Another Fuji Rock Festival has come and gone.  Each year, the fest almost feels like Christmas to me in a way.  Reading the new lineup additions every two weeks from early March until the beginning of July builds anticipation.  I’m very excited in the days leading up to the Thursday pre-fest bash (it’s almost like Fuji Rock Eve) and can’t wait to get on the site Friday morning to see what musical presents I’ll receive.  And then Fuji Rock’s three days fly by in what feels like the blink of an eye, and before I know it it’s after 5 am on Monday morning, the Palace of Wonder is shutting down, and Fuji Rock is officially over.  Christmas day always goes by way too fast.  Fuji Rock does the same thing.  But the great thing is, like Christmas, next year’s Fuji Rock is something you can start looking forward to pretty much right away!

I honestly believe that Fuji Rock is something that every music lover should have the chance to experience (at least) once in their life.  The festival site is absolutely gorgeous.  The nature surrounding the site is stunning.  And the different areas around the fest are all really cool and have been wonderfully designed.  And each year from Friday morning until early Monday morning there is always so much good music to be heard and there no shortage of new bands to discover.  But the best thing about Fuji Rock is hands down the people.  Fujirockers are amazing people.  Everyone works hard to take care of the site and keep it beautiful and clean.  Everyone is helpful, kind, and respectful.  Everyone is there to have a great time, regardless of whatever weather Mother Nature has planned for us.  Everyone can be seen smiling throughout the weekend.  Everyone makes each year’s festival memorable for their fellow fest-goers.  Without all of the wonderful people, Fuji Rock would just been a normal festival.  What makes it one of the best music events is the world are all the Fujirockers who come each year.  And for this we all truly thank you.

This is the final story that will be posted on this year’s Fuji Rock Express site.  Thank you so much for checking out all our coverage of Fuji Rock 2013.  We’ll be back again next year to cover the fest again.  We hope you can join us in Naeba to experience everything firsthand.  But if that’s not possible, we’re happy to share everything we see and do at Fuji Rock with you through Fuji Rock Express ‘14.  See you next year!

Fujirock Express Staff:

English version, http://fujirockexpress.net/13e/

Writers: Phil Brasor, Sean Scanlan, Dave Frazier, Shawn Despres, J Muzacz, Ben Olah, Elliott Samuels, Patrick St. Michel, Lisa Wallin, Matt Evans

Japanese version, http://fujirockexpress.net/13/

Writers:  Sayaka Hondo, Natsuki Nagata, Maki Nazuka, Naoka Maruoka, Eriko Kondo, Nobuyuki Ikeda, Taiki Nishino, Yoko Oda, Ryohei Maruyama, Ryoji Ukai, Kuniko Yoshikawa, Yasuaki Ogawa, Takafumi Miura, Takahiro Oyama, Ryuichi Tanaka, Yuka Ishizumi, Nozomi Wachi, Takehiro Funabashi

Photographers: Ryota Mori, Yusuke Kitamura, Hiroshi Maeda, Yoshitaka Kogawa, Toru Suguta, Naoaki Okamura, Nobuya Fukawa, Terumi Fukano, Julen Esteban-Pretel, Koji Chikazawa, Keiko Hirakawa, Takeshi Yao, Daisuke Fujii, Masami Munekawa, Mitch Ikeda, Taiou Konishi, Yutaro Suzuki, Mamiko Miyakoshi, Miyuki Samata

Fuji Rocker’s Lounge: Hirokazu Fujihara, Mika Iimori, Noriko Yamaoka, Tomoko Obata, Atsushi Yuzawa, Shoko Ikenoue, Yukifumi Sekine,

Updating Operation: Bomi Kim, Daisuke Sakaue, Tomoki Hiranuma, Shoji Terasaki, Manami Nakahara, Moeka Miyazaki, Shoko Ikenoue

Web design & Programming: Tetsuya Mitsuishi, Daisuke Sakaue, Manami Nakahara, Moeka Miyazaki

Producer: Koichi Hanafusa