Fujirockers: The official Fuji Rock Festival blog

Dueling

The rain had finally stopped and everyone was looking forward to hearing some sounds that would make them happy. Cake did not disappoint, delivering a set that was very easy to enjoy and unwind to. They played some funky, almost bluesy numbers which made for a good platform from which frontman John McCrea to try and convey his esoteric messages. He was excellent at getting the crowd involved, at one point dividing them into two sides. One side he labelled as the escapist half and got them to sing “I wanna fly away.” The other half represented furious and serious people and it was their job to chant “I’m sick of you, so sick of me.” He continued his abstract monologues at various other breaks between songs, illuminating his ideas on the nature of the human condition. I am guessing that the vast majority of the Japanese audience had no idea what he was talking about, but one thing they did understand was when during one break he told the crowd: “I just wanna say one thing, gambatte nihon, you can do it.” During the 3 days of Fuji Rock there were a couple of artists including Marc Ribot who offerend their condolences and support for all the tragedy that struck Japan in March this year but I was hoping that there would be even more words of encouragement from the artists who performed at this year’s festival.

Photos 古川喜隆. More here.

Hisashi Yoshino of Eastern Youth

Eastern Youth are one of the first generation of punk bands, forming in 1988, and gaining early acclaim with other punk bands such as High Standard. They were one to top the record charts with mega selling albums, inspiring others and turning the heads of A&R reps. I saw them play the Red Marquee years ago and that place was absolutely popping, though this show at the White Stage was more mature, showing balance and tempo change instead of straight ahead power punk. I should add the audience was a bit older now, and this may have added to the slower tempo set.

Eastern Youth take an obvious influence from Fugazi and the straight edge scene, though Eastern Youth are keeping it strong and steady.

GUITARIST NOBLE SCALES THE AMPS

Finally! Fiiiinally! Fiiiiinally!

At last. A British band that decided not to bore the crap out of their audience here at Fuji Rock (Coldplay being the only other exception so far, but well, they’re Coldplay aren’t they?). Just what the doctor ordered, a dose of some good and proper British Indie pop mixed with some real rock’n'roll vibes. It was such a relief to see a band that let their reins loose a little, and their efforts were duly rewarded by the grateful and active crowd in front of the White Stage.

Actually, to be perfectly honest, as they walked on greenery-clad stage I almost thought I’d misread my schedule and went to the wrong place, or was there at the wrong time. Amongst “normally” dressed members, there was a suspiciously pixie like woman heading towards the right side of the stage, followed by a man in an old aviator cap and brown overalls. Not exactly a nautical theme.

As Yan threw himself into “Remember Me”, the crowd started dancing along, one guy waving a green branch, just like those displayed on stage. I hope he didn’t cause too much damage trying to get it – don’t want to be messing with the eco-friendly vibes of the fest.

What followed was that injection of charisma and uncontrolled rock that British indie rock has been dying for over the past few years. Yan ran around in the pit, hugging and shaking hands with fans during “Apologies to Insect Life”, finishing the track back  on stage bent back on his knees, screaming. Rock. And. Roll.

The band continued their energy giving show with their new single “Georgie Ray” – the bassist managed to perform with a beer in hand, nice touch – and an older favourite, “No Lucifer”, (but instead of singing “EASY! EASY! EASY!” it was “FUJI! FUJI! FUJI!” …or rather “FUJAY!” , given Noble’s Northern dialect), getting the crowds riled up even more. It didn’t hurt that they claimed Fuji Rock was their favourite festival in the whole world, either.

These guys know how to put on a good show and follow through on it, so I’d say it seems Her Majesty has a new representative of rock, at least at Fuji.

Photo by: 熊沢泉

For more British Madness, click here.

A Whole Lot Of Rock From No Age @ FRF

A large crowd gathered at the White Stage for No Age’s Sunday afternoon showcase. With the sun finally shining and the temperature rising, rain suits were tossed aside and the crowd was dressed in proper summer attire making it much easier for all to move along to the Los Angeles duo’s noisy rock anthems. Despite things heating up, guitarist Randy Randall sported a toque early on. He wisely abandoned it half-way through the act’s 50-minute set to reveal a sweaty mess of hair.

Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt were in fine form as they unleashed a full-on rock assault on the Fuji Rock masses. Tearing through distorted gems from last year’s lauded “Everything In Between” and older cuts like “Boy Void” from 2007’s fittingly titled “Weirdo Rippers” there was no shortage of awesome tunes to be heard blasting from the White Stage’s large speakers.

Proving that size doesn’t matter, No Age turned out a whole lot of rock ‘n’ roll with just two dudes. Pausing briefly to address the audience, Spunt opted to keep things simple and shouted “We love you guys.” Judging by the roar from the audience, the feeling was mutual.

Photo by 古川喜隆
For more photos go here.

Shugo Tokumaru

Tokumaru came to Fuji this year with a six-piece band, up two from his last stint in 2008. Although he had a bigger stage to fill (White, 12:50pm), I’m not convinced the way he filled it was the right way.

Gone is the menagerie of toys filling out his arrangements; now we get two slightly eccentric percussionists, one with (small) kick, snare and floor tom even, an electric bass, and Shugo on hollow-bodied electric guitar. This standard-fare instrumental line-up brings his major key shout-alongs to a sort of sameness with other acts. The full chords strummed on the hollow body in particular seem to overpower the subtlety of some of the other instruments. He’s got an accordionist in the back, but the arrangements aren’t built around her. His sole remaining concession to the sort of happy-day eccentricity he started his career with is the glockenspiel ringing out airy melodies above everything.

He did bust out the ukulele for a cover of “Video Killed The Radio Star” (pretty rough on the pronunciation there) and for the set closer, which opened up a little more space, but Continue Reading…

Purported shoegazers Ringo Deathstarr started their set with country picking, the song “People Are Crazy” by Billy Currington. Played it over the PA (I thought this was a novel way to start a set yesterday at Best Coast, but apparently everyone is doing it). I’d never heard it, but I bought it as soon as I got back to my computer. Makes me wish we could have more country here. This was surely meant to signify their hometown, Austin, TX, and the cultural stew they came from. It could have been ironic, but my money is on them really liking the song. They bust in with their wall of dreamy feedback just as he was singing “God is great, beer is good”, which is before “people are crazy”.

They’re a lot bouncier than I would have expected from their shoegaze tag. Drummer Daniel Coborn is really propulsive. And they put off a positive vibe; not effusive like the also fresh-faced Funeral Party yesterday, just…deeply satisfied with life. And I think they’re in the running for most attractive band of the fest. Leader Elliot Frazier stays pretty quiet, hiding his angelic face behind a mop of hair (he did bust out some gambatta’d Japanese, rough but serviceable) and bassist/guitarist Alex Gehring is positively beatific–one fan shouted “I love you”, and I think he spoke for everyone. She replied with Continue Reading…

Takeshi Hosomi, the frontman of Tokyo’s The Hiatus, hurt himself last weekend while in Hokkaido for the Join Alive Festival and is wearing a walking cast.  His management doesn’t want any pictures of this circulating around, though, and blocked journalists from taking photos during The Hiatus Saturday evening White Stage performance.  I’m not sure exactly why they went to all this trouble.  How many music photographers focus on musicians’ feet?

Emerging onstage with a slight limp, Hosomi’s walking cast was occasionally flashed across the White Stage’s projection screen.  And you know what?  No one seemed to care.

The large crowd at White Stage was much more interested in The Hiatus’ music.  Hosomi was all smiles while leading his group through tracks like “Monkeys” and “The Ivy” from last year’s “Anomaly.”  The quintet sounded great onstage and delivered all of their punked up dramatic rockers with infectious energy.  Considering Hosomi was previously in Ellegarden and The Hiatus also includes former Thee Michelle Gun Elephant bassist Koji Ueno and the fantastic Takashi Kashikura on drums from Toe everyone who would expect anything less?

Nearly a dozen years later, Something To write home about still excites the masses

Get Up Kids’ vocalist Matt Pryor greeted fest-goers at the White Stage on Saturday evening with a hearty, “What’s up Fuji Rock?  It’s good to be back.”

