It was only three years ago that Kyoto’s Homecomings played the Rookie A Go-Go stage, at 1 a.m. to a sparse but enthusiastic crowd. Since then, they’ve put together the sort of career the event-within-a-festival should slap on all PR material as a clear success story — they’ve released several albums, including this year’s Sale Of Broken Dreams via a larger label, and have toured across Japan. And a bit more icing on top of that, they came to Fuji Rock 2016 to play on the Red Marquee sharp and early Saturday, attracting a big crowd ready to bounce along to their driving guitar pop.

Homecomings’ played driving indie-rock, the sort of gentle rush that’s easy to bob your head along to. And the quartet know how to write a hell of a chorus, and make them all the sweeter via backing vocal harmonizing. Almost all of their songs at the Red Marquee moved at this pace, some such as “Hurts” and “Lights” adding in tension by startling slow before building to something much swifter. It sounded ideal for a just-past-10 set, but Homecomings make that build all the (bitter)sweeter once the lyrics come through. These are melancholy cuts about long-finished relationships or missed connections that have no chance of ever crossing again. This sadness elevated a song like “Hurts,” where the guitars just kept getting louder and lead singer Ayaka Tatamino’s voice became more emotional. It was a riveting set of indie-rock that never forgot to also include a sticky chorus. Watching them early Saturday, it was clear how they had gone from the small spot near the parking lot to the Red Marquee.