Fujirockers: The official Fuji Rock Festival blog

It seems like I am not the only one who thought these sausage sandwiches at the Russian food tent in the Orange Court were delectable. While I was browsing through the Japanese counterpart to this English site today, I noticed that one of the Japanese writers had also devoured one of these bad boys and been as equally as impressed. Seeing as this sausage was being sold at a Russian food stand, I guess that the translation of the Japanese katakana name was “kielbasa,” which seems to be a thick sausage common in Eastern Europe and the Ukraine. Anyway, this was the best food I ate at Fuji Rock and if you see this stall at the festival, please try one of these. Not only was the sausage amazing but there was a perfectly balanced spicy mayonaise sauce to go with it. Continue Reading…

The all-out freak-out jam last night at Orange Court, started by two wee kalimbas (thumb pianos), and carried through by a cast of about a dozen multi-talented and incredibly diverse skilled musicians, singing, dancing and banging things was what huge international festivals like Fuji Rock should be all about. To see a musician going beyond their own song list, bending and blending styles, and expressing the inner rhythm to the beat of just one drum (a HUGE hide skin thing tonight), rekindles the definition of a true artist, reaching higher, further, stretching, aching 15-minute jams kind-of further, to embrace the crowd as a pulsing organism comprised of precious individual expression.

Deerhoof front lady Satomi Matsuzaki lent her vocal styling’s to a rare distinguishable vocal hook “No one can change no one else.” That was both fitting precisely into the motley percussive Congotronic rhythm and still hosting a tint of Satomi’s own unique voice. Wildbirds and Peacedrums‘ Ms. Mariam also impressed with a vocal pipe strength both primal as what archetypal native African singing might bring to mind, but with incredible inflections and a bunch of other pleasant surprises, with passion ever-present.

The smiles never ceased on all the Congotronics members’ faces. Their authenticity, playing steady since the 70’s, was contagious. I think if they had it their way, the crowd and band would become one, like a dusty Congolese café, patrons boogying, having fun, picking up a drum, expressing the movement and sound that go hand-in-hand in spinning the globe. So global music meshes like this can be expected more, I hope, and it will be fun to see what genres morph next.

Photo courtesy Julen Esteban-Pretel. More photos here

I wrote in my post yesterday that Deerhoof’s drummer was by far the best I have seen at this year’s Fuji and although it is still only Saturday, I am supremely confident that I witnessed the best guitarist at the festival tonight at the Orange Court. Yes, I am well aware that many musicians may have been more interested in seeing Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones play with the Faces but believe me, Marc Ribot has the kind of control over his guitar that Ronnie could only fantasize about. It is no surprise that Ribot has been a staple session musician for many years, playing live and in the studio with greats like Lou Reed and Tom Waits. Although he always has numerous music projects going on at any one time, he could not have chosen a more appropriate unit to take over for Fuji Rock. His Los Cubanos Postizos allow Ribot to bring his guitar alive to a backdrop of infectious Latin grooves. Watching him play was truly an unforgettable experience. With the crazed motion of his head and his hands moving over the strings with lightning speed and precision, I kept imagining that he was using his instrument to somehow channel the spirits of all the legendary guitarists who have come before him. Continue Reading…

The organizers of Fuji Rock must really like this group because in the past they have been the final special guest act on the Green Stage on the closing night of the festival. They are unquestionably a sight to behold, with 2 drummers, a percussionist, horns, guitars and keyboards, the stage was overflowing with people and their instruments. What they play is very hard to describe but I think the closest point of reference might be Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and On the Corner albums. They started their set very nicely with some slick funk bass lines and and smatterings of cosmic sounding keyboard playing. As time went on though they got more and more experimental, taking the audience on a twisting journey through ultra quick time changes, bursts of noise and a barrage of layered rhythms. The underground Japanese music scene is well known for its obsession with the extreme and watching this band perform it is easy to see why.

Picture by Julen Esteban-Pretel. More here.