Since their last visit to FRF in 2002 (which was on the White Stage as well), the Get Up Kids have broken up, reunited, and released their first full-length in seven years, January’s “There Are Rules.”  Drawing a good-sized crowd, the act opened with a new song before breaking into “Action & Action” from 1999’s “Something to Write Home About,” far and away their best loved piece of work.  The crowd roared their approval at the track and excitedly sang along with Pryor.

That basically sums up The Get Up Kids 50-minute set. Continue Reading…

SINGING IS GOOD, BUT WHERE'S THE DANCING?

Incubus. One of the bands that both I, and many people I’ve asked here at the fest had at the top of our must-see lists. And Incubus are…well, Incubus. Solid songs, great vocals and fantastic performance in general. They are Incubus and they gave us Incubus.

They started strong and I swear, almost everyone in that whole area (and probably outside of it too) were dancing. I was dancing. So we all danced, for a few songs. Every hit they threw out was lapped up by the crowd, and with good reason. They’re Incubus.

And then “DRIVE” came along and there was more dancing, this time with singing. And just when it couldn’t get any better, it didn’t.

After that, it all seemed to slow down and there was…less dancing. The songs were still good (have I mentioned that it’s because they’re Incubus yet?) but… well, it’s a late Saturday night at the White Stage at FUJI ROCK. And Incubus was performing. Why wouldn’t you take that opportunity to just give it everything and rock the place out? Why hold back? What are you waiting for?

Everyone I spoke to after the show commented on the lack of songs to dance to. Everyone.

Thus, the people have spoken.

As much as I love you boys, next time: LET THE PEOPLE DANCE!

Photo by: 佐俣美幸

For more Incubus photos (but no dancing) click here.

AT LEAST HIS VOICE IS GOOD

Nice ones, that is.

I know, as I’m sure many readers do as well, Patrick Stump as the vocalist of Fall Out Boy, a relatively successful pop-punk band. I’m cringing as I write those two words together, but it’s hard to define them outside of that range, unless we’re going to hit “emo”, and I don’t want to go there today.

Last time I saw Patrick (yeah, we’re on a first name basis now!)  he was kinda chubby and had a wardrobe limited to “t-shirts and jeans”. He went on stage Saturday afternoon wearing a tux (bow-tie and all), looking like a skinny Norwegian I know from back home.

Continue Reading…

Yeah, it’s Asian Dub Foundation again. Fuji Rock’s favourite band. This is their 8th appearance at the festival. You know what to expect, you know it’s gonna be wild, and you know you’re never going to wish you’d seen that other band on the other stage.

This year they’re touring their new History of Now album. Any Asian Dub Foundation album  makes you want to see the band live. Listen to Temple Siren on the band’s latest album, all thundering drums and siren guitars, and you desperately want to hear it live. Preferably outdoors with the sound wailing off into the distance. Sadly, they didn’t play it. But we got Urgency Frequency, History of Now and New London Eye, and I’ll settle for that.

Unless I was knocked out in the mosh, they didn’t play London to Tokyo either, which would have surely made the crowd happy.  But we got Flyover, of course, and that’s when the moshing kicked into high gear. The only other time I’ve seen this field look so deadly was when The Pogues played.

Asian Dub have been going for about 500 years, and they still sound fresh as hell. What happened to all the other Asian breakbeat acts?

Anyway, the set proper petered out with w bit of a whimper as percussionist Cyber gently eased off the drums. This, of course, means there’ll be an encore. Nobody ends a set like that. The encore is Fortress Europe, dedicated to Japan. They tell Japan to keep bangin’ on the walls of the government until they tell the truth. I think the crowd misheard it as “keep bangin’ into that big fat white guy”. I like a revved up crowd, but I might have to watch from a bit further back next time they’re here. And for sure, there will be a next time.

