Fujirockers: The official fansite of the Fuji Rock Festival

Best feat of engineering

Best show
John Fogerty: After seeing Stevie Wonder at Summer Sonic last week, I was refortified in my opinion of what a rare and wonderful treat Fogerty’s Saturday evening set was. Though Stevie can still ram and jam with the best of them, it’s clear that those classics, as great as they are, mean less to him with every passing concert. He’s just played them too many times. Fogerty, on the other hand, went almost three decades without playing his classic CCR tunes in front of people simply because he didn’t own the publishing and didn’t think he should pay for the privilege of performing them. Now that he’s got the publishing back, it’s like he’s discovered these songs for the first time: fresh, tough, eminently sing-alongable. Now it’s our privilege to hear them again.
Runnerup: Moriarty, the best France-based, Anglophone, Irish-American-roots rock group with female lead singer. Every festival should have one. Continue Reading…

Good times on the White Stage with Matt & Kim

I admire peeps with a “do as I do” mentality as opposed to a “do as I say” mindset.  During their fantastic Sunday afternoon showing on the White Stage, Matt & Kim definitely led by example.  They wanted everyone to go nuts and have a great time, so the New York duo went all out during their 45-minute set in hopes that others would mimic their behavior.  It worked. Continue Reading…

Susan Tedeschi And Derek Trucks

I’ve already done a pretty extensive overview of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi here. I was curious to see what kind of crowd they would draw here, as I don’t believe they travel abroad much, so whatever fans they have in Japan would be hell-bent on catching this show.

Continue Reading…

Simon says: Crowd surf!

In case you weren’t aware that their afternoon show at Gypsy Avalon was their first ever show in Japan, the Brooklyn indie pop duo Matt & Kim would have reminded you over and over and over again. In fact, as Matt said almost as soon at the couple bounded out on stage grinning from ear to ear, “this is our first ever show on this continent.” I assume he means Asia, right?

Suffice to say, M&K get a lot of mileage out of very little, musically, at least. This is not necessarily a criticism. There’s much to be said for a positive stage attitude and making the audience feel good about choosing your particular performance, but M&K have elevated this consideration to such a lofty plane that the music seems almost incidental. Mainly, it’s Kim bashing away enthusiastically and rudimentally on a small drum kit and Matt with his clear, high voice, singing over his toy keyboard parts, which tend to be limited to single-note lines. Continue Reading…

SOME THINGS WE JUST LIKE

Though my tastes are unimpeachable, I would never presume to tell you what to do, think, or feel. This may sound strange coming from someone who makes a living selling his opinions, but I don’t necessarily think those opinions are going to be shared by all, regardless of what some of my editors believe. When I write a movie or music review, all I can do is try to reveal how the particular subject matter struck me, and then hope that anyone who’s reading it will be able to translate those feelings for his or her own sensibility. I never tell anyone “you should see this film” or “you should buy this album,” even if I think you would be a better person if you did. Continue Reading…

Matt & Kim

This video [after the jump...] for 5K by low-fi dance punks Matt & Kim was banned by MTV in the US but broadcast in the UK. Ordinarily that would be the cue for eye-rolling and a chance to knock the puritans across the Pacific who won’t show boobs on network telly at any hour. But I’m with the States on this one. Not that this vid is likely to inspire violence — it looks as realistic as Bad Taste or that bit at the end of the first Nightmare on Elm Street where the girl suddenly and obviously becomes a rubber doll just before they yank her through the window, but it just seems a bit unnecessary to stick knives in each other. Continue Reading…