I have seen quite a few bands in the first day and half of Fuji Rock but so far, no band has managed to energize the crowd as much as this crew from Valencia in Spain, Obrint Pas. I checked them out online briefly before coming to the festival and they were one of the bands I hadn’t heard of that I wanted to see. Their sound was quite formulaic but we can completely forgive them for that because they do their brand of ska/punk/hardcore so well. The two band members who caught my eye were a man with bright red hair playing an even brighter yellow accordion and one guy from the horn section playing a traditional instrument from Valencia called the “dolçaina” which sounded something like a kazoo. This band really knows a thing or two about crowd control, at one stage getting everyone to crouch down and then propel themselves into the air. Their contagious enthusiasm and the reaction it got from those watching reminded me of another performance I saw on that same stage many moons ago, the phenomenal Sun Ra Arkestra. It was good to see a bit of political activism from a couple of fans near the stage, one holding a big flag saying “Say no to nuclear energy.” The singer was in full agreement, telling the crowd that nuclear power and weapons have no place in this world.

Photo by Julen Esteban-Pretel. More here.

It was hard. Not difficult. Just hard.

Protoculture took over from Darren Emmerson at about 3:00 or so. The general consensus was that Emmerson would be a hard act to follow. He had satisfied many with just what they had hoped for. And, it seems, surprised a few that were expecting less.

And thusly Protoculture took over. We knew it would be a different kettle of fish the moment Emmerson put on Protoculture’s first wreck chord for him. Bangin. Hard. From the get go. Isn’t that what techno is? Ask your mum. She’ll tell you. Ts bm ts bm ts bm ts bm. Ad nauseum.

Well, I don’t think it has to be. And I’d quite prefer it if it wasn’t. It was ok. But that’s what it was to me, and it seemed others too. Take The Lawnmower Man, when asked for his opinion on Emmerson: He was better than the next guy. Yes, indeed.

The highlight for me were the visuals. Three fire dancers, including two belly dancers. This was complemented by random bursts of flame from two jets either side of the stage. It was enough to take enough of my attention, and meant I enjoyed the music more, even if it was due to it being relegated to the background, for me anyway. I was also distracted by asking the punters present to write my Darren Emmerson piece.

But that said, I’ve heard so called “masters” of techno do much, much worse. It kept the crowd dancing, anticipating the next act. System 7. A fine way to finish a party.

Photo by 近澤幸司
More photos HERE

It’s both a blessing and a curse: in Japan, everything is on time. This means that you never miss anything. Or that you always do.

I blame Don Coglione. It was he who scoffed when I suggested I might skip Manu Chao in the Crystal Palace. There are many things I will grin and bear, but scoffing is not one. So Manu Chao proved to be well worth the effort. But it meant I arrived for Darren Emmerson at 2:56. Or 25:56, if you follow the Japanese space time continuum. So, with four minutes left of his set, I did what any self respecting FujiRocker in my position would do: I asked the audience to write the review for me. Here’s what they had to say:

The Adonis told me: Emmerson really got the crowd going. He played a lot of hard stuff. He was much better than The Adonis expected.

The Con Man said he was kind of a little hard, but soft around the edges. He played a few Underworld like tracks, but no full Underworld plates like “Born Slippy”. We agreed that he leaves that for Paul Van Dyk.

The Fat Man told me he likes ten bags of Charlie. I think he meant himself, not Emmerson.

The Lawnmower Man said: better than the guy after him.

The False Groover said: Don’t ask me, I might tell you the truth. I’m jaded.

All I can say is this: in those last four minutes, I felt love. Donna Summers love. And THAT… is never a bad thing.

Photo by 近澤幸司
More photos HERE

What a brilliant way to start of the action and the ever enticing Orange Court with an epic instrumental rock/free jazz/jam band from Japan. If you can imagine the precision with which one of those futuristic robots works in car manufacturing plant, that may give you some insight into just how tight these guys are. Their razor sharp blasts of controlled noise were the perfect way for people who were a bit hungover from last night’s festivities to get a shot of energy to the brain.  Essentially a rock band with a keyboardist, what really gives these guys their kick is their two sax players and a trumpeter. The highlight was definitely guitarist “AxSxEx.” It seemed like he was trying to ignite the stage with static electricity from his huge mop of hair. He finished the set by stuffing the mic into his mouth, followed by a Kurt Cobain style smash of his guitar onto the ground.

Photo by 佐俣美幸.  More photos here.