Bassist Ritsuko should be in an ad for the shampoo Asience

I always found it interesting how the few Japanese bands which are known overseas are not as well known in Japan. In my humble opinion, the Japanese bands that do get some notoriety overseas are usually not the ones that deserve it. Seeing as Shonen Knife are one of those bands which are more known in the US than they are on there home soil, although I was curious to see them live, I was preparing myself for disappointment. My expectations could not have been further from the truth. These girls are awesome! I thought they only played cute punk tunes, which they did perform today, but they also launched into some very heavy hard rock numbers. My favorite member was the bassist Ritsuko, whose crazed hair twirling antics reminded me of the playing style of the bassist Ray from one of my favorite Australia bands, the Hard-Ons. Perhaps she is copying him.

Photo by 深野輝美 (Supported by Nikon). More pictures here.

Just trotted back form hippy heaven Gypsy Avalon where I had a wonderful, peaceful time watching Maia Hirasawa and was met by this over at the White Stage:

THAT'S A WHOLE LOTTA PEOPLE

Looks like Asian Dub Foundation is pretty popular. o.O;

I was kind of down on Funeral Party after my fest preview a few weeks ago. I like their sounds, but they don’t really seem to be about anything other than themselves. Remind me of Third Eye Blind like that. Funeral party are young though, so they’ve got a couple more years to shoot for redemption. (Third Eye Blind are ruined for life, but I still like their first album.)

But Funeral Party make good record, and I was pleased to find they also make good live. Alfredo Ortiz is a monster on the drums, all heart and muscle, with a musical ear. Perfect for their high-energy dance rock. I felt his energy on the album, but I thought it might have been a trick of production. Nope. Lead singer Chad Elliott too is a monster, screaming till his veins pop and giving the mic the old caress me down. A lot of it is Jesus Christ posing (not literally, but that’s the gist of it) and there’s more than a hint of adolescent awkwardness in the way he moves, but it still energized me. Plus, he’s Continue Reading…

WHEN SHE'S NOT WORKING AS A CYNDI LAUPER CELEBRITY DOUBLE, LOVEFOXXX FRONTS CSS

There were just so many awesome things about this show, not least of which is the awesome trashy, DIY approach to everything, from blogging about landing in Narita to how they’re handmaking linoleum print posters for their upcoming European tour. Continue Reading…

Takuma strums the fretboard of his very long guitar

The music is good, but seems a little by the numbers to me. But then a lot of punk / ska bands sound that way to me. But it was good enough to have a good sizeable mosh going on in an otherwise fairly sparse (for a J band on White stage) afternoon crowd. It’s not even raining any more, so I don’t know what happened there. It must be their fans are few, but passionate.

Speaking to a couple of fans after the set (J-punk fans are almost always impossibly cute young girls) they told me their pick of the set was the last song, Goes On. I must agree. How could I argue when the fans have spoken?

Photo by 深野輝美
More photos HERE

Mick Jones: BAD As He Wants to Be!

You knew B.A.D. were going to enter with some cowboy Sergio Leone spaghetti western music in the background, and Mick Jones looked spot on in a black suit and a bolero hat. What you didn’t know was the band was going to back up their tough talk with an impressive array of music ranging from classic samples,  Jamaican style rap or “toasting,” and a couple of tasty  Clash-like guitar riffs.

Mick is due some respect, a bad hombre who still manages to strut,  duckwalk, and strut across the stage. He’s a Rock and Roll Hall inductee and long-time sidekick, Donn Letts probably deserves equal respect. If there was ever  ”rock royalty,” these two were it, and the back it up with  opener “Medicine Show,” a sprawling, jammrific intro that had much of the audience hopeful of a truly epic set.

Jones introduced the song “A Party,” saying it was written about South Africa, but could have been about Libya just as easily.”  Other banter offered by this elder bard included a slight diss on the UK, “Some at home don’t like rock and roll, so we’re happy to be somewhere where they appreciate it.”

Jones even debuted a new song, “Rob Peter To Pay Paul,” which he dedicated to the spiraling global financial crisis.  And then it was on to the hits, “C’mon Every Beatbox’, and the country western inspired “Ballad of All Saints Road,” and the singalong “The Bottom Line.”

B.A.D cut the set short though they were called back for an encore, delivering “E=MC2″ and Jones sheepishly adding that the band also appreciated the chance to play another song before launching into “Rush.”

