DID SOMEONE SAY FONDUE?
The mystery of the cheese deepens. The bright yellow wedge was spotted earlier Sunday afternoon being marched through the Field of Heaven by two rodents towards a fate that to date remains uncertain. Anyone able to provide any more details?
SUPERSTARS ATDI CLOSE OUT THE WHITE STAGE
“I just ate a corn dog the size of Cincinatti!” Direct quote from Cedric’s opening banter. Later he would note the soft and hard bidet (for those unfamiliar it is an ass-washing toilet) that he enjoyed this morning, “Check my shit out.” Though unfortunately, as Fujirock.com blogger Shawn notes, this kind of humor is all but lost on about 98% of the audience due to the language barrier.
Also I should warn you that I am slightly biased. I’ll be writing this review via my experience in the pit. Getting knocked around, sweated on and kicked by a few crowd surfers may have given me temporary amnesia. Still, I will do my best to recall what went down.
All smiles Sunday morning
Having to play at 10:00 A.M. on Sunday is never an easy task, yet Matsusaka Daisuke stepped up and delivered a set that matched the way festival goers’ day unfolded. His set opened with samples of children playing, matched up against airy electronics and flashes of acoustic guitars. There was no beat whatsoever, and the floating feel of the music matched the crowd at the time – sleepy-eyed, with most folks spread out on the grass, trying to fit in a little more shut eye. The next few songs were crystalline, fragile and pretty and far from aggressive.
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…
Michael Kiwanuka uses those wodnderful vocal chords of his
Michael Kiwanuka’s singing is something to behold. He has a deep voice, one the British singer uses primarily to sing soulful numbers, numbers where the vocals are front and center. Yet Kiwanuka never totally commands the music – he didn’t recruit a backing band as a way to show off his attention-grabbing voice. Instead, during his late-afternoon show at the Red Marquee, his voice came off as strong but inviting, Kiwanuka content to let his voice flow with the backing sounds instead of trying to conquer them.
Scenes from the Atomic Cafe
Gojira, Hoshano and Hikasyu’s Atomic Cafe ended on a scary moment late Sunday afternoon, when a guest vocalist appeared to collapse to the ground. Various Fuji Rock staff and backstage officials checked on the singer, who had been singing along to a cover of Kraftwerk’s “Radioactivity.” Following the end of the song, she was carried to the back. Details weren’t given about what happened, and her current condition is unknown.
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…
play that song
The last concert at Gypsy Avalon for the Atomic Cafe was performed by Masafumi Goto of the punk band Asian Kung-Fu Generation, which got its big break at Fuji Rock back in the day. Goto is also a vocal proponent of the No Nukes movement, though it would have taken a very discerning mind to extract some sort of antinuclear subtext from the songs he played. He did have a certain anti-establishment look to him, with his guerrilla cap and his acoustic guitar. The hill was completely covered by seated fans, some of whom hoped he would play AKFG songs. He played a few solo numbers, and after he brought out his partner in the band, drummer Kiyoshi, one fan had had enough and trooped up to the stage and asked him if he wouldn’t play a song by his band. It was a bit of a shock and Goto took it in stride. He just said, “sure.” It wasn’t as if he had a definite set list. The rest of the audience seemed pleased as well, as if they were just hoping that someone would do what this fellow did. For no particular reason, he also played a Weezer song he had translated into Japanese, and finished with a preview of a song from the next AKFG album slated for September release. It was in English, and consisted solely of the lyrics, “one, two, three, four, five, six, baby.” He got the whole audience to sing along. It wasn’t very difficult.
photo: Kondo
DID THEY HAVE A GOOD TIME OR WHAT!
Since 1993 this ensemble hailing from Amsterdam has been redefining their own brand of Dutch jazz, and gaining headway in more diverse venues and pop and rock festivals like Fuji Rock as well as Roskilde, Pink Pop, Lowlands, Camden Mix and Aberdeen Alternative.
