Fujirockers: The official fansite of the Fuji Rock Festival

Shugo Tokumaru's whimsical music comes to life live

It is still weird seeing Shugo Tokumaru in the spotlight. Even though he’s hovered around the Japanese mainstream music scene for several years now, the soft-spoken Tokyo musician and his sonic whirligig sounds like little else getting highlighted by nation-wide music retailers. His music has appeared in ad campaigns for Sony and Japan Airlines, and his last two albums have appeared on Japan’s Oricon Music Charts. Slightly hard to fathom when you listen to Tokumaru’s intricate, playful pop – he takes cues from Brian Wilson and more than 100 instruments regularly feature on his full lengths. A large chunk of them are unorthodox too – toys, kitchen utensils, animals.

Tokumaru started constructing his playroom pop in 2003. Prior to that, he and several classmates played in a band called Gellers, who continue on and have played at the Fuji Rock Festival. Yet it was Tokumaru’s solo recordings that caught the attention of American record label Music Related. In 2004, they put out Tokumaru’s intimate debut Night Piece, which received critical praise from several Western music publications. Each of his subsequent releases gained more and more attention, his zig-zagging constructions charming critics and labels alike.

Continue Reading…

Ito Fumio Rocking Out at Field of Heaven

Ito Fumio made six appearances at Fuji Rock as the frontman of local ska punk legends Kemuri.  In 2010, he performed at the festival under his own name in support of his new solo act.  A definite FRF veteran, to say that Fumio looked comfortable onstage during his Saturday morning concert at the Field of Heaven is an understatement. Continue Reading…

YES, IT IS A REAL LOAF OF BREAD

No Nukes. Gnarly.

So I thought for sure this massive loaf was papier mache or some shit. Nope.

It is a REAL loaf that the baker/artist sketched in NO NUKES, definitely the sub-theme political slant of the festival this year.

In the Field of Heaven this delicious bread vendor provides festival goers with delicious buttermilk on sliced wheat bread, raisin walnut loaves, or if you’d like a crispy alternative, little packaged rask packets or breadsticks you can take on the go.

The smell alone is worth 400 Yen, rivaled only by the wood-burning oven pizza guys on the other side of the field. Especially for us working the fest, after eating 3 days of mediocre bento lunch boxes with lukewarm and questionable fish and other unidentifiable oddities, a nice hearty loaf of bread washed down with a cup of coffee or 100% apple juice makes an excellent breakfast or filling snack. It was kind of my lunch, actually.

So, if you missed it this time around, put it on your gastronomical list for FRF 2013. Tear a loaf with some J-Hippies, hell get a glass, dip it in wine and commune together! Peace and Pan.

Do what I say

Having seen the first fifteen minutes of Ray Davies show on the Green Stage, I didn’t know what to expect from his headlining Field of Heaven performance. On the Green Stage he seemed at pains to get the audience to bend to his will, calling for singalongs that proved to be spread too wide at such a huge venue. He seemed frustrated and ready to take the piss. He didn’t necessarily change his tactics at the Field of Heaven, but the audience was much, much smaller, and everybody there wanted to hear those old Kinks songs. Everything Davies wanted, he got, and, consequently, everything the audience wanted, they got, too. Continue Reading…

D'ya feel it?

It’s been a great weekend for New Orleans funk. First Galactic on the Green Stage, then Dumpstaphunk and Dirty Dozen Brass Band playing back-to-back at the Field of Heaven. I missed the DDBB’s “special guest” performance last night at the Naeba Shokudo, and can’t find anyone who actually saw it. Supposedly, they formed a second line marching column and went from the Red Marquee to the Shokudo through the food court, playing as they went. That would have been a sight. Continue Reading…

A 100% SOLARS OFFERED DIFFERENT STROKES BY DIFFERENT FOLKS

A 100% Solars filled out the entire Field of Heaven on Sunday afternoon, something I thought would actually be quite difficult to achieve.

It was a predominantly Japanese audience, so if your idea of a music festival is standing in a huge crowd and clapping with your hands in the air alongside a few thousand others, A 100% Solars would be right up your alley.

Japanese crowds also like pointing towards the sky, something that happened with regularity throughout the one-hour set.

