Fujirockers: The official fansite of the Fuji Rock Festival

MY BLOODY VALENTINE LOST IN BLISS IN TOKYO EARLIER THIS YEAR

Classifications of types of music are always difficult to make and one of the most unique, amusing and semantically direct naming of a music genre is “shoegazer.” This form of indie rock which is something like a washed out, spacey guitar haze may only be known to a select few who are heavily into this type of music, but it is quite possible that Japan is home to more shoegazer fans than any other country. Back in 2010 the wonderful Japanese label and publisher P-Vine released a book entitled “Shoegazer Disk Guide” which reviewed 500 shoegazer albums but by far devoted the largest section of the book outlining the band that defined the sound, the Irish outfit My Bloody Valentine (MBV). Formed in 1983 in Dublin and led by guitarist, vocalist and producer Kevin Shields they went on to spawn innumerable other U.K. shoegazer bands such as Ride, Curve, Slowdive, Chapterhouse and by far my all time favorite, Swervedriver. British music bible NME popularized the naming shoegazer because the guitar and bass players of these groups would spend so much time on stage looking down at their vast array of distortion and effects pedals, which were quintessential in producing their distinctive layered sound.

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WHO DA MAN? BRAHMAN

Yes, it’s time for another lineup announcement, and this one is good.

Not only have over 20 new acts just been posted over on the Japanese Fuji Rock Official Page, but also all acts are now listed according to what stage they’re playing on. Finally, you can start planning your fes schedule! For a closer look at some highlights from the new lineup, as well as the full list of newly added artists, click past that pesky “more” bit right here. Continue Reading…

THE AMAZING JACK WHITE

One could be forgiven for forgetting that this is Jack White’s first solo tour. At no point does he appear on-stage alone, more often than not, surrounded by a semi-circle of musicians from one of his two touring bands, the all-female The Peacocks, or the all-male Los Buzzardos. There are no red or white colors on-stage as even the overhead stage lights are switched to robin’s egg blue, accentuating  musicians dressed in a similar color, pairing them nicely with White’s guitar. It’s obvious that White is trying to distance himself from the White Stripes as well as his later bands such as The Raconteurs and Dead Weather. Unfortunately, these influences are like old ghosts, not wanting to be forgotten, and eventually working their way back into the set list, something which h seems even stranger when you learn that White frequently performs without a set-list, communicating with his musicians on-stage, between songs. Actually, he doesn’t even know which band he is performing with each night, touring with both an all-male and all-female band, often deciding at the last minute who will take the stage.

Promoters may hate the added cost, but clearly White is searching for something to spur his music and creativity. You can’t blame him as he’s been touring continuously since the release of the White Stripes debut “White Blood Cells” in 2001. And given his popularity and modest stage decorations (little more than white cloth columns) and given his ability to draw, he should have the right to musically experiment.

Whether his current touring configuration produces the best music possible is another issue. It’s a radical departure from The Raconteurs, a group of close knit friends including accomplished songwriter Brendan Benson that Jack White brought to Fuji Rock on his last visit in 2006. Even on his solo tour,  White draws quite a sizable crowd,  filling the bowl shaped hillside in front of the Green Stage during his performance, including some incredible beer lines as long as 45 minutes. In fact, one group of visitors from Taiwan purchased 36 beers when they reached the front of the line, an official Fuji Rock record, further underscoring the drawing power of Jack White.

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THOM YORKE & CO. DELIVERED LITTLE BY LITTLE

The Radiohead that closed Fuji Rock on the Green Stage this year was probably not the Radiohead that most fans came to see. There were no extended sing-alongs to “The Bends”-era anthems such as “Fake Plastic Trees” or “Street Spirit (Fade Out),” and I could probably count the number of lighters that were held up during the entire two-hour set on a few dozen hands. Instead, Thom Yorke & Co. produced a performance that was arguably more intelligent than the one they delivered at Bonnaroo in June, shunning their older material in favor of a set list that was stacked with highly technical arrangements from their last two albums.

