Oboreta Ebi no Kenshi Houkokusho (now that’s a mouthful!) are hands down the craziest thing I’ve seen at Fuji Rock this weekend.  Hailing from Kyoto, the act closed out the Rookie A Go-Go stage on Saturday night.  They emerged onstage at 3 am wearing giant shrimp heads amidst murmurs of “sugoi” (“great”) from the sizeable crowd.  With the stage lights dimmed, the dozen or so members (I had trouble counting exactly how many people were packed onto the small stage with all the shrimp heads moving around) played a brief intro before pausing and turning their heads towards the crowd.  At that point all of the eyes on their shrimp heads lit up and the stage lights came on as the band kicked into their opening number.

A person holding a giant staff with a shrimp on it acted as a conductor of sorts and led the group through mini-symphonies of electro-infused art rock.  Members played guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, xylophone, horns, and there was also a sound manipulator at the back of the stage.  Everyone in the band shook their heads and bopped along to the music being crafted turning the stage into a giant shrimp dance party.  At one point a band member began making giant bubbles with a bubble wand, creating even more of a party atmosphere.

Realizing a quick way to win over a crowd is to feed them, the band tossed out small packets of shrimp-flavored snacks towards the end of the concert. Then during their closing cut, three members jumped off the stage to groove along with the audience.  After the band made their exit, the crowd kept clapping for a few minutes trying to coax them out for an encore.  And for good reason too!  Oboreta Ebi no Kenshi Houkokusho’s entire 30-minute set was cool as hell to watch.