A 100% Solars is the brainchild of Taiji Sato, who decided to try to live in a 100% solar Budokan after many of his friends left Japan after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami last year. The set featured a seemingly endless stream of famous Japanese guest performers covering a variety of musical genres, anything from J-rock folk anthems to reggae/jazz versions of Minnie Riperton’s “Lovin’ You.” Continue Reading…

This one's for the 60s

Veteran singer/actress/celebrity Tokiko Kato has appeared at Fuji Rock several times, even if her metier isn’t necessarily rock-oriented. Known primarily as a folk singer who slid into chanson in the 60s-70s, Kato is definitely of her generation, which is why she’s here so often. For one thing, she’s been a part of the anti-nuclear contingent long before it became acutely topical with last year’s crisis, and she plugged the Atomic Cafe presentations over at the Gypsy Avalon. But she was here to entertain with her old songs. It just so happens that most of those songs have a social message. Continue Reading…

D-JOW AND EIJI ARE GRAVITY FREE

This year’s concept, since it is the Year of the Dragon and all, is none other than a “Psychedelic Dragon” rainbow scales and all. The Gravity Free artists Eiji and D-Jow take a second from their work to chat with me a bit about their work. I will paraphrase their Japanese responses in English for you.

They say there is not any serious meaning behind the piece, just the act of painting is meaning in itself for the friends. Although, on second thought they say, ruminating on the earthquake last year, and all the rainbow-type people you see dancing around the Field of Heaven, basically hippie-style from the last 70 year movement as such. This year, the guys feel that movement is changing. Rainbow-type people and rich people have to learn to get along, and they have as you can see in relief efforts in Japan last year and ongoing today. And they can continue to do it, but it might take you off guard or effect your balance relating to people you are unfamiliar with or who hold different values. Or giving up all your riches to help others, a disconcerting feeling that may set your horizon off-kilter, yet will actually allow you to soar to greater heights. But in the end, we are still human, and can reach great heights regardless if we work together.

Continue Reading…

MID-"OH YEAH!" ONE OF MANY

Well their website precedes them, boasting the King of Music; a lofty presumption to say the least. However the packed Field of Heaven supported the claim, and sure enough, with 14 people on stage including a 6-piece brass band, it was a powerful, solid, funny and overall entertaining performance to start our last day of the festival.

They open with a song whose hook, “Moshi mo, oh my god!” set the crowd on genki mode, dancing and already singing along. The lead singer and sometimes guitarist has this Marty McFly in Back to the Future part 1 thing going on. All the lads in white cutter shirts keep it simple yet uniform, and the gals get to have all the costume fun—one is a ballerina princess, another a forest sprite, another with a quilted dress that looks handmade. Those ladies bridged the gap and meshed with the whole dream catcher etc. FOH aesthetic.

At one point the set list got stuck to Reitaro’s shuffling Chuck Taylor’s, so he jumps around with it stuck there for a bit, then pulls it off, crumples it up and throws to the crowd. “Can you remind the songs?” He asks.

Japanese fans love the interaction of call-and-response. I counted how many times they sang/screamed “Oh yeah!” in this 50-minute set– 536.

Continue Reading…

WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF

For a guy who has been active on the Dead Head scene since ’74, it’s no surprise he has this cult following, even in Japan. This manifestation has 3 more players: the legend Bernie Worrell still kickin’ and tickling the ivories, Andy Hess swaying solid on bass and Wally Ingram tearing up a top-of-the-line DW drum kit.

Set-up and sound check took a little long and the show was actually about 10 minutes late, a rare thing at FRF for being a top-notch fest in always-punctual Japan. Though, the proper sound-check resulted in a fine-tuned sound all the way through a sweetly romping three-hour set (of which the first hour was a mere 4 songs mind you).

Starting the jam leads into a Beatles tinged remix of “Come Together.”

There is a guy in the front with a California license plate proclaiming DEAD HEAD status, and even a baby carriage with a Grateful Dead rainbow flag attached. That, my friends, is longevity.

Continue Reading…

DUELING GUITAR SOLOS EXTRAORDINAIRE

Real Roadhouse Rock.

These guys play what can be described no other way than good old-fashioned roadhouse rock n’ roll. “It’s so hot, I thought everybody might go home,” lead singer/guitar hero Chabo comes out saying. “But I am glad you stayed.”

Members having been in the rock business for more less 30 years, assume we are in for a solid performance. The second song, an Animals’ “Boom Boom” cover with improvised lyrics about the fest and the hot summer sun gets the crowd moving, and Chabo-san is totally feeling it, “Suge, suge, suge!” Cool, man, cool.

Next a song called “Sazae Man” with the chorus “Cocaine from the morning, whiskey at night,” ends in a raunchy pinky slide guitar solo, dueling with his old friend Kohei next door also on lead guitar, donning red velvet bell bottoms.

Then comes a bluesy number and Chabo admits, “I got nothing nice up in my head.”

And of course band member introductions. “My old friend Hayaka Takehara on bass, my new friend Jara on drums, my old friend Kohey.” And Kohey returns the favor, “My old friend Chabo.”

