The custom is to start Friday off with a bang–or a “boom, boom, boom,” as the case may be. The weather continued to cooperate and the sun was getting pretty intense down there in front of the Green Stage when the Route 17 Rock’n'Roll Orchestra started their set at 11 a.m. Route 17 is the main road that runs through Naeba, and this somewhat ad hoc organization was expressly assembled for Fuji Rock. The leader, drummer Junji Ikehata, has been in a number of notable RnR ensembles over the years, including the Roosters and the Rock’n'Roll Gypsies, and in the process he’s gotten to know pretty much everyone in the business. The rock’n'roll revue idea is a perfect one for the opening salvo, and Ikehata solicited four of the biggest names in J-rock as guests.

The tone was a bit unsteady, though. The 15-strong band was dressed to the nines, albeit in different eras. Ikehata and the horn section were suited for a Harlem dance club circa 1939, while the female choral trio looked like flappers. Then broadcast personality Chris Peppler came out to introduce the first guest in a sharkskin suit. That guest, Tortoise Matsumoto of Ulfuls with a bleach job, looked like he was going to audition for the lead role in the “Troy Donahue Story.” And then he did Otis Redding’s “Can’t Turn You Loose” and Little Richard’s “Lucille.” in passionate but rambling fashion. He then picked up a guitar and did “Banzai,” one of Ulfuls biggest hits. The audience liked it a lot better, but not as much as Hiroto Komoto’s version of the Village People song, “YMCA,” which was an even stranger fit. He didn’t bother with a suit (making do with a Modern Lovers T-shirt). He’s so skinny he’d probably get lost in one and never find his way out. Komoto, but the way, has sung in a number of top rock groups, like the Blue Hearts and the High-Lows and Cromagnons. As the audience followed the alphabet choreography to the letter (sorry) during the chorus, Komoto twitched and spun. Not too sure which Village Person he was impersonating, but it was a startling thing to watch, especially since he and the band seemed to be moving in different directions.

Singer-guitarist Shinya Oe was more in tune, which is only natural since he was the singer-guitarist for the Roosters. He was dressed in a tuxedo and looked more like a wedding emcee than Peppler did. I didn’t recognize the blues rocker he played but all blues rock songs sound pretty much the same. To finish off the revue Reichi “Chabo” Nakaido, the guitarist for RC Succession, did a few songs, including a Japanese version of Neil Young’s “Hey Hey My My,” that was even looser than Crazy Horse, which is not necessarily a good thing when you’re talking about a band with a horn section. Everyone returned to the stage for a singalong that didn’t prove anything except that all the guests save Chabo are bad harmonica players. It was fun, but it could have been funner. By next year they’ll have had lots of time to practice.