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An extremely energetic Matt & Kim at The White Stage on Sunday Morn
My performance best o’ list for FRF ‘10 is as follows:
Matt & Kim — Sunday, August 1 @ White Stage (I know Kern said they did the *exact* same show on Saturday at Avalon, but I didn’t see them on Avalon and hot diggity damn were they ever fun on the White Stage)
Dirty Projectors — Saturday, July 31 @ Red Marquee
Vampire Weekend — Sunday, August 1 @ Greeen Stage
John Fogerty — Saturday, July 31 @ Green Stage
Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro — Sunday, August 1 @ Field Of Heaven Continue Reading…
The bill for FRF ’10 featured two former members of well-regarded local ‘90s punk trio Hi-Standard. Saturday saw guitarist Ken Yokoyama whipping punk fans into a frenzy on the Green Stage. Sunday afternoon, his ex-band mate, bassist Akihiro Namba, performed material from his “The World is Yours!” debut solo effort on the White Stage.
Osaka’s Good 4 Nothing drew a small, but easily excitable audience to the Red Marquee on Sunday morn at 10:20 a.m. The quartet played a 40 minute set of punk standards while early risers gleefully pogoed along. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that many in attendance went easy on the sauce last night. This is a good thing because had they not all of that bouncing could have made for a very messy situation. After removing his shirt, at one point the act’s guitarist started rubbing and tweaking his nipples while joking with the crowd. Guess he figured why go all the way to the massage area near Avalon when he could just give himself a rubdown at the Red Marquee.
How anticipated was Narasirato Pan Pipers final FRF gig Saturday night at Gypsy Avalon? People were already dancing before the performance started, eagerly bouncing and clapping along while members of the band ran through their sound check.
Despite Fuji Rock almost always running on time, Predawn’s Mokudotei start was delayed a few minutes to ensure that she wouldn’t be drowned out by Theatre Brook’s performance at the nearby Field Of Heaven. By the time she got the green light to begin, the boardwalk and its surrounding foliage was crowded with bodies. Having played Day Dreaming at FRF ’09, the singer-songwriter was well prepared for her Saturday afternoon set. Armed with only an acoustic guitar and her pretty innocent voice, she shared her soft pop tales of innocence, love, and longing with an attentive crowd in the forest.
A few songs into Dirty Projectors Saturday lunchtime set at Red Marquee, band leader Dave Longstreth summed up a Fuji Rock afternoon perfectly offering, “It feels a little early to be rocking, but it’s never too early.”
The White Stage was absolutely packed for The Cro-Magnons Saturday night performance. Looking for a more comfortable place to watch the concert from, some very smart women went to the special female-only bathrooms that are located behind a security check point near the White Stage and watched from there. By the time The Cro-Magnons kicked into their high octane closer there was a large crowd of ladies assembled. And despite announcements from security personnel asking them to return to the general audience area, the women had no intention of giving up their premium standing space before the show was finished. Way to go, gals!
Near the end of Ken Yokoyama’s hour-long Green Stage set on Friday, the soggy crowd of riled up fans at the base of the stage started chanting “punk rock.” On cue, Yokoyama began head banging to their words. With the crowd’s shouts growing louder, Yokoyama and his three-piece backing band kicked into the blistering child friendly closer “Don’t Make Me Pissed Off, Fuckin’ Son Of A Bitch.”
Okay, maybe there’s a trend going on here. Super Junky Monkey’s members all wore their band tee during their Red Marquee concert this morning. Following suit, iLL’s keyboardist and drummer both looked snazzy in “iLL” t-shirts too. A definite plus of flaunting your own merch is that it saves fans the hassle of waiting in the often long lines to see what each group is selling at FRF ’10.
There was a sea of seated bodies present on the Gypsy Avalon hill for Ichiko Aoba’s afternoon performance. As the stage’s MC introduced the singer-songwriter, Aoba pulled out her keitai and took photos of all the people hanging out on the grass around her. Armed with only a guitar, she performed a 30-minute set that showcased material from her “Kamisori Otome” debut that was issued this past January. Built around subtle, intricate instrumentation, Aoba’s vocal-driven fragile folk and acoustic bedroom pop was well received by the lounging crowd and those heading up to the nearby hammock area situated next to the Gypsy Avalon space to really stretch out and get comfortable.
A reunited Super Junky Monkey kicked off the FRF ’10 festivities in the Red Marquee at 11 a.m. today. Formed in 1991, the all-gal alt-rock quartet toured throughout Japan and the U.S. gigging alongside the likes of L7 and performing at renowned events such as CMJ and SXSW. The death of vocalist Mutsumi “623” Takahashi in February 1999 put an end to the band.
A number FRF ’10 acts will be signing autographs for fans at the Ganban shop outside of the main gate and at the Ganban Square in the Oasis food area all weekend long. The Entrance Band, Mustang, La Ruda, and Mallacan will play late night, intimate gigs too in addition to scrawling their names on merch. The full schedule is posted at Ganban’s stands.
