Skinny Lister are definitely making the most of their time at Fuji Rock.  The London-based folk act played during Thursday night’s pre-fest bash and then made their way over to the MTV Stage in Gan-Ban Square for a second set.  On Friday afternoon, they also showed up at the InterFM booth for a short performance and interview.  All of these things helped ensure that their Friday afternoon Café de Paris set, the first of two official gigs they are doing at the fest, was rammed with people.  In fact, the venue was so full that there was a bunch of people standing on their tippy toes trying to peer in from outside the tent.

Vocalist Lorna Thomas told everyone to “Get your dancing shoes on” early in the set, turning the Café de Paris into a giant mass of dancing bodies.  The group’s energetic, rambunctious tunes have a great party feel to them, allowing them to easily connect with the audiences they’ve played for at Fuji Rock thus far.  All five members are very charismatic and engaging as well.  They definitely have a lead by example mentality.  They dance, bounce, and clap on stage and look like they’re having a great time, which causes crowds to eagerly follow suit.

Focusing on material from their Forge & Flagon album, which was released in Japan only two weeks ago, tracks like “Merry Old Dance” and “Seventeen Summers” went over fantastically well with the audience.  Prior to starting the latter cut, Michael Camino made his way into the crowd with his double bass, causing guitarist Dan Heptinstall to shout, “Brace yourselves, there’s a bass player on the loose.”  Playing his double bass like a regular bass, Camino walked through the crowd and eventually climbed atop of the Café de Paris bar to continue playing.   Much to the delight of the audience, one of the tent’s staff put a crown of flowers on Camino’s head which he happily wore while banging away on his bass.  Heading back to the stage when the song was finished, his bandmates joked that the flowers matched his tattoos perfectly.  And you know what – they were right!