It is understandable why the big international acts get most of the attention at Fuji Rock but let’s not forget that this festival is in one sense about celebrating the beauty of Japan. Not just the beautiful scenery of majestic Naeba where the festival is held but about appreciating the amazing Japanese people and, seeing as it is a music festival, the brilliant, uniquely Japanese music that they create. Every year the insightful people at Smash do a fantastic job of bringing some lesser known yet absolutely fantastic band to Fuji. One great example is perhaps my favorite Japanese live band, Both Cheese. When they have played at the festival they weren’t on any of the big stages but that did nothing to deter them from putting on an awesome show. Looking at the schedule it seems yet again that most of the Japanese acts are starting earlier in the day or playing on one of the more minor stages so make sure you don’t ignore those brunch time bands that can be equally as exciting as the headline artists. Igniting the always amazing Orange Court this year as the first band on Friday morning is Natsumen, another Japanese band I adore. It only takes a bit of research to get some appreciation of the amazing jam/improvisational bands that this country has to offer and Natsumen are one of those incredibly free form units that take your mind off to some distant place every time you listen to them. This 8 person unit is made up of members of some other great bands including Boat, Beat Crusaders, l.e.d, Frisco and Snakerock. Their intense instrumental workouts are built around an incredibly tight rock framework with free jazz and even sometimes classical elements thrown in. Any rock or psychedelic music lover who can listen to this tune and say that it is anything less than phenomenal needs some serious therapy.

It’s Mate as in the tea, not the friend, and the band hails from Frankfurt, Germany.

No, come on, wait, before you click away, Germany has given us plenty of fine acts. Beethoven was good. So was Bach. And don’t forget the Scorpions.

The German language, of course, sounds like someone kicking a typewriter down a staircase, which makes it all the more impressive when a band comes along that can make it sound good. Like Mate Power.

MP sound like they were formed to play Fuji. It’s all ska up front (and is there any mainstream festival anywhere in the world that loves ska quite as much as Fuji?) but members of the band have roots in South America, so they mix a little cumbia in for the kind of multicultural party sound that Fuji adores.

And if none of that has given you an idea of what a Mate Power show is like, check out this ace graphic that you can download as a pdf from their website:

The Power seem to tour Japan annually, and their YouTube channel has some tapes of their exploits. See below.

This time will also be a full tour, so check em out in the outdoors, then check em out inside.

http://www.myspace.com/matepower

http://www.matepower.com

In 2009, the All Night Fuji was washed out, and had to be cancelled due to the thick mud on Orange Court. Something about safety concerns, or the organisers forgot their gumboots, or something like that. The invisible army worked all night to suck up the last of the offending slime and take it away for your standing pleasure on the Saturday and Sunday. We missed out on the likes of Towa Tei, Ken Ishii, and more. It was a sad day. Or a sad night.

However, it didn’t affect the last performance on Orange’s normal lineup, that being System 7. These guys with their unique blend of instrumental and traditional techno (should that be the other way around?) had the soon-to-be-shut-down court fairly grooving, and became more and more packed out as the performance continued. Continue Reading…

It is fantastic to see the organizers of Fuji Rock realize the importance of a good education. I am not talking about learning calculus or the periodic table of the elements, but the kind of music education that gives all the youngsters who go to the festival some idea of just how it is their favorite new indie rock band out of the UK came to be. A perfect example of this was when they brought out John Fogerty for last year’s event (live review here). His legendary band Creedence Clearwater Revival made some absolutely classic rock/folk music before splitting up in 1972, well before the vast majority of the people at Fuji were born. For this year’s history lesson they have invited over not only a man whose first album release was in 1965, but one of the few remaining living gods of the blues world, Buddy Guy. Nothing could be more fitting to educate the young crowd at Fuji Rock than bringing over a real blues man, it was blues music after all that gave birth to rock. Although fans of these bands may well beg to differ, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin and Jimi Hendrix all borrowed incredibly heavily from blues, in some cases making hit tunes by simply taking classic blues songs, making them heavier and speeding them up. Jimi was a particularly big fan having this to say about Buddy: “Heaven is lying at Buddy Guy’s feet while listening to him play guitar”. It is not only the mechanics and the form of blues music that was such a catalyst for the birth of rock but the art of the on-stage rock performance owes a huge debt to blues. Anyone who has seen a blues band play in a dingy Chicago blues club can attest to fact that even if there are only 20 people in the audience, part of playing the blues is being a good showman. Buddy Guy at the Orange Court on Sunday night. Watch, listen and learn.

