will return to their former glory.” Being able to overcome adversity is something Ron Sexsmith knows about.

photo: Julen Esteban-Pretel

Clap, you suckers

As demonstrated by the name of his main gig, Super Furry Animals, Gruff Rhys doesn’t see much point to being a professional musician unless he can fool around with the formula, make fun of it even. Dressed unseasonably in a corduroy jacket, flannel shirt, and watch cap, Rhys opened his set at the Red Marquee beating the air with a pair of wands that produced a kind of keening swoop when he put more muscle into it. Later, his guitarist played penny whistle and the keyboardist made bird noises. In fact, one could call Rhys’s voice a kind of special effect: Gordon Lightfoot’s nasally baritone boom as commandeered by the sensibility of Ray Davies. Continue Reading…

We're pure

You don’t have to be a genius to predict that there would have been a huge turnout for The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, who played the Red Marquee just before 2 pm. The group’s combination of shoegazey, fuzzy guitars, roller rink rhythms, and bullet-proof pop melodies guarantee fawning admiration from the average Japanese indiephile, but in Kip Berman’s fey, heartbroken vocal style, you’ve also got catnip for Japanese girls, who danced and danced and for good measure danced some more during the 40-minute set while their boyfriends stood helplessly by nodding their heads in submission. Continue Reading…

The center holds

Given the center stage positioning of a raven-haired bassist wearing a short black dress and large silver cross, it’s easy to form the notion that Belakiss is trying not too subtly to cash in on the current Twilight craze, but an Internet search reveals that Bela Kiss was the actual name of a Hungarian serial killer. Now why on earth didn’t another hard rock band with gothic overtones hit on that name before?

It’s not as if it’s wasted on this London foursome, whose debut album was released only two days ago in Japan (and nowhere else, at least for now). They’re an earnest bunch, with two male guitarist/singers who know how to snarl their diphthongs and a cool regard for melodic choruses that stand up under the relentless repetition of key phrases. In the group’s best song, “Run Red,” the title is basically recycled in countless variations over a rapid-fire guitar strum, with bassist Tatia Starkey’s voice placed on top. Usually, it’s the guys who take the lead singing chores, and the change does them good. The audience was polite and reserved in a way that indicated people who thought they should be impressed but weren’t. Nevertheless, by the end of the 40-minute set what started out as a small knot of curiosity-seekers in front of the stage had grown into a respectable crowd that filled the place. And if you say it’s because of the rain, note that it was only a very little squall.

photo: Ueda (with Nikon)

Sax attack

What with their near-headliner status this year, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra has pretty much taken up the mantle of most representative Fuji artist left behind by the late Kiyoshiro Imawano. It doesn’t seem Fuji without SkaPara. And with the title comes the corollaries, one of whom is Tatsuyuki Hiyamuta, a former member of the orchestra who formed his own band a few years back with the somewhat intimidating name of Dad Mom God. Obviously, you don’t dance at your own peril. Continue Reading…

Hey there

DJ Mame was announced as the opening pre-fest act, but the guy who actually did the “spinning” was DJ Katsu. “Katsu” sounds nothing like “Mame,” so we’re not sure exactly what constituted this mix-up. But Katsu did what he was supposed to do: get the crowd stoked for the weekend, mostly with fortified funk and old-schoold soul. Belakiss, the next band, was one of those earnest English bands who mistook the enthusiasm of the pre-fest crowd for some kind of dispensation. They were capable and rather generic. More about that tomorrow, when they play their legitimate set. However, Mop of Head, a Japanese instrumental rock band, fulfilled their mission perfectly. Extrapolating on simple rock riffs to the limits of whatever they could provide in the way of excitement, the group didn’t demonstrate anything new or compelling, but they rocked like nobody’s business, and the crowd was totally accepting. Like Focus without the jazz conceits and less interested in making an impression (i.e., more interested in blowing minds!), the band made the most of their multiple climaxes and by the end of their 25-minute set had the audience pumped. Mission accomplished.

photo: Kitamura

Stilted

Disregard that last post. Almost as soon as the bon odori started to launch the pre-fest party in the middle of the food court, the rain stopped, and so far it hasn’t  started again…[crossed fingers]. And the crowd was as huge as it’s been for the pre-fest bash the last couple of years. And as always there were performance artists adding a bit of zest to the prorceedings. We have yet to find out who these tall lasses in white are–elongated nuns? Fairies from the the Big/Tall Store? Dunno. Love the big balloons, though.

Bon odori begins

The rain came as predicted by the usually unreliable Japan Metereorological Agency. For once you wished they were wrong, but the front that moved in from Asia was supposed to hit Niigata and the Tohoku region pretty hard today, so let’s hope the second part of the JMA’s prediction also comes true: it will pass on to the Kanto region tomorrow and while we can’t expect any sunshine until Saturday at the earliest, it won’t be relentlessly pouring tomorrow the way it is right now. At the moment, punters are just dribbling in and the evening’s pre-fest entertainment has been announced: DJ Mame, Bellakiss, Mop of Head, Zigzag, and the mighty Brahman. Let’s how the rain will let up enough to allow for the opening ceremony. Some things should never change…like the JMA’s bad percentage.

The Music Green Stage 2005

Having attended every Fuji Rock except the first one, I’ve seen many of the bands performing this year before at the festival, though in almost every case I can remember they performed on different stages than the ones they’ll perform on this year. Perusing the roster and recalling those shows, I’ve come to develop a certain mindset for each venue and now wonder if a shift in values hasn’t taken place over time. I prefer hanging out at the butt end of the festival, past Gypsy Avalon, where regardless of who happens to be performing the general vibe is more conducive to…well, hanging out. And because the African acts and certain artists whom I’ve never seen before but always wanted to will be playing there (Cornershop, Buddy Guy), I expect to spend the bulk of my time there this year, as well. Continue Reading…

Formerly Hotel and VV

In that crowded mini-universe of boy-girl duos who play proto-blues as art rock, The Kills have always been more earnest than inspired, but in the past couple of years, as both Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince have jettisoned their noms de rock (VV and Hotel, respectively), they’ve earned more press as solo agents. Mosshart found common musical cause with the king of boy-girl proto-blues duos, Jack White, several years ago and they went on to form The Dead Weather for two fierce albums and world tours in the space of a single year; while Hince romanced the super model’s super model Kate Moss and eventually wed her at the beginning of this month (Mosshart was the best man–talk about earnest). Continue Reading…