I got to the White Stage very early. The roadies were doing their soundcheck for New Mastersounds. I was standing at the back of the field, drinking a beer, chatting to my pal. The soundcheck was pretty good. A bit too good. Then my pal said “this must be the band – roadies don’t play like that.” He was right. The band were on stage, doing their own soundcheck by playing a mini set. “Don’t listen yet, this isn’t the real show,” says one of them. But the field was already jumping and the Mastersounds can claim the Best Soundcheck of the Festival award.

Twenty minutes later, they’re back. “Would anyone like to hear some music?” asks Simon the drummer. I wouldn’t mind.

As you’d expect, the Mastersounds brought the funk. As usual, they mixed revved up versions of their recordings with a funk and jazz jam session. The band were lined-up along the front of the stage – no back row for the drummer – and it’s obvious why. Not only is the sticksman the most talkative character, but there’s no backseat for any of these boys. Even when they’re jamming, they’re tighter than a (insert clean or smutty analogy here, as you please).

When Eddie Roberts gets crazy with the jazz guitar, it’s clear why musicians rave about this guy. He took his guitar lessons way more seriously than I did.

After a set of mostly ups and a few mellow moments, they end with the massive “Nervous”, but take it through rolling funk, a kind of free jazz and probably tons of other genres. I missed Manu Chao for this, and it turned out to be worth it.

They also announced they’ll be replacing Buddy Guy on Sunday night. Good call.

Photo: 北村勇祐 (Supported by NIKON)

Scratch blazing it up

Remember those old school dictionaries that had a picture of things as a means of enhancing the definition. Well, I cannot think of a more appropriate person to use for a picture next to the word “eccentric,” than Lee “Scratch” Perry. Among the classic reggae vocalists he produced during the 60’s and 70’s in Jamaica was Bob Marley. In interviews he actually claims to have discovered Marley and I guess that is why he saw it fit to fill about half of his set tonight with songs sung by the great Mr. Marley like “Duppy Conqueror” and “Crazy Baldhead.” Generating the sounds for Perry’s cosmic vocal improvisations was one of his proteges, the Mad Professor. He used his mixing alchemy to blend some smooth drum & bass rhythms and splintering dub effects into the Marley numbers. Perry once again showed that he is quite probably the most unique dresser on the planet and gave a lesson to everyone at the audience that there is more to creating your own fashion look than just going to the GAP and asking the sales assistant for advice.

Photo by 北村勇祐 (Supported by NIKON). More images here.

Sunny Day Service On The White Stage

In 2009 a reunited Sunny Day Service played at Field of Heaven.  The next year they released their first full-length in a decade, “Honjitsu Wa Seiten Nari.”  And with new material to share, the Japanese rock trio were bumped up to the White Stage for this year’s FRF.

Despite their name, Sunny Day Service didn’t deliver any sunshine to the Naeba Ski Resort.  With rain falling steadily throughout their set, the act kept soggy fans happy with a mix of new tracks and old favorites.  The low-key performance featured little movement from the calm band members, but most in attendance at the White Stage didn’t seem to mind.

Photo by 岡村直昭.
More photos here.

Kegawa no Maries Opening Up The White Stage

Kegawa no Maries frontman Ryohei Shima had a lot of love to share during the Tokyo quartet’s White Stage opening performance.  The singer and his bandmates were fired up for their 11:30 am set with Shima shouting “Come on people!” before delivering a textbook perfect rock ‘n’ roll kick that was met with cheers from FRF’s early arrivals.

Clad in matching military officer outfits, Kegawa no Maries 1960s and ‘70s garage rock jams went over well with the bopping rain jacketed bodies up front.  Dancing around and spinning his microphone high in the air, the animated Shima was easily the star of the show.

Having a lot of love in his heart, Shima blew kisses to the crowd while the act showcased material from their upcoming third full-length, “Kegawa no Maries no Hello London” (out in early September).  When bassist Hiroko Kurimoto took over lead vocals for one track, he walked over and pecked her on the cheek while she was singing.  A few cuts later, Shima dropped his mic in the middle of the stage, ran to the far end and extended his arms wide towards the audience before sending more smooches there way.

Photo by 岡村直昭.
More photos here.

