Best of the Fest: Dave

I’m just gonna go ahead and declare that this was the year of Small Stages and Things That Just Happened. The headliners had played Fuji Rock more than a dozen times between them anyway, so as far as the “big bands” were concerned, there were no epihpanies. But as always, there were many, many things to like. Here were a few of my favorites:

BEST WEIRD JAPANESE BAND: ZIYOOU-VACHI
Beyond the fact that this band of drag queens and Cosplayers, who play high bpm anime music, is visually stunning and a full-on sonic blitzkrieg, as performances go, this was a band practiced to perfection and giving it a thousand percent. Few other acts at this year’s Fuji Rock did as much. The crowd was in a frenzy from start to finish for a performance of 38 heart-pounding minutes, a mass jazzercize workout for the entire Red Marquee crowd on Sunday at midnight, with songs bursting out of each other like the stages of a rocket. When it was over, my jaw was on the floor, and I still had no idea why the lead singer, Abu-chan was painted blue. See the review.

HONORABLE MENTION: CHARAN-PO-RANTAN
Gypsy jazz from girls dressed for a children’s theater piece about a fairy princess — well, except for the Doc Martens and punk rock backbeats. And yes, they do jam! See the review.

BEST COMEDY: THE DAVE GROHL TALK SHOW
He’s a funny motherfucker, I’ll give him that. And I especially appreciate his talent for fucking with Britpop bands. At Fuji Rock 2005, it was Coldplay, who fired the first shot when, with full British irony, they noted that they were “honored to be opening for the Foo Fighters.” I suppose for some people, it must sting to be the second headliner. Dave shot back with unsubtle American irony and song dedications. Read about it here, and here. Flash forward to 2015, and this time the joust was with Noel Gallagher. Grohl, who played Friday with the Foo Fighters, instructed the crowd that two nights later, when Noel Gallagher played with his band the High Flying Birds, to yell, “Dave says hi!” at the start of the set. A couple fans actually did, and even funnier, Noel actually engaged them. “Dave who?” he said, and then, after a bit more banter, Noel replied, “Tell Dave from me, ‘Have a day off.'” For a bit more, see the video below. Unlike the Coldplay spat, this was probably in good fun. Grohl has recent called Oasis one of his favorite bands and has described having drinks with Noel and Liam. You can also find photos of them together on the Internet — just do a Google image search with both their names. It’s the first image that pops up. As for the Foo Fighters, they did some decent covers of Queen and Alice Cooper, which of course makes them the odds on favorite to headline Glastonbury in 2016. (And guess who’s #4 in the rankings. Just guess.)See the review.

BEST NOISE BAND: BOMBORI
I just love that they wouldn’t get offstage. Even after the power was cut, and the stage techs came on, the drummer kept going. I have only seen this kind of thing once before, when Ozomatli did it in 2001. At a festival that runs like clockwork and where everybody follows the rules, this musical bit of civil disobedience was well appreciated. The band also rocked like a motherfucker and gets my vote for best Rookie Band. Let’s hope their breach of etiquette won’t count against them. See the review.

BEST CROWD STORY: THE TAIWANESE
More Taiwanese than ever before visited Fuji Rock this year — one travel agency sold 350 package tours, and many others bought tickets through other channels. A good guess would be 400-500 Taiwanese in attendance this year, which is admittedly less than the 1000 Taiwanese we reported earlier, but still the most ever. Throughout the festival grounds, you could hear Mandarin everywhere. Total international ticket sales were around 1000. See the report.

BEST THING TO DO: SWIM IN THE RIVER
Did anyone mention it was hot this year? Three days, clear skies, no rain. Beautiful weather, but exhausting in its way. The Swedish band Räfven got it right. See the report.

And by the way, if I had to vote for a Best Band, which I am mostly trying to avoid, it very well could be Räfven. Their set in the Crystal Palace tent was phenomenal, as was the set by Kitty, Daisy and Lewis which followed shortly after.

BEST EXIT STAGE LEFT: SHEENA RINGO
The retro-styled J-pop diva Sheena Ringo dressed in a 1940s one-piece swimsuit like some classic bombshell dame and was backed up by a big band of 20 or more, all dressed in white. They had pizzazz, a sort of catchy J-pop swing, and boy were they cookin’ along. At the end, Ms. Ringo twirled suddenly on her heels, snarled a throaty “Sayonara!” over her shoulder at the crowd, and sashayed off stage. Just like that. Wow! What an exit! (Sadly, no photos.)

See you next year, Naeba!