Tonight as the sun set and the sky went from orange to midnight blue to black, the 8-piece took us on a trip. There was bossa nova, free jazz, Afro-beat, all utterly seamlessly blended to perfection. Then come the solos.
But, these guys don’t solo. Solo does not explain what they do; doesn’t do them justice. What they do is bend and re-adapt instruments both playfully and smart. Take drummer Joost Kroon, who plays so unbelievably fast and can decrescendo to a whisper sustaining that machine gun beat only to bring you back strong and steady maintaining composure and accuracy, leaving you wondering how the hell he is doing that! Seriously one of the best if not the best drum solos I have ever seen.
Gezan Opening the Rookie A Go-Go Stage
The four male members of Gezan came out one at a time on Friday night for their opening set on the Rookie a Go-Go stage. All dressed up for the occasion (the bassist and guitarist/vocalist both wore dresses, the other guitarist wore silver spaceman pants, and the shirtless drummer sported leopard print pants) each player walked to the front of the stage and struck a pose for the crowd before picking up their instrument.
Love is hardcore
The head of the record company who releases Fucked Up, the Canadian six-piece hardcore group, in Japan told me not to focus on the lead singer Pinkeye during their performance. He insisted the group itself is the main attraction. “They’re really serious,” he said, meaning they play seriously, which may seem to contradict the precepts of punk. Continue Reading…
Getting From the Campground to the main gates can be a time consuming process
A laidback attitude is essential to camping at Fuji Rock. There are queues pretty much all day long for the toilets, sinks, showers, and to use the onsen. There is even a really long line in the morning just to get out of the campsite. Here’s a photo of a whole lot of very patient Fujirockers waiting to get out of the camping area at 10:30 am.
Howler on the Red Marquee Stage
The crowd gathered at Red Marquee Sunday afternoon didn’t seem particularly energized for anything. It’s a rough period – the afternoon of the last day of a music festival that has been surprisingly, oppressively hot. Summoning up energy for anything at 1:50 in the afternoon sounds like a herculean task. Minneapolis-band Howler had to perform to this crowd, and for the first few songs it didn’t look like the crowd, save for a few arm-wavers in the front, were having any of it. To Howler’s credit, though, they delivered a fast-moving set full of catchy hooks that ended up waking a good portion of the crowd up.
Howler played sun-soaked rock music, the sort of post-Strokes stuff that became the norm of underground scenes for the past decade. The group’s personal touch on it are snarky lyrics (which couldn’t really be heard at Red Marquee) and an appreciation for 1950’s American rock. Some tracks featured beach-pop elements (the appropriate-enough “Beach Sluts”) while others would have felt at home in a Leave It To Beaver-era diner (well, ignoring the lyrics, but it was hard to make those out Sunday). Lead-singer Jordan Gatesmith also came across as very affable, and his laid-back attitude made Howler’s ramshackle rock go down even easier. The crowd could still go for a nap, but Howler helped pick things up Sunday afternoon.
Photo by Julen Esteban-Pretel, see more photos here.
KEEP COOL TILL AFTER SCHOOL
I popped into Kidsland on the way to the White Stage earlier today in order to get a taste of what it would be like to come to Fuji Rock as an energetic seven year old. I was lucky enough to meet Gifu-based Toshiyaki and Nobue, who were more than happy to corral their kids together to answer a few tough questions about the festival I had up my sleeve. When asked what they liked about the festival, 9-year-old Nanaho managed to rattle off two answers: the river and the rope walk that forms part of the Tarzan Challenge. Her younger brother Kansuke, 7, and sister Shiori, 5, both looked at the dirt at their feet, and nodded their head once in agreement. It is the kids’ first time at the festival, although Toshiyaki made his first appearance 12 years ago. When asked to describe Fuji Rock in one word, the young trio answered in chorus without hesitation: 楽し! (Fun!)
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.
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.
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.