Hamaken Blows his own horn

Starting out with Hamaken on trombone, slowly eases them into their set with some slower, and shorter tracks. Things start to heat up with Hoshino Gen leading into some more upbeat numbers, but it’s Hamaken’s ‘bone that drives the songs. A lengthy introduction of the band appeals to the audience in that typically J style.

There is something very fitting about the low cloud that rolls over as these guys send out their slow, almost melancholy, jazz from the stage. The light just starting to fade helps with the ambience this combination is producing.

But back to some more upbeat numbers, it seems not too soon as some punters are just making moves. Fenced in by Ron Sexsmith on the Field of Heaven and Jimmy Eat World on Green, Sakerock have managed to draw and maintain a decent crowd for their short & sweet (and long & sad) tracks.

Photos by 北村勇祐
More photos HERE

THE ENERGY OF ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION AT FUJI ROCK '08

This multi-ethnic unit based in England have obviously been a favorite artist of the organizers seeing as they were invited to play at the second festival way back in 1998. When the first Asian Dub Foundation album came out in 1995 it was both musically and lyrically a statement about the discord of the world political, economic and social situation. Although it is debatable, in my opinion, the state of humanity on multiple levels is worse now than it was back then and the heavy message of the pounding bass lines and beats as well as their lyrics are more important now than they ever were. To give you a taste of the kind of things they not only write music about but support through their various activities, check out this information on the website about how they have been trying to help indigenous people around the world. If you want to see a live band whose on stage performances explode with energy then I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t be disappointed with these guys. Their latest album “A History of Now,” explores the effects of modern life on the souls of people, using their political rap, dub bass, Indian rhythms and punk rock guitar riffs. They have had a long had a long association with Japan and it is a country they frequently tour. As a testament to the admiration for Tokyo there is a track on the album about the city.

More photos of the band live at Fuji Rock 2008 here.

Photo by Ryota Mori and used with permission of Fujirock Express ‘08.

John McCrea of Cake at the Green stage in 2005

When I saw Cake do their Friday afternoon set at the Green stage in 2005, there was this douchebag down near the front in the audience who kept shouting for a song he wanted to hear (”Satan Is My Motor“, I think, which kicks ass). Bandleader John McCrea heard the plea; he stepped to the mike and in his typically droll and low-key manner told everyone “Oh no, Cake will not be taking requests today. We have carefully crafted a setlist for your maximum enjoyment.” Which is exactly what you’d expect him to say.

Okay, that douchebag was me. But I don’t do that kind of thing anymore, I swear.

Cake’s star was already waning by the time of that show, having just released their first ever purely mediocre, water-treading album in 2004, Pressure Chief. It sounded like McCrea finally got bored with his own formula. No shame in that; he had a great run. No other mere mortal could have sang the exact same “Ah yeah, alright” on every song he ever did and sold it every time. And then dared you to complain about it. Cake invented a formula and was never copied, and that’s something very few musicians can lay claim to.

The most recent album, Showroom Of Compassion, is Continue Reading…

One plays guitar, the other doesn't

No Age, the punk duo from Los Angeles, played Shibuya Club Quattro last Feb. 16 in front of a good-sized crowd that was appreciative and at time stoked; but it never quite dropped over the edge into total punk ecstasy. Drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt and guitarist Randy Randall have a slightly artier take on punk’s hard-fast-short credo. The frantic tempos, bullet-proof melodies, and pocket-sized compositions are all there, but augmented by interludes of guitar squall and loops/effects that were recreated on stage by a serious-looking friend in a tie and windbreaker. Randall played the same hollow-bodied guitar through the entire 75-minute set, and the pair only paused between songs maybe twice. The show had momentum but lacked the kind of sharp definition, both aurally and visually, that usually makes live punk so bracing. My companion mentioned that just when a song started to hit its stride, it tended to end. He liked the fact that they were expanding punk’s parameters but thought they didn’t go far enough: It’s possible to take hard-fast-short too seriously. Call me old-fashioned, but that wouldn’t be punk; which, of course, is hardly a flexible position to take in an indie rock world where anything is acceptable and rules mean nothing. Continue Reading…