The Birthday put on a fantastic performance over at the Red Marquee, where the only negative was that we were all indoors despite the clear night sky. If you like rock’n’roll, these gentlemen are a must-see. Recorded music is all well and good, but The Birthday are especially good live. There are several reasons as to why, listed here:

8 Awesome things about The Birthday live at Fuji Rock Festival ‘14

*”16 Candles” is played when they enter the stage. They chose a band name that can be joked about and they own it. The only thing missing was a cake. Where’s the cake?

*Think garage rock with a touch of grunge, and with their latest release, lots of blues. Excellent mix, excellent guitar riffs. Oh, and a harmonica.

*They bring in crowds from outside: people continually filtered into the Red Marquee, even halfway through the show. Easy summer anthems and swayin’ tunes are irresistible for a fes-goer.

*Your parents won’t hate them, but you will definitely still enjoy them. Their music is accessible, but not watered down. There’s plenty of personality and character: think a good wine that has aged well. And of course you’re old enough to not need your parents’ permission to watch a band. But wouldn’t it be nice to find one you can check out together? Job done.

*Vocalist Yusuke Chiba’s voice is raspy like Rod Stewart’s but deeper (i.e. better), and he enunciates like a kid in a spelling bee: easy to follow, even easier to remember what he’s singing. (Good tip for karaoke!)

*MCs are short, sweet… or simply not there at all. The Birthday makes the most of the short time they’re with their fans to share their music.

*Members are all experienced musicians who know what the deal is. They know what works, they pace it well. The crowd was slowly built up into a crazy frenzy of excitement, with ecstatic roars for the last few songs, including “Namida ga Koboresou” and “Sayonara Saishuuheiki”, and the final encore, “Come Together”.

*Last but not least: their groovy, feel-good music has you leaving with a smile on your face, even when you don’t know the words. They create a great atmosphere as well as good music—a killer combo.

In summary: if you missed them at Fuji Rock this year, see them somewhere else, pronto!