Continue Reading…

Elvin Bishop jammin' out

Elvin Bishop and his band sang about simple pleasures at the Field Of Heaven Saturday night. Bishop has an affinity for working food into his lyrics, from a mention of red beans and rice (as a way of informing the crowd that there is no place like New Orleans) to a line about a party having “all the chicken and ribs you can eat.” Another song was about fishing. Bishop, though, is a disciple of blues music, so his songs weren’t really about food or fishing, but about the joys and sorrows of life told in an every-man type of way. His set was easy-going blues, rounded out by big horn blasts, a nice throwback set for Saturday evening.

It also fell around the same time as many punters’ dinner, and Bishop’s music sounds good while digging into food or even waiting in line. That’s not a diss – Bishop knows his blues, but his spin on it tends to always sound optimistic, even when zeroing in on heartbreak. The horns and back-up singers accompanying his guitar work gave his songs an American-South sound, everything jaunty even when the subject matter wasn’t. It was a nice way to transition into the dusk – breezy blues that were easy to take in.

Photo by 花房 浩一, see more photos here.

Okay, maybe he hasn’t been “doing the reggae” since then, but knowing that Frederick “Toots” Hibbert is 67, which sure puts his career into perspective. The father of reggae (his claim, by the way, but we can agree that he’s certainly one of the forefathers) dressed more like a young hip-hop MC, and his enthusiasm also masked his age. The group, a mix of old timers and young (possibly hired) guns, took the stage and launched into the classic “Pressure Drop.” It sounded like the classic it is, complete with back-ups vocals – though a horn section was replaced by keyboards (normally that’s the worst, but a/ it sounded better than expected and b/ it’s financially prohibitive to bring another three or four players to the other side of the world from Kingston, Jamaica).

From there, the Maytals spread out the influences garnered over the years. While everything they played was ostensibly reggae they did incorporate elements of rock (though I’m not sure the young guitarist’s “shredding” was really suited to the tune in which he shred) and more worldbeaty Caribbean influences. Toots was decidedly the star of the show, occasionally picking up the acoustic guitar, always looking like he couldn’t be happier to be there. The audience was healthy – small compared to some of the other stages, but clearly thrilled to be there. The Japanese kids know how to dance to the reggae, it seems, and Toots took notice, commenting on the crowd’s willingness to embrace music from around the world. That, after all, is what Fujirock is all about.

Photo: For more photos go here

Chu Kosaka

These three 70s rock stalwarts were brought together last year (or was it the year before?) as a “special unit” just to play at Fuji Rock, calling themselves the Kanjuku (Ripe) Trio. Guitarist Shigeru Suzuki is probably the most revered of the three, having been in the group Happy End, which many credit with sparking the so-called New Music movement that changed Japanese pop music in the early 70s. Chu Kosaka, the best vocalist of the three, was in a band called April Fool, which plied a more resolutely rock sound. Toku Nakano was in a group called Sentimental City Romance, which I know nothing about.

The trio had quite a “family” on stage, and they were adept at recreating whatever particular 70s west coast pop sound the three stars needed. Kosaka favored a kind of country funk gloss, a cross between Little Feat and Loggins & Messina, while Nakano hewed to the more soulful side. Suzuki took most of the leads capably and, occasionally, brilliantly. Like most lead guitarists his age he worshipped at the feet of Eric Clapton, and the songs he sang we straightforward rock. One song, in fact, could have been a direct ripoff of “Bell Bottom Blues” if it had been sung in Japanese.

Interestingly, the crowd was mostly young people, and they dug it, as the oldsters like to say. Many of them even knew the songs. Maybe because it was taking place at the Field of Heaven, the pickled quality of the music didn’t run rancid. It fit the time and place, as long as you let it.

photo: Julen Esteban Pretel

LIKE THREE TEXAS PEAS IN A POD

A long way from Texas, these brothers still manage to bring out extra-large servings of infamous southern hospitality and Texas charm. The disco ball casting light orbs dance around the clearing. Henry on guitar doesn’t wait an armadillo’s hair-splitting second, soloing Stevie Ray Vaughan style through the very first song.

Jojo on bass is the representative rambler between songs, “We want to thank you for welcoming us here, man. Ya’ll are lovely. We know Japan been going through a lot of stuff lately, man. But ya’ know what’s beautiful is ya’ll  stick together, man. We can stick together if you give your Corazon, that means heart.”