SERVICE WITH A SMILE
With wallets thinning after three days at Fuji Rock, most of us will be keeping one eye open for alcohol deals that offer plenty of value for money as the party winds down this evening. Located near the entrance to the back of the Red Marquee near the Naeba Shokudo stage, the Summer Cocktail Bar charges the same rate as almost everyone else for a beverage at Fuji Rock: ¥500 for a Zanpa (Okinawa shochu). That in of itself is not surprising. What is surprising is the serving size: a full glass. Knock yourselves out…
A little jump rope to start the day
The Day Dreaming and Silent Breeze area of Fuji Rock felt particularly easy-going Sunday morning. More families made the 20-some-minute gondola ride up, meaning many more little kids running around and having a good time. Many set up chairs, bought some ice cream and relaxed. Others snapped photos of the gorgeous landscape. In one corner, a game of soccer broke out.
The sight that stood out the much, though, was a giant jump rope being swung around. Adults and children lined up to take turns making a solitary leap through the rope, as the crowd surrounding the game counted how many people could get through without getting snagged in the rope. The highest I saw it get was nine people, although it looked like this would be going on for a while.
If you have something to say, scream it
There’s just a whole shitload of great hard rock bands toiling at the margins of Japan’s rock scene, and you can always catch a few of them in the morning at the Red Marquee. Yesterday, it was Asparagus, but Lostage has been around even longer; long enough to have gone through at least two personnel changes. The very large crowd that showed up was stoked even before security removed the tape from the entrance, and stomped and shouted to get themselves psyched for the show, holding up white towels with the name of the band magic markered in black. They obviously knew something.
The band seemed oblivious to the ovation when they walked out. Too cool, or too early? Regardless, they gave the people what they wanted, a whiplash pseudo-rockabilly slice of precision hardcore that tore through the shed like a scythe. Bassist Takahisa Gomi’s shredded vocals and Tomokazu Iwaki’s caveman drumming did a number on sensitive eardrums (it definitely was too early for some of us). After several songs of this the band paused for only a moment and members of the audience prodded them to say something. It’s standard operating procedure, even for hard rock bands toiling at the margins: gotta connect personally to your audience. Takahisa obviously wasn’t into it but felt obliged to say something, so he essentially said he had nothing to say, but added he was “moved” by the response. From there the songs became a little less harsh, a little more emo, but no less visceral. Lostage doesn’t get by on any one style, and is as capable of Mogwai-like expansion as it is agile with super-focused punk. They’re a band of few words but big actions. Discover them yourself.
photo: Maeda
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.
Everyday I got 'em
Buddy Guy was supposed to play at last year’s festival but cancelled at the last minute due to illness, which is understandable since he’s about to turn 76. Old bluesmen are not the kind of anomaly that old rockers tend to be, the idea being that the scourges of experience add weight to the traditional subject matters of the blues–women, money, and women. That said, Buddy Guy doesn’t seem ready to go just yet. Unlike a lot of blues musicians his age, he won’t sit down during a set, and, in fact, wanders far and wide–even into the audience. On the title song of his newest album, “Living Proof,” he claims to be “74 years young,” which sort of makes for a conundrum: he’s still got the juice, but who’s gonna put out for an old man? As he muttered after singing a line about the temptations of a 19 year old, “I didn’t write that.” Now that’s the blues.
The juice was channeled into the performance, which he’s obviously done so many times he could probably block it out in his sleep. “I don’t bring a set list,” he told the audience, who didn’t care anyway, though he seemed a bit put off by the Steve Kimock set at the adjoining Heaven stage. The bleed interfered with his very carefully planned quieter moments. The audience kept up like troopers. They know all these standards, so when he asked the crowd to finish a line from “Hoochie Coochie Man” or “While You Were Slipping Out” they obliged with no special prompting. And as brilliant a line as “gonna play something so funky you can smell it” is, you know he says it every concert. Being as old as he is it’s perhaps surprising he doesn’t say it twice.