Opening the show with “Lotus Flower,” the outfit from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, delivered a version of the first single from “The King of Limbs” that was ultra-heavy on the electronics, and featured a hitherto unheard keyboard section that struck me right between the eyes. It was a beginning that brought with it an extra large dollop of expectation… Continue Reading…

Toe exemplifying the transcendent splendour of the guitar

Of all the Japanese bands that I wanted to see at Fuji, toe was by far and away the one I was most looking forward to. Having seen these guys play several times at medium sized venues in Tokyo, I was extremely curious to see how their playing style and utterly original sound would be taken in by a crowd of 20,000+ in the majestic mountains of Naeba on Fuji Rock’s main Green Stage. I cannot say that I came even close to seeing all of the 200 or so bands that played over the 3 days at Fuji but of those that I did see (except of course for the incomparable Seun Kuti & Egpyt 80), none even came within a mile of playing with the fervor of toe. I think they could release an entire book of incredible photos of their facial expressions and body positions as they squeeze every iota of energy out of their respective instruments in poses of contorted bliss. Continue Reading…

Elvis live

He’s with The Imposters today, which is basically The Attractions with a different name. From a branding point of view, I bet he’d earn more if he just called them The Attractions. But I don’t get the impression Elvis is in it for the money.

If we’re honest, we all want to hear tracks from the first four albums. And he plays some (“I Don’t Want to go to Chelsea” and “Radio Radio” from This Year’s Model, “Less Than Zero” from My Aim is True), but this show wasn’t so much about songs as about watching four guys who’ve mastered their instruments and their trade. The tracks all blend into each other, nothing sounds as it does on the records, and you forget to worry about whether or not they’re playing a tune you know. It’s just pure, effortless musicianship.

He slowed it way, way down for I Want You, but the rest of the show was uptempo and good jolly fun.

Steve Nieve has his stack of keyboards, a theremin and a melodica. Elvis has an assortment of guitars and a siren. Elvis showed just how great he is on the guitar, but never once getting into audience-boring musician wankery. They’re all as old as the hills but they still clearly find it immensely fun to make sounds, and the songs that they’re famous for are just rough templates to build the show around. Ah, that’s not a good explanation. You just had to be there. It was ace. And jolly good fun before Radiohead comes on and brings us all down.

Still would’ve like to have heard “Oliver’s Army” though.

Pic: Julen Esteban-Pretel
More pics: http://fujirockexpress.net/12/15101.html

Galactic, with special trombonist Corey Henry, grace the Green Stage

New Orlean’s outfit Galactic brought two very special Coreys with them to Fuji Rock this year, both of whom made the 12:30 set shine. Corey Henry, from the Rebirth Brass Band, played the trombone, delivering a muscular performance that saw Henry pushing the instrument to its extreme. He also set the trombone down at one point to rap over one of Galactic’s many jammers, culminating in Henry crowd surfing over the front of the audience, and ending the song with an emphatic “fuck yeah.” Also along for the ride was Corey Glover, the vocalist from Living Colour, who added soulful singing to Galactic’s music and allowed the group to do a propulsive cover version of Living Colour’s most famous tune, “Cult Of Personality.”

These two special appearances added some flair to the show, but Galactic were ultimately the highlight, a tight collection of musicians switching between funk, rock and even hip-hop styles that got the crowd moving. At some point during the set, every member of Galactic got a chance to flex their skills with a solo, from the saxophone to the guitars to the retro-tinged organ. Galactic are the sort of ensemble practically designed for music festivals – they are loose, energetic and most importantly a lot of fun. Plus, they bring great company.

Photo by 北村勇祐, see more photos here.

STILL ROCKING IT STRONG!

With overcast skies and the threat of rain, Ray Davies, commented that he felt just like he was back in his native England. There are rumors that he may be soon back in his native country playing at the closing ceremony for the Olympics. His potential inclusion in this event does not come as a surprise because Ray Davies is a classical Brittish musician and songwriter. And that’s been his key selling point since disbanding The Kinks.

Davies is still a working musician, and two recent albums and collaboration with his backing band The 88s prove this. He looked none of of his 68 years, and as the concert progressed, his jumps and splits got better and better. Both Davies and his band wore black, though he did have a white shirt on under his suitcoat.He appeared every bit the English gentleman and showman, conversing easily with the audience in both call and response and clap alongs.

He began with “I Need You” and then “I’m Not Like Everybody Else”, along with “Sunny Afternoon”, and his classic “Waterloo Sunset.” At one point, Davies took out his autobiography “X-Ray” what he described as the “confessions of a tormented sex craved rock and roller”. The passage he read had to do with developing an identity and maturation, and implored the audience to do the same and find themselves.