They play a mix of hits from their 4 acclaimed studio albums. The chorus of “16 Monkeys on a chuck wagon rollin’ down the road,” is probably their height of playful, fun and funk, whereas “How Far Is Heaven,” echoes of last night’s opener, though you can’t blame the guys as that is an anticipated encore that get’s the crowd up front and center swaying and feeling the love.

Seriously though, amidst immortal shredding Tex- Mex blues roots rock from this three-piece tighter than a pair of Wranglers two sizes too small, the guys are able to show their human side, too. (Thanks to sharing genes, after all.) They are genuine good fellas, and they are solid performers. The crowd is not bursting at the seams, it is comfortably filled, though those who have stuck around are really into it.

Continue Reading…

ERNEST RAGLIN IS STILL GOING STRONG AT 80 YEARS OLD, WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM HIS FRIENDS

Summer was made for times like these: Fuji Rock, the Field of Heaven, sunset, Vikings, Ernest Ranglin.

Yes, you heard me right. A herd of Vikings were indeed huddled in a bunch at the front of the stage where arguably reggae’s most influential figure was performing a long-overdue set. They didn’t stay till the end (they along with a number of other people drifted off before the legendary roots/reggae guitarist finished his set), but they certainly would have heard enough to leave knowing that they’d just heard one of music’s all-time greats.

Born in June 1932, Ranglin is perhaps best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, giving birth to the genre we now all know as ska in the late ’50s. He is credited with the invention of the core style of guitar play (known as “scratching”) found in nearly all ska music. There was plenty of this on show this evening – and then some. When not picking at the strings in ways I can only begin to imagine, he was creating high-frequency reverb and scratch effects on his guitar that youngsters these days need electronic equipment to replicate. It was indeed a display of craftsmanship, a lesson for us all. Continue Reading…

Cool Wise Humbert

It’s Cool Wise Man with Humbert Humbert. It’s clearly CWM’s music, but we’ve got Yuho Sano from Humbert Humbert on vocals.

Everyone’s getting into the sunshine and good vibes, the ska sounds right for the weather, and the rays haven’t sapped all our strength yet.

After a few jolly romps through some Cool Wise Man tracks, Sano pauses, pulls a “what’s coming next?” face, and they roll out a cover of “Runaway” by Rats and Star, the crazy popular Japanese pop track from the ‘80s. This revs the audience up about 5 notches, and from then on they can’t go wrong.
Continue Reading…

SLOW TURTLE AND LITTLE EAGLE POSE IN FRONT OF THE WOOD FAIRY

FOH (Field of Heaven) is by far the crowd favorite stage for ambiance and that effervescent hand-made feel. The do-it-yourself makeshift boutiques, light art installations, and overall deadhead hippie vibe drifting through the air. What’s that I smell? (Just kidding, this is FRF, and even with the growing international presence, it’s still Japan.)

What enticed me into Slow Turtle and Little Eagle’s enterprise was the life-size root sculpture of a sexy tree fairy out front amidst their tasteful and welcoming naturalist entrance installation. We got to talking a bit about their respective hand-made goods for sale, turns out Little Eagle lives on the Big Island Hawaii 10 months out of the year, making special return trips to her native Japan for Fuji Rock and other summer festivals, selling her elegant and flowing design work, dresses, blouses and other comfy looking hippie gear. Slow Turtle practices 60s free-love style lettering and crafts intricate multi-color patterns to be hand-printed, residual flashbacks of twenty years ago or so when the couple (previously married) road tripped around the US, following the Grateful Dead and other fleeting movements of the era. They got bored in Japan, they said, so they headed west. They especially like the wide-open spaces, wilderness, California Redwoods, and Native American population. Japanese artists and free thinkers were drawn to the space and time offered in the US of yore. I met a handful of other FOH vendors who also spent significant time overseas soaking up those influences and coming back to Japan to offer a refined fusion product especially for the lucky FRF attendees. They have been doing so for 14 years!

If you need a sweet throwback shirt or a long one-piece that feels on your body like a cool zephyr on a warm sunny day, head on over to their unassuming geodesic dome, wrapped in twigs and berries, and try on some artful craft apparel via hangers made of silken twine. You can also visit their webshop at SLOW TURTLE.NET

and here's...megumi!

