Fuji Rock Festival - Naeba Ski Resort, Japan - 29-31/7/05
4/5
By: David Hickey
A thunderstorm at the very first Fuji Rock Festival almost ten years ago sent the unsuspecting punters scuttling back home faster than a Steve Harmison bouncer aimed at the ribs of an Australian tail-ender.
Now in its ninth year, the only festival in the world with a legitimate claim to rival Glastonbury was understandably on edge when a typhoon hovered into radar just a few days before the tents went up. Although the storms never materialized, there was heavy rain. Not that Bernard Sumner had much sympathy when New Order headlined on the closing night of the festival. Sample Barney quote: 'I know exactly what it's like to be at a muddy festival spending the night in a tent in the pouring rain. A friend told me about it once.'
The previous three days had welcomed 110,000 music fans to the party to witness star turns from the Kaisers, a swoonsome Magic Numbers, a chaotic early hours DJ set from Madlib, and no-nonsense outings from Primal Scream, Coldplay and Beck. This being Fuji, there was plenty of homegrown talent on offer, particularly of the emo and power-punk variety, as well as a standout set from a Fuji perennial, veteran rocker Kiyoshiro Imawano.
Further afield, an eleven-piece, Cuban-influenced, Jamaican ska ensemble set the tone for Saturday from the Gypsy Avalon stage and Senegalese drummers resided over the Orange Court on Sunday morning. And if the music got too much, then refuge could be sort in the mountain stream between the Green and White stage that proved a popular destination, with a gang of punters stripped to nothing but a skimpy loincloth.
Day One
Green Stage, mid-evening
Dave Grohl vs. Chris Martin hardly seems like a fair contest on paper, but the Coldplay singer still felt in bullish enough mood to take a pop at the Foo Fighters' frontman, mimicking Grohl and inserting his own inimitable mini-version of the Foos' 'Best of You' at various points in the set. That Coldplay were playing second fiddle to headliners the Foos meant a neatly streamlined set that barely touched on the debut album, save for 'Yellow', but still found time for an affecting acoustic performance at the front of the stage. Not even Martin's bumbling entrance at the beginning of his band's set, 'And I believe the word is... sayonara (goodbye)!' could dampen the inclusiveness.
Red Marquee, 9pm
Japan's Rosso would have likely put up more of a contest in a fistfight with the Foos, but were too busy headlining the Red Marquee. With attitude-laden singer Yusuke Chiba at the helm, a frontman whose rock pedigree is as assured as his cheekbones are potentially cheese-skewering, Rosso blasted through their way through groove-based, hypnotic swirls of pummeling racketeering.
White Stage, 10.30pm
Always extravagantly attired, Kiyoshiro Imawano is a regular at Fuji Rock but that, and the fact he's been performing since for over thirty years, did nothing to dull his allure on Friday night on the White Stage. Backed by the New Blue Horns, Imawano punctuated his deep soul gems with Otis Redding-type arrangements while belting out up-tempo trad-rock numbers that owe a debt to early 70s mopers Mott the Hoople.
Day Two
Green Stage, 7.30pm
Leaving early through Gang of Four's proficient set to defy 'the logic of a couple of banjo laws' with Beck on the Green Stag provided a few surprises, not least a beautifully stark reading of 'Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime'. Beck imploring 'Change your heart' was possibly the most gut-wrenching moment of the whole weekend, but this being Beck, his solo acoustic spot was interrupted by what looked and sounded like a reenactment of the Last Supper, with his band settling down to chow down on a meal behind him in what ended up a neat percussive backing with knives, forks and, quite possibly, crunching celery.
Day Three
White Stage, too early
It took two girls from Osaka, Japan, to raise Fuji Rock from its Sunday slumber on the final day of the festival. It didn't take long. Comprising simply of guitarist/vocalist Oni and drummer/vocalist Pika, the two-piece Afrirampo made possibly the most defiant clatter of the festival with a live show that relies as much on improvisation, as high-pitched screaming. And some heavy riffing.
Red Marquee, slightly later
Feeling positively loved-up after a triumphant set from The Go! Team, The Magic Numbers didn't dampen the mood, with Angela's voice sounding impossibly wholesome. Thereafter: sitting on a stool barely three yards from The Coral for an unannounced acoustic performance, with about fifty Japanese fans patiently waiting their turn for a photo op, at least made the decision to bolt on the Merseysiders' headlining set in the Red Marquee easier to bear.
Green Stage, 9.30pm
So rather than The Coral and the more head-scratching thrills on the White Stage from The Mars Volta and Sigur Ros, the Green Stage provided a celebratory, no-brainer double whammy of New Order and Primal Scream. While an encore of 'She's Lost Control' and 'Blue Monday' were standouts, it was Barney singing 'Krafty' in Japanese - with the words on the big screens, karaoke style, for the crowd to join-in - that really warmed the heart.
Primal Scream, of course, were in no mood for such accommodation, bludgeoning the crowd with two of their latest examples of high-octane psych rock 'n' roll, including one inspired by Johnny Thunders (Bobby Gillespie: 'I think we owe him a debt') and another that Gillespie said had a working title of 'Final Solution'.
While that song title may not last until next year, Fuji Rock will certainly be returning for its tenth anniversary. A summer in Japan wouldn't be the same without it.
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