The Orange Court and Field of Heaven are down the far end of the festival site for a good reason — to keep people like me away from the rest of the festival. We’re the ones that don’t recognise any of the names on the Red Marquee bill but look forward to seeing Humbert Humbert. There was a time when I thought of music festivals as a giant jukebox and would run around all my favourite musicians. These days I see Fuji as a chance to chill out in the mountains, and the role of the musicians is to provide the background music. And in the daytime I want something sweet and mellow, which is Humbert Humbert.

But before we get into all that, let’s acknowledge that the band takes its name from the pervy narrator of Lolita, which is probably not a good idea for a band that hails from the land of pervy Lolita fetishes, and whose debut video began with a cartoon of a doe-eyed nymphet, drawn from a weird angle that made it look like some perv was crawling around on the floor of a classroom, looking up skirts.

Perhaps its just as well I don’t know what they’re singing about.

Nevertheless, HH’s chirpiness will make a great intro to Sunday if I can get up in time. And I’m hoping for plenty of their country sound. I always wish there was a bit of country at Fuji Rock – the good stuff, not the cheesy stuff – and as somebody wrote in the comments section of the video below, Humbert Pervert do country music better than the Americans.

http://www.humberthumbert.net/

As a rock festival, Fuji has always strived to be as inclusive as possible, but never has there been this many A-level African acts in the lineup: Three groups who have transcended the limiting label of “world music” to become global influences in their own right. Any one of them would sell out immediately in a major world capital. Take Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia, the blind married couple from Mali who now make their home in Paris. They’ve been professional musicians since the 1970s, though it wasn’t until Spanish polymath Manu Chao took them on as a production project in 2005 that they became well-known outside of Africa and Europe. Purists and diehards bemoaned the “crossover” flavor of Chao’s ministrations, an opinion that inadvertently insulted their artistry. Amadou and Mariam have too much experience as seasoned performers to fall victim to some producer’s idea of what white kids might like. They treated the rock guitars, the synths, even the occasional English lyric as if all of it were theirs to begin with, and then they casually blew everyone away. This isn’t to downplay the beauty and excitement of their more traditional songs of love, harmony, and social responsibility (one of their best tracks is a plea to truck drivers in Mali to be careful and not run over wild animals), which they can deliver effectively with just Amadou’s plaintive guitar and Mariam’s head-clearing vocals. But this is a rock festival, and this is a couple who can boogie with the best of them. (Also, note that Manu Chao is playing at the festival as well, so there’s a distinct possibility he’ll show up to jam if scheduling permits.) Continue Reading…

I am ecstatic about being able to bring you this appetizer for the Fuji Rock performance of Marc Ribot Y Los Cubanos Postizos. It just so happens that a very good friend of mine, Mary, is Mr. Ribot’s manager and she was kind enough to give me all the inside info on what he has been up to of late and even get an exclusive message from Marc himself for readers of Fujirockers! Ribot has been one of the most highly respected session guitarists in the world for more than two decades, recording and performing with the likes of Tom Waits, Robert Plant, Medeski, Martin and Wood, McCoy Tyner, Marianne Faithful and has appeared on recent albums by Elvis Costello, John Mellancamp, Nora Jones and Jeff Bridges to name a few. On the numerable albums he has released on his own and with his side projects he has shown his limitless versatility as guitarist, exploring free jazz, punk, noise as well as beautiful, introspective material. He will hit Fuji Rock after playing the legendary Montreal Jazz festival with his renowned crew of Latin Jazz maestros, Los Cubanos Postizos. The lineup for the band will be the same as the last time they played Japan in 2001 and I am sure that after a 10 year wait, both the audience and the band will be psyched up for an intense show. Lots more info, great sounds and live footage of Ribot can be found on his website.

He has had a long and creatively inspiring relationship with Japan and in March played at an Earthquake benefit concert in NY organized by John Zorn. You can see just how much Ribot loves the country from this message he wrote especially for his fans who will be at Fuji:

“Greatly looking forward to playing Fuji Rock with Los Cubanos Postizos:
Long time since the Postizos have played Japan: but I can’t think of a better time than now, with all the tragedies that has happened since the earthquake we want to show our support..Let’s rock the house!”
M ribot

Mallacan: if you’re from northeast Spain, the Aragón, you may not know this band. So think of them as the Aragonese version of Sublime, seven guys in black t-shirts cranking out hardcore guitar riffs, reggae backbeats and dancey horn parts, all while throwing an occasional devil horns hand symbol out to the crowd. As Aragón perceives itself as somewhat autonomous (not unlike neighboring Catalan), there was even someone in the crowd flying an Aragonese flag – red and yellow stripes with a red star in the center. Do they rock? Definitely. And apparently they’ve been proving this across Europe for 15 years. But this was a first landing in Japan, and they provided a Sunday afternoon with plenty of bounce. If you didn’t feel it, the MC was even screaming, “Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!”

