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…

'scuse me while I point to the sky

The Field of Heaven likes to pass itself off as the last bastion of all that’s hippie and organic, but there’s one thing central to whatever this image means that’s missing: drugs. Alcohol doesn’t count, and neither do the hemp products that they sell there. It’s not my business to say whether this is wrong or right, though obviously drugs are illegal. I’m just saying that there’s a very important component missing from the vibe that the FOH tries to sell. 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…

The Entrance Band

Writers of this blog annually award the Field of Heaven “Best Stage” for its snug  mountain location, crystal clear acoustics, and firm gravel underfoot. For the weary, the stage is flanked by politically correct vendors offering covered seating along with hemp products and coffee w/Kahlua.

Unfortunately, the remoteness of the stage makes it overlooked by the masses leading to light attendance for otherwise big names such as My Morning Jacket and Ryan Adams, leading the artist line-up on this stage to be scaled back in subsequent years. This year, one of the best performers on this terrific stage will be The Entrance Band, a highly regarded LA trio that careen between jamrific tunes to delay-sotted guitars ala early 80’s acts such as U2, The Cult, and Echo & the Bunnymen.

The track “M.L.K.” is equal parts the Edge and Jerry Garcia, a wild traipse into the stratosphere that is so perfectly suited to the Field of Heaven that I can imagine some of the vendors selling rough hewn ponchos for a minute to look up, and jam along with an invisible guitar.

Continue Reading…

Yesterday Smash added five more acts to the FRF ‘10 lineup. The biggest name of the bunch is Broken Bells, the new band featuring Danger Mouse and The Shins’ James Mercer. Danger Mouse previously appeared at FRF ‘06 with Gnarls Barkley and Mercer visited the fest back in ‘07 with The Shins.

Also included in the latest artist announcement in Emeline Michel, The Entrance Band, Green Velvet, and Y.Sunahara.

*Photo of Danger Mouse by Ryota and used with the permission of Fuji Rock Express ‘06.