And then the dancing began with songs like “Victoria” and “Come Dancing” and then a bit of story telling, describing how he wrote the song “You Really Got Me” on piano and got his brother to play along. Later it was, “All Day And All Of The Night” with Davies saving something special for today’s performance at the Field of Heaven.
More photos here.
Photo credit:中島たくみ

These folks ran to get spots under the shade near the Green Stage

If you had some naive hope that crowds would be a little smaller Sunday following an elbow-to-elbow Saturday, abandon all hope now.

As the official Fuji Rock gates opened at 9 in the morning Sunday, punters ran…not jogged, not dashed…towards the Green Stage, some at a speed that made you fear for anyone who accidentally got in front of them. People making a beeline for the Green Stage area even dropped bottles and other assorted items, but they didn’t pick them up until after they had plopped their camping chairs down. The majority of folks went for the shaded spots underneath the few trees dotting the area.

It can’t be assumed they are there that early in order to guarantee a good spot for Radiohead…but the amount of Radiohead t-shirts already seen before 9:30 is pretty telling.

"I'M TAKING YOU FOR A WALK"

I’m still flabbergasted that Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds was free of other commitments on Saturday night to take the Green Stage headline spot that had been left unannounced for so long.

As such, I decided that instead of me telling you exactly how the former Oasis guitarist sounded during his set, it might be a tad more impartial to let the Mancunian speak for himself.

These are the comments he made to the crowd that I jotted down in my notebook during Gallagher’s one-and-a-half hour set:

• “Will you marry me? (confirming a question from a woman in the crowd) I’m already married. Gee, I love this place. (Something something something) second wife.”
• “I’m taking you for a walk.”
• “What a weird cult.”
• “Would you like a tasty beverage to wash that down?”
• “How do you live here with these ****** bugs?”
  
• “It might be the only time I get to play with you (Speaking to someone offstage). No, he’s ****** off. My own brother.” Continue Reading…

NO ONE AT FUJI TRIED HARDER TO GET THE AUDIENCE TO USE THEIR MINDS

Where to start even trying to put into words what this band showed the Fuji Rock audience today, suffice it to say that they were, in my opinion, by far the best act of the festival. If I may get just a little philosophical, I don’t think it is an exaggeration to say that Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 showed the crowd how to live. If you want to know more about who Seun and his band are, read my pre-fest introduction here. When the band first came on, they played for a good 10 minutes before Seun even made an appearance, showing that it is not just the son of Fela Kuti who is a master of building excitement and intensity. That first and second tracks were ones that his father had composed and throughout the show, with his singing, dancing, command of the band and political message he paid as full as tribute as was possible to the legend that his father will always be. Continue Reading…

Terry Hall, plain speaker

The last time I saw the Specials was several years ago at Summer Sonic. I walked into their performance for want of anything more interesting. I was not a big fan of the Two Tone movement back in the day, preferring the purer punk sound. Ska revival seemed pale compared to Ska original. But the Summer Sonic show shocked me. It wasn’t ska warmed over. It was a wholly original type of music, a band doing what it had developed itself. I suddenly became a fan. Continue Reading…

Well fed and ready to party

During Seun Kuti and Egypt 80’s entertaining set at the Green Stage this afternoon, I came across a very enthusiastic fan that was having a one-man dance party and staying energized by eating half a watermelon at the same time.  Having a spacious piece of land all to himself, he had plenty of room to dance wildly around in circles while waving one hand in the air and holding onto his spoon and watermelon in the other.  The guy definitely earns my respect for finding a way to exercise, eat healthy, and enjoy some great live music at the same time.

A reason to smile

Most descriptions of Special Others, the mostly instrumental music quartet that opened the day’s festivities on the main stage, refer to it as Japan’s premiere postrock ensemble. A few say they lean more toward jazz. “Postrock” is one of those neologisms, like world music, that’s so general it means almost nothing. Usually, postrock outfits eschew vocals for instrumental compositions built around repetitive phrases, so why not just call them jam bands?

Special Others is centered on the hollow-body guitar talents of Dayo Yanagishita, whose got all the jam band tricks down: building tension through long arpeggio or trill patterns, slowing things down so as to build enough momentum for a big finish. Their songs have immediately recognizable melodies that don’t morph into anything distracting. The songs ebb and flow, and if the development of an idea seems to lean more toward the mellow, they know how to galvanize their audience with a climax or two. With the midday sun bearing down directly on a pretty big crowd, those climaxes were often accompanies with 21-gun salutes of water pistols.

