DAISUKE KURODA

A groovy opening of the Palace

It was funk/soul, rare groove night at the Palace of Wonder on Sunday night and kicking things off was Daisike Kuroda, a veteran of the Funk scene in Tokyo and a massive record collector. Opening up the Palace of Wonder stage to a tiny crowd, while Noel Gallagher was still rocking on the main stage of Fuji Rock would be a bit distressing for most, but Kuroda was more than up for the challenge.

I really respect 45 DJs, as they are usually huge record collectors and stay pure to the art of vinyl. They typically DJ only with record players and mixers. These DJs really put a lot of the new EDM laptop DJs to shame in terms of technical skill, the love for the art and history of vinyl and what it means to be a DJ. Kuroda and DJs like him are here to share some classic gems with us and take us on a musical journey. That’s exactly what he did with his set Sunday night.

He started his set with some chilled out beats and bass heavy ska tracks and worked his way up. He dropped in some soulful classics and hit hard with some juicy rare funk. He lingered around the 60s and 70s for some time, giving us classics like Syl Johnson’s “Right On”, Marva Whitney’s “I Made a Mistake” and even Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic”.

The crowd swelled in size as the main stages at Fuji Rock started wrapping up and Kuroda picked up the pace accordingly. He laid down some more rare groove and some Brazilian funk, the crowd started really getting into it and many busted some dance moves at this point. Kuroda proved to be a great opener of the Palace on Sunday and really got the crowd ready for the funk to come with the next band, Root Soul. He had me bobbling and grooving the whole set through and proved to be one of my favorites of the festival.