Gaz Mayall has a long history with Fuji Rock, owing mainly but not wholly to the fact that his brother, Jason, is connected with the UK side of the festival organizer. (Both are the sons of the legendary bluesman John Mayall) But he has a longer history with Japan. His ska band the Trojans used to tour here regularly in the 90s, and I saw them a few times. Dressed to the nines and carrying his trademark cane, Gaz was the ultimate showman-bandleader, even if the band he led got by on its tendency to seem that it was about to fall apart any minute. Last night I ran into Gaz in the World Court and, true to form, he promised me that his show the next day at the Field of Heaven would be “full of surprises.” The only thing surprising about a Trojans show would be if it had no surprises. Continue Reading…

Maki hand roasting his coffee

I think most people party pretty hard at Fuji Rock, so finding a place to get the caffeine fix you need to jolt you out of a hangover is an essential thing at the festival. I was lucky enough to discover Lotus Cafe, located right in the middle section of the stalls at Field of Heaven, the first time I came to Fuji and I have been going back there ever since. Everything about the place is fantastic. It has seats, tables, cool clothes, friendly staff and the finest coffee on the site. The owner of the stall is Maki and you often see him relaxing in the back of the tent, tenderly hand roasting the coffee beans to ensure the ultimate freshness. I had a quick chat to him and he said that his stall has been at Fuji right from the very first time it was held. He doesn’t have a shop but sells coffee beans he roasts to other shops in and around his home town of Nishi Oshi in Aichi prefecture. His daughter gets in on the act too, hand baking delicious brownies that go perfectly with a freshly brewed cup. At the moment, you cannot buy his beans online but he is planning to start selling them some time soon at this site.

GOMA'S SINCERE, SOBBING "SAYONARA"

Sunday at lunch, maybe you were headed to the Field of Heaven anyway for one of those delicious flatbread pizzas, or maybe you wanted to freak out dance to the didgeridoo. Either of the two, and you end up watching a fine eclectic performance by Goma and his solid backing 3-piece percussion barrage, the Jungle Rhythm Section. Somebody in the audience was doing an opposite rain dance, too, and the clouds broke, exposing rockers to more sun than had been seen for 3 days; it’s getting a little sweaty under that rain gear, huh?

Even still, thanks to all the bubbles some kid kept blowing, the deep bass-induced trance effect of the didgeridoo and the humidifying atmosphere, it felt like we were all in a submarine. And whether it was planned or not, Goma was wearing a tie-dye cut off that perfectly matched the Field of Heaven’s stage dressing! All factors considered, this was a synchronicitous occasion of emotional proportions.

The didgeridoo has never been this cool. He had a full size on a stand, and a smaller, skinnier handheld one to walk around stage with, playing like a triumphant trumpet. The thing is hard enough to play, but Goma manipulates it in ways I have never heard before. At times it sounded like a DJ record scratching, dubstep bass wobbles, low octave synthesizer riffs, or some kind of crazy flanger reverb effects on electric guitar. It was an amazing sight and sound to behold. Plus, Goma had some sweet dance moves when he wasn’t gurgling into the ‘doo, resembling a pop ‘n’ locking octopus on acid!

Before the last song, Goma tells the audience he was in a car accident 2 years ago and had some brain damage, erasing much of his memory. It has been a long road, but here today, he feels he has arrived. After the last jam, he grabs the mic, already on the verge of tears, and gives the most raw and genuine “Hontouni arigatou gozaimasu” of the festival (really thank you very much). He drops to his knees, and now beyond the verge of tears, the sobbing drops falling from his eyes, too struck with gratitude to move, thanks everyone for coming a few more times, then his band mates come to console their emotional brother, and he embraces each of them one-by-one with big bear hugs. They walk to stage front, give another bow, and exit stage left. I didn’t see that kind of gratitude and emotion from any other acts, and can’t say I have ever seen it after a music show, so it is safe to say Goma gets the Fuji Rock 2011 Grammy winning Thank You speech award; First rate music from a first rate fellow, along with the amazing and talented Jungle Rhythm Section.

Photo courtesy 北村勇祐. More here

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…

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…

There was a noticeable skip in the step of Todd Rundgren as he took the stage on Saturday evening. His band appeared first, and he entered later pacing the entire stage and exhorting the audience with his  microphone. The tune was “Real Man” and at the age of 60 plus, he was doing his best that he could keep up and even overtake many of the other younger performers at the fetival.

The song was a work out, coming in at a heady 8 minutes, complete with hand waving and foot stomping, as if to show everyone that Rundgren was back and was going to make the most out of the opportunity to perform.

An expert arranger and producer, Rundgren could be counted upon to recruit some of the best musicians in the US to go on tour with him. The band was tight and ready, moving easily to numbers such as “Espresso” and “Oh Baby Baby.”

The crowd filled the Field of Heaven and enjoyed everything that Rundgren and his band delivered. Rundgren was equally happy as well, saying “Thank you for packing this place, and thank God it stopped raining.”

Indeed, the heavens seemed to smiling upon this musician tonight, with not a drop of rain falling, and wonderful music and light filling this spectacular stage set high in the mountains of Naeba.