Apropos their elastic take on musical style, the members all sported facial hair that gave them that extra Bohemian edge (no tattoos, though), so when they launched into what, up to that point, was an uncharacteristicaly funky piece, my conclusions were thrown for a loop. That’s more like jazz, I thought, and then they gave the drummer a solo. Definitely jam band, I thought. Of course, the audience didn’t care a fig. They were too busy grooving.

photo: Yuji Kitamura

Boom Boom Satellites are more or less veterans of the J-Rock scene – if you want to simplify and call them “rock” – so it’s good to see them in front of tens of thousands of people at sundown, enjoying their well-earned recognition. Guitarist/vocalist Michiyuki Kawashima and bassist/programmer Masayuki Nakano broke out the twin flying Vs and, along with drummer Yoko Fukuda, launched into their set and continued at that rocket pace for its entirety.

The band often came across, oddly, like some strange Underworld/Nine Inch Nails/Oasis hybrid – the latter largely due to Kawashima’s phrasing and knack for a melody, atop the technofied sounds produced by Nakano (and it’s possibly that the only real NIN to be found on stage was the occasional keyboard sound and a propensity for black leather vests). For the most part, the set was forward and steady, without too much change or too many dynamics, but it wasn’t always the case. Kawashima was responsible for some moments that stood apart, be it a sudden break into metal riffery or an explosive moment of physicality in an otherwise generally motionless performance. These guys have been doing what they do for a while, and certainly it’s solid enough that some might argue it seems a bit rote. Still, there’s enough there for fans to have spent the set making thousands of sets of arms bounce in unison.

Photo: 中島たくみ For more photos go here.

Talk about having fun on stage

I am not ashamed to say that I have never heard of Ed Sheeran. He is barely into his 20s and his rise to fame has been at a blinding pace. Just over a year ago, in June of 2011, his first ever single started out at number 3 on the U.K singles charts. A few months later, in September, his debut album “+” managed to sell 102,000 copies in the first week of its release in the U.K alone. He said he had just come back from playing the legendary Montreaux Jazz festival and made the comment that he didn’t know why he had been asked to play at a Jazz festival, seeing as what he does could be classified as soulful folk. Continue Reading…

IAN BROWN OF THE STONE ROSES

Fuji Rock was definitely ready for The Stone Roses. Most in the audience had already done their homework and researched the set-list and the reviews of previous shows on this long awaited reunion tour. But with these elevated expectations, also come the possibility of disappointment.

While audiences in Manchester were won over by the first few bass lines of “I Wanna Be Adored, this song seemed to soar above the heads of the local audience. There wasn’t the instant infatuation that befell the band on earlier tour dates, and to be honest much of the audience was probably too young to have The Stone Roses firmly implanted into their music appreciating brain. They would also know that there would be no pitter-patter between songs, and that Ian Brown’s voice would sound appreciably better with the Roses than with his solo venture.

That said, the volume of the concert seemed to be a bit low, appreciably quieter than the other performers on Green Stage today. I don’t know if this was intended, or one of the ways to bring out the best in Brown’s voice. The set proceeded as expected with standouts like “Sally Cinnamon” though the sound volume put undue onus on the band, and heightened the stakes for “Fool’s Gold.”

And like a good football match, the band beautifully delivered with excellent instrumentals in “Fool’s Gold”, winning over many audience members.It’s always been much more than a paycheck for this band, it was about the swagger, and proving the band deserved the 10 plus years of praise and constant rotation at pubs throughout England. It was a point of national pride for the Roses to perform well.

Many will know that Brown is a martial arts fanatic as well as a fan of scrabble and crossword puzzles. This was evident as letters floated as a backdrop and Brown even pulled Bruce Lee figurines out on stage. The band beautifully delivered their hits such as “Waterfall” and “She Bangs the Drums” and even their closing number “I am the Ressurection.” And they closed with Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”,bringing them full circle.

In the end, there was a group hug onstage and a bow to the audience. And one couldn’t help but think that this was a band at their finest, repenting for their past sins and finally putting their best music out there. Thankfully, they were given another chance to make it all right again.