Not that many people showed up for Sandii Suzuki’s collaborative performance with the kalimba player Bun of Koh-Tao and the Te Hive Hui No Manumere Dancers, which I believe are from her hula dancing school. Sandii’s evolution from 1980s bilingual rock singer to world music maven to award-winning hula dancer provides her with plenty of outlets for her creativity, and the show at the Orange Court was publicized as being “Earth Conscious.” Continue Reading…

Despite garnering high praise internationally, Quasimode drew only a few hundred fans to Orange Court for their Sunday evening performance. Unfortunately, the gents were slotted at the exact same time as LCD Soundsystem (White Stage) and Hot Chip (Red Marquee) and a mere 50 minutes before the local debut of Atoms For Peace on the Green Stage. All of which likely deterred many from making the long hike to Orange Court.
Continue Reading…

Imagine the moonwalk, but sideways. That’s the dance of the guitarist from Moriarty. It looks like his legs are made of rubber, and he’s doing the OK Go video for Here It Goes Again without the treadmill. That’s the single greatest dance move I’ve ever seen, and gave me a kind of male crush.
The other stunning thing about Moriarty is the singer’s voice. It reminded me of Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star. If there were trophies for Fuji Rock, she’d own the Best Singer cup. That’s an idea that Smash might like to consider. For the finale each Sunday night, they could present cups to the best guitarist (Vato Negro I suppose) and drummer (the bloke behind John Fogerty) and dancer (see above). And Mrs Moriarty for best singer. Haunting. That’s a cheesy, obvious word, but her voice was haunting.
The first tune I heard when i turned up late was a country tune about buffalo roaming. I love country music. Even songs about buffalo roaming. From French people. I wonder how you can grow up in France and end up singing songs about buffalo. They also sing a song called “I want a robot”, which wasn’t very country, but did have a chorus that involved the crowd yelling “roboto hoshi” back. I assume this wasn’t written in Japanese, but surely not every language has words that fit.
Moriarty made the most effort to speak in Japanese. They’d memorized a surprising amount, and had sheets with notes on for the rest. The crowd was loving it.
Musically, Moriarty go uptempo, with the guitarist rocking out, and they go super mellow, which suits the singer, but it’s the straight country stuff that tickled me.

Despite the heavy rain and mud underfoot, many at the Orange Court watching the Dirty Projectors were beaming, inspired by the three-part harmonies by the three female vocalists in the band. Compared to the other 4/4  rock-based music taking place on other stages throughout the day, this band packed some diversity completed with a line-up that you would think would play in a church rather than a rock stage.

And therein lie their beauty, a wonderful warm song led by by Dave Longstreth with Amber Coffman on vocals and guitar, Angel Deradoorian on keyboard and vocals, along with Brian McOmber on drums and Nat Baldwin (bass), and yes, another back-up singer in Haley Dekle.

The band when through their latest album including tracks from their EP with Bjork, Mt

Wittenburg Orca. In case you didn’t know it, the band has a fond affection for Orca’s, and some of the sounds or noises on this album is meant to imitate this wonderful album.

There  were other hits performed during this day, and when Longstreith took a breather and looked out over the audience, he commented that all of the colorful ponchos made the audience look like a “ de-sychronized rainbow, or like vomit, but only pretty.”

This analogy also applies to the band as well, and in the hands of lesser musicians, it may have been a mess, but today it was really quite wonderful.

It’s sparse but very groovin’ here at Orange Court right now. The rain has stopped and Haitian chanteuse Emeline Michel is serenading an appreciative audience in sultry French with a conga drum rhythm and a guy on like a 25 string bass.

