PHIL SMITH

The warm up man does his job well

The DJ/band rotation that takes place in the Palace of Wonder stage usually is planned out well and has some method to which DJ plays before which band, when they play, what they play, etc. Saturday night saw DJ Phil Smith playing before UK pub rock legend and Fuji Rock Favorite, Wilko Johnson.

Longtime UK rock DJ, Phil Smith, is used to opening for UK rockers as he has been linked to The Stone Roses and was close friends and official tour DJ for Britpop Gods Oasis. It was no coincidence then that Phil was here at Fuji Rock DJing the same weekend that Noel Gallagher was here headlining the main stage of the festival.

His set was a little all over the place and not surprisingly contained a plethora of British music. His selections were all interesting. He seemed to be reading the crowd pretty well as he switched genres, spanning from downtempo and chillout, to classic rock, moving into Jamaican ska, funk, soul and even a little dance music. Specific tunes that garnered big reactions were “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin, Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, “My Generation” from The Who, Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” and Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You”.

His mixing wasn’t always on point, sometimes abruptly switching from one track to another, but that isn’t always the point with a rock and roll DJ. Phil Smith was here to hype us up and get us ready for a classic rocker. By the time his set was finished he had the Palace packed, singing along and ready for Wilko Johnson to tear it up. His job was done and another’s was just getting started just as Phil Smith has always done it.