Electronica took over completely with two keyboards in action. The melody goes wibbly wobbly as the other keyboard provides brass. The first of the set’s guitar solo blazed over the pitter patter of drums.The band proved to be more funky then the Sunday evening Fuji Rock toilets (not a mean feat…), with slippery sliding bass contesting against sharp wicked guitar. It’s this kind of music that truly deserves the name dance music, not the stuff that goes by its name now.

The following song was a more straightforward happy number with less groove but the sheer cheerfulness persuaded the crowd, the masterful cymbal work in particular impressing! Bongo vs guitar opened the next, bass brushing them both aside to set the mood to chill, with electronica swamping through underneath. An almost mystical quiet settles as the battle between the dual bass and guitar heats up. This broke into the Legend of Zelda theme for a good six minutes. And if there’s any country that appreciates a video game reference in any part of their life, it’s Japan.

Every song was an extended session, almost jam-like as the musicians fed off each other’s playing. As the sky darkens the mood grows quieter but as the stage lights grow in strength the crowds energy returns, even better when the disco ball starts spinning to liquid ripples of guitar sound. The final song contained multiple false finishes but it just served to ramp the crowd up for the final dancing finale, leaving the audience still with a click on their fingers, a smile on their face and contentment in their hearts.

It was a lively and fun show, because Forde is a lively and fun guy, mixing in a bit of Temptations with the lover’s rock chestnut “Don’t Turn Around.” What he referred to as an “Aswad medley” was actually three complete Aswad songs performed in a row. We were all entreated to “remember” the songs before they were presented. He shouted out too Masa Hidaka, the festival’s founder and leader, without skipping a beat (Masa was in the wings), and asked for approval to play songs from his new album, and then got the audience to memorize the title by having them repeat it en masse three times. In his enthusiasm he mangled his Japanese courtesies, but people loved it. Reggae is just of those musical styles that, if you love it, you forgive anything done in its name.

Mitsukaze Hamada and Green Massive lived up to this difficult billing with great aplomb. They opened with a roots rock vibe that veered between reggae and ska. It was obvious that he was the center of the band, the heart and soul of the sound that bandmates were following. If leading a big band onstage were not enough Mitsukaze would perform on the Busker Stage later in the afternoon where he would do old reggae covers. This performance would be just him and a guitar or harmonica.

While it took the band some time to get going they did eventually settle into an easy rhythm that had many swaying and bopping, it was more reggae than anything else, but that suited the crowd nicely as many were just settling into the area and the good vibes here.

They also have a wide array of goods for sale now, all of which are designs taken from previous festival paintings and their earlier design work.

Postcards, T-shirts, even boxers adorned with their funky style are available at reasonable prices to take home or share as a festival souvenir. Support working artists, check out their paintings, they graciously throw a few benches under their tent to encourage hanging out and make a great chill spot to watch them work while you wait for a brick-oven pizza next door or eat your delicious gelato on the right.

To see more work and buy goods you can find them online at GRAVITY FREE.JP

His secret weapon at the Field of Heaven was his wife, Maud, who was wheeled out rather dramatically in her wheelchair in front of a music stand presumably with the songs she would sing. And sing she did. Despite her obvious infirmity (she wore a baseball cap and dark glasses, as well as very thick clothing) she’s a powerful blues singer, and even delivered an effectively bawdy original number, whose chorus asserted that in order to “make love” one had to be “agile, mobile, and hostile.” Is Garth up to it?

Thanks to a bass player whose name I didn’t catch but whose voice captured that special mournful quality of Danko and Manuel (Maud should have done the Levon songs), many of the Band numbers came off well, especially “Ain’t No Difference,” a song that seemed to capture the audience’s imagination as fully as the more famous  “I Shall Be Released,” which ended the two-hour set. He was sure to play “The Weight,” too, seemingly at Maud’s insistence. Curiously truncated was “The Genetic Method,” the improvisational piece that opens “Chest Fever” in live stints. Hudson, who remained almost invisible behind his bank of keyboards, tossed off the intro, but burrowed deep into the song itself. It was an amazingly eclectic gig–jazz, gospel, even a Spanish song–though predictably lacking in drama. When he talked Garth was invariably incoherent, not because he couldn’t string sentences together but due to that laconic Canadian accent of his. But we like him that way. It adds to the mystery. -Phil

She also did something that most singer-songwriters are loath to do but which is very important when you’re playing your material for people whose first language is something else: she explained them briefly and humorously. She described “Frank and Ava,” a song about the marriage and divorce of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner, in a succinct manner, and was quick to add, “And it’s all in one song!” Explaining a new song, “I Don’t Wear White,” she said it’s about her, “and I don’t wear white.” As anyone who has seen Vega in more than one picture, they know she wears only black. Not much mystery there, but you could tell the listeners appreciated the attention, which they paid back amply with a very warm response.

In fact, halfway through the show the rain stopped, as if the commiseration worked. Vega wasn’t exactly aware and actually asked the crowd if the rain was still bothering them. One sympathetic soul raised a big thumb’s up and she returned it with a smile, but I have a feeling he was not commenting on the weather but on her music. -Phil