SCREAM IT UP

There has already been a post made earlier today about the unbelievably good weather here at Fuji this year but I thought it would be fitting to just emphasise again how outstanding it was to be sitting in front of the Green Stage for the first act on the first day of the festival under blue skies, crisp air but rather intense sun. Yes, the rain gods have never been so generous, and in their place the mighty Japanese summer sun has decided to emphatically claim its right to blaze down not only on Tokyo, but also the picturesque mountains of Naeba. So with this perfect weather, the pressure was on for The Back Horn, the opening act on the Green stage, to get the crowd moving and they certainly did. Japanese have always had an affinity for melodic punk rock and these guys seem to strike a precarious yet lovable balance between melodic punk and a smattering of visual kei, not so much in the way they were dressed as in their vocal delivery style. After getting the audience revved up, they finished their set with a power-chord laced ballad to show their soft side.

Photo: 古川　喜隆

Adam Young is perhaps the epitome of the current crop of emo warblers. Though he favors electronica production technique over punkish hyperbole, his sweet processed vocal style and unabashedly personal song subjects hit the center of the craze for boys who feel too much for their own good. The story of Young is even better: holed up in his bedroom in a remote burg in the Midwest, he produced his music all by himself and just sent it out to the world where it flew into the orbits of the sensitive. It was impossible not to form a certain image of the guy, so it was also totally a shock when he walked out on the Green Stage after a 15-minute delay. The guy is tall, buff, and plays the electric guitar. It doesn’t make him any less emo, but it sure calls for an explanation. Continue Reading…

YUSUKE CHIBA OF THE BIRTHDAY

To be truthful, I saw The Birthday last year and pretty much knew what I was going to see. What impressed me was both the volume and quantity of sound being generated by this four piece in songs like “Ready Steady Go.” It was hard to convey my beer order at the Heineken tent on the hill, and nearly just as hard to bum a smoke or a light from someone in the audience.
And the audience was in rapture, a whole hillside of music fans with their mouths agape breathing in this remarkably primal, delicious tunes.

Yusuke Chiba is no stranger to Fuji Rock. He played one of the first festivals which was held in Tokyo’s city center with his previous band Thee Michelle Gun Elephant– a performance that was memorable not only for the use of water cannons to cool down the crowd but also an out of control mosh pit which emerged.

Today on the Green Stage, the audience was equally passionate, but mostly content to clap and cheer the band on. It was a wonderful day for rock and roll with fans crowding the pit in front and up on the hillside. Their have been some line-up changes within the band, but as long as Chiba is at the front of the stage, this band will deliver a solid sound, and fans will be loyal until Chiba says sayonara.
Photo credit: 前田博史

THE GREEN STAGE WHEN IT IS ACTUALLY GREEN

In recent years in Japan there has been growing underground movement dedicated to deserted buildings and ruins, going to them and taking photos as a means of letting your mind wander off in contemplation of the events and people which might have once been a part of these places. They call these ruins haikyo in Japanese and there is even a magazine, called “Wonder Japan” dedicated to showcasing these hidden treasures. Arriving as one of the privileged staff on the Fuji Rock festival grounds on Thursday afternoon is like stepping into one of these enchanted deserted worlds, one that within hours will be filled with more than 30,000 people. Here are a couple of photos of the lush green grass and pristine countryside before the bewildering arrival of the crowds.  Continue Reading…

TOE AT SHIBUYA CLUB QUATTRO IN 2006

In my last post I wrote about a couple of bands who, although being fantastic at what they do, are in my opinion still quite derivative in terms of their sound. The band I am lucky enough to be writing about today, toe, are anything but that, and have ingeniously crafted a style of music I think they can truly call their own. Yes, toe are sometimes lumped into the post rock genre (probably because almost all their songs are instrumental), which is a pretty loosely bound categorization anyway, but their music is completely unique. They formed in 2000 as a four piece with 2 guitars, bass and drums. And what a drummer he is. Being somewhat of a drummer myself, listening to Takashi Kashikura play his drums either on an album or live is like being intoxicated with rhythm, with his incredible speed, precision and power he is anything but your typical drummer and gracefully mixes rock, jazz, bossa nova and african flavors into his rolling beats. Continue Reading…

Hey Toots

So Toots & the Maytals are this year’s Booker T/John Fogerty/old farts that are still on top form.

Recentclips show them still putting on a great show, which is amazing for a group that’s been together for nearly 50 years. Even more amazingly, though they’ve released 28 studio albums, they only have 5 songs: Pressure Drop, Funky Kingston, 54-46 Was My Number, Sweet & Dandy and wasn’t there another one?