She moves from ultra silky from the heart odes to up eat Haitian dance rhythms with ease. Long red dress and cornrows and hips all over the place. The crowd is making deep mud pits in the area in front of the stage from dancing and clapping. I’ve got a big smile on my face. I don’t think it’s as big as the beautiful Emeline’s right now.

The Fujirocker chief carefully plans a schedule for the bloggers, sending us all around the festival, making sure we cover most of the bands and see the acts we like. I was scheduled for La Ruda at the Orange Court, but accidentally went in the wrong direction and watched John Fogerty instead. When I got there, I found the rest of the team, presumably doing much the same. I’m posting this picture by way of grassing up all the beardy weirdies that I have to work with to show it wasn’t just me neglecting my duties.

If you want to know what Fogerty was like, look for Phil’s report later. But for me, this was the gig of the festival so far. Fogerty is that kind of legend that adds an extra dimension to a show just by standing there. His banter to the crowd, which amounted to saying “How y’all doing” three times, is perfectly OK here because we just want him to play. This is a man with SO many massive songs to his name that you’re not hanging out for that one big hit (see MGMT later) but knowing that every tune might be a monster. All of which only goes to prove how clever I am for telling fellow Fujirocker Jeff that Proud Mary was certain to be the set closer, which it was. I’m burning hot with predictions this weekend. It’s one of my favourite tunes ever, though that’s partly because Ike & Tina Turner an insanely good version of it, but hearing it from Fogerty was magical. The guy must be about 260 years old by now, but he doesn’t look it or sing like it, and he’s outdone every young punk I saw so far this weekend. This was one of those gigs I won’t forget.

La Ruda were probably great too. If you were there, post your review in the comments please.

Big tunes: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Hillbillies in plaid shirts: ★ ★
Dance in the mud ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Christian Vander has been doing this for a long time. The 62-year-old French drummer brought his legendary prog rock band Magma to the Orange Court Friday night for a set of compositional jams that were majestic, spacey and heavily atmospheric. This was music from an era when it was still cool to say you were channeling sounds from outer space, when the promised land lay somewhere beyond Pluto, and when aliens were supposed to be wise, magnanimous beings. Vander, who’s classically trained, has in fact gotten in to some of that, but he’s also gotten into a huge range of music from 20th century classical to all sorts of jazz and rock. This night he was as usual at his rock drum kit at center stage, and seven others surrounded him, including female backup singers, electric organs, one male singer and a very eerie xylophone. (I actually expecting them to pull out a theramin or a real space music instrument, but no one ever did.) The singers would occasionally come to the front of the stage when they had featured parts, and when they were done, they’d return to the wings. It was wonderfully democratic, and also very Age of Aquarius. Vander had a big smile on his face the whole time, and I have to say he seems like a man who knows how to enjoy life, and his music – notwithstanding the galactic overtones – surely reflects that.

…fucking, fucking, fucking in heaven

This set was so good and people were so primed to party, it didn’t matter that there was no Warren Fischer and it didn’t matter that we were all dancing in the mud. The rain had stopped and it was all good, and as you’ll read in Dom’s account of the rest of the evening, it didn’t slow down a step until God turned the lights on. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. For this set, it was just Casey Spooner and Detroit DJ Laura Flax rocking the tunes and pumping the fun. Spooner, in a spangly shirt, may not have even touched the musical equipment once – Flax was more than capable – but he sure did cheerlead up a storm. As “Infidels of the World Unite” was coming on, he was chirping like a gay canary: “I love this song!” Then, pointing to the crowd, “Hey! I can see you! I can see everyone of you! Work it out motherfuckers!” As “Emerge” was fading in, he ravished, “Do you know this song? I never know. It’s so old!” So if you a questions about whether or not they played their hits, that’s pretty much answered by now. And for those readers less versed in the art of subtlety: hell yeah they played their hits. It was awesome!

Here’s a photo of Casey Spooner.

I arrived at All Night Fuji just as Green Velvet was taking over the decks. Some in the crowd expressed their disappointment that he was not to be playing live, but I found no such disdain. As I predicted in my preview piuece, his style was tonight much more tripped out than the house that made him famous. Sandwiched between Ken Ishii and Denki Groover Takkyu Ishino, it’s no surprise that he saw fit to adjust his style to fit the moment. The sign of a good DJ is in my opinion the ability to read the crowd and adapt to what they want, whether that be a track by track decision, or a stylistic one before a beat has been played. Continue Reading…