But it wasn’t age that allowed him the dispensation he sought. It was just raw talent. Everybody knows he’s the guy Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton looked to as a model, and if he’s never been as famous as the former or as rich as the latter, he’s done well and as he kept telling the audience, “I’m happy.” Is that the blues? Well, maybe a little more dispensation is in order. He did guitar impersonations of both Hendrix and Clapton that were actually pretty funny, as if to not only say, “I taught them this shit,” but “I can even do it better.” No argument there, but when he went into “Strange Brew” he also imitated the vocal. All my life I thought Jack Bruce sang that song. You can learn a lot from an old bluesman.
photo: Okamura
THE ARTIST LOVES YOU, REALLY
Coming all the way from France, you would think more dancers would stay up for this special engagement with the young Agoria. I guess you could say it is comfortably crowded in the Red Marquee, but I would not call it packed. Maybe the dance-a-holics got their fix last night at All Night Fuji? Or the Crystal Palace’s reputation preceding itself has stolen the night owl crowd. That, and a shitload of people are splayed out all over the place, too exhausted to stand let alone dance or even make the trek back to their tents I suppose.
Agoria comes out strong. The troops that are sticking with are digging it. He does a nice job of stretching breaks and playing with the bass volume and fades, yet somehow keeping the crucial dancing rhythms he’s been layering intact. Different from his recorded work, and a far cry from his soundtrack concepts, his live show comes much heavier than expected. I suppose the heartbeat of the night is necessary to remind those campers lost in the woods, and people nodding off in and out of consciousness on lawn chairs everywhere within hearing distance that this is the “#$%&’& Tribal Circus at Fuji Rock Festivaaaaaal!
In frequent vocal sample application and organ melodies reminiscent of Derrick May’s early techno, Agoria’s versatility and various roots in the broader definition of the electronic music genre come out.
He was slotted 3:30-5am, though somehow he dodged and dooped the stage manager numerous times, holding his finger up saying, “One more, one more.” That went on 5 or 6 times until around 5:20 the stage manager brought reinforcements and nearly had to pull Agoria from his decks; Mr. Manager was not a happy camper. And the crowd still loving it, whom “The artist loves” – as his simple white T-shirt read– was with him till the bitter end. The Dex Pistols even came to pay homage and hear the finale. Nancy Sinatra though had the last word as she quipped loud and clear and classy, and perhaps somewhat sarcastically at the current situation of Agoria’s chagrin at having such an unreasonable 5am DJ curfew, “Bang bang…shot me down, bang bang.”
And with that, let the stink of the morning after rise. (Big ups to the Seed Japan volunteers picking up after everyone’s mess.) Now as the sun already begins to bake campers in tents, how about a few hours shut eye before we do it all again?
Photo Courtesy Smashing Mag 府川展也. See more here.
CHECK OUT HER DELTOIDS
How does the beat go on at this solar-powered stage well after the sun goes down?
The electricity of Magnolia feeding the PA system, that’s how.
“Minna hirogemashou,” Magnolia front woman says to the relaxed Gypsy Avalon crowd as they come out to play. That can mean something along the lines of –”Everyone, let’s A) spread B) extend C) enlarge D) widen E) broaden F) unfold G) open or H) unroll.” You get the idea.
Maiko Kishi in her red fedora and toned guitar-playing tambourine-shaking arms showcased in a funky tank top led her new band mates, the gaunt wizardman bassist Toshiyuki Kasahara, guitarist Tsuru Onishi and Kyoichi Shiino on the drum kit in a rendition of the well known Youngbloods’ song “Get Together.” You know the hook, “Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now.” And with all those tough ‘th’ pronunciations in there, they did a great job with the English version nonetheless.
Magnolia vocalist has a Joan Baez political edge to her look and manner. Just add a pinch of dancing and that voice conjuring the spirit of Janis Joplin.
Six years ago she played solo on the Field of Heaven, a stage that she said herself was too big; she was shocked. But, the producers got it perfect this time around placing her as headliner here, closing out the Gypsy Avalon stage where she seemed to blend into the backdrop, her backing band mates somewhat in the shadows of the small stage while her smiling lit the way. The intimacy of their show was tangible.
Photo Courtesy Smashing Mag 平川けいこ. See more here.
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