For those of you who only know Toots and the Maytals as the people who made a fifth of one of the greatest soundtracks of all time, here’s ten other things you should know:

1) The band holds the record for number one hits in Jamaica.

2) They were the undisputed superstars of Jamaica’s music scene from the mid ‘60s until Bob Marley.

3) The band became famous in Jamaica by winning the inaugural Jamaica Song Festival in 1966 with “Bam Bam”. They won the next year, too, with the now much more famous “Sweet & Dandy”. After winning the third year, they decided not to enter again.

4) Toots is really Fred Hibbert, the youngest of 14 children. Both his parents were dead by the time he was 14.

5) The band won a Grammy in 2006 for an album of collaborations with some of the greatest musicians of all time, plus Shaggy.

6) Toots is a Jamaican country bumpkin and used to walk 5 miles to school each day. His cover of John Denver’s “Country Road” switched West Virginia for West Jamaica.

7) A lot of ska is about dancing, shooting or pleasuring ladies, but early Maytals ska includes some tunes about the Bible, including one that gives shout outs to the various books of the Old Testament. “You have Genesis, and Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, Deutoronomy and Joshua, Judges and Ruth.”

8 ) One of Toots’ producers asked him to write a song about how ugly his brother is. So he wrote “Monkey Man”.

9) Toots & The Maytals were the original Diana Ross and the Supremes. Mr Hibbert wasn’t the frontman until Island Records boss Chris Blackwell told him he was. The rest of them (name one) couldn’t have been too miffed because they’ve been playing as his band for five decades since then. The ones you’ll see at Fuji Rock are the ones you heard on The Harder They Come.

10) Chris Blackwell was also sort-of responsible for the track Funky Kingston. After Funky Nassau went huge, Blackwell figured that it was the combination of Funky + City Name in the title that made it such a hit, so he asked Toots to make another one. And because apparently Mr Hibbert will write a song about anything you like, he obliged. It never became the phenomenon that Funky Nassau still is, but it’s a bloody great record.

So check them out at Fuji Rock. And if you catch Toots wandering around, why not ask him to write a song about an ugly relative or whatever else you like? He seems pretty open to ideas.

www.tootsandthemaytals.com

The dark glasses stay

Yosui Inoue’s lofty status in the annals of Japanese pop music is assured by the usual measures of greatness. He still holds the record for most consecutive weeks at Number 1 on the album charts (35) for his 1973 release Kori no Sekai. He was the first major musician to start his own independent record label, For Life, in 1976. A perhaps less edifying landmark for Inoue, but one that definitely gave him a certain cachet of authenticity, was his 1977 arrest for possession of marijuana, a taste for which he allegedly acquired while hanging out with the high-profile American musicians (Ray Parker Jr., Harvey Mason, Jesse Ed Davis) who played on his 1974 album Nishoku no Koma. Though the bust cost him a portion of his fan base, he never let up in terms of output and even altered his style somewhat to take advantage of the fact that people didn’t expect hits from him any more. Continue Reading…

robert harvey up close and personal

The last act on the last night at the festival at the main stage, The Music had some serious pressure on them to put on a good show. This is after all a rock festival, so what better way to finish it off than with a heavy rock band. Listening to their bass and guitar interplay and seeing vocalist Robert Harvey’s singing style, I was at times reminded of pioneering bands also from the UK like Led Zepplin. In between songs he repeatedly emphasized his appreciation of the Japanese fans, saying how much he loved them all. Japan and Fuji Rock, was in fact one of the places responsible for the band’s success and they have had a steady fan base here, ever since playing at the Red Marquee even before the release of their first album in 2002. It is amazing to think that this festival could help bring so much success to a young band who started playing while they were in high school in 1999.

To show that appreciation in a little more physical way, towards the end of the set Robert asked the reluctant security staff if he could go down with the audience. Although they didn’t allow him to surf the crowd he was permitted to thrash around a bit with the hoards of people packed in at the front of the stage. Thanks to the excellent giant video screens, even those of us standing way back on the hill were able to see his rock star dance moves. They finished the show with an epic tune from their first album which they said they remembered the crowd back in 2002 loving. What an end to the glorious Fuji Rock festival.

Photo 佐俣美幸. More images here.