REAL ESTATE
A nice unit, recently remodeled
A light rain was falling with the large square in front of White Marquee mostly filled for New Jersey outfit, Real Estate. The band has ridden nearly a decade of success with songs on regional playlists as well as many festival appearances. What would unnerve the band which ran an improbable streak of success would be their own success, or at least a little dissatisfaction between members.
The group that appeared at Fuji Rock were without founding member Matt Mondanile who left to do his own project called Ducktails. Actually, the band have recorded two albums without him, so they don’t appear to be hampered by his absence. Still, it wasn’t the old bounce along Real Estate sound that many had been expecting.
The band did well with opener “Stained Glass” which alluded to the overcast skies and remarking about a stained glass ceiling without any color. On this particular incarnation of the festival, we could have done with any ray of sunshine or color, but that wasn’t in the cards as rain was the only thing we could count on.
The band went on to mix songs from the recent releases as well as back catalog like “Younger Than Yesterday” and “Had to Hear” and “White Light”. The crowd was bouncing along to whatever was played. Between songs there was the polite patter of “we love Japan very much” and the now ubiquitous photo from a band member. All of this banter was endearing and helped bring the audience closer.
The song “Darling” was introduced as a grown up song, and then things really got rolling when the hit “It’s Real” came over the speakers. It was a good show by some earnest blokes truly happy to be playing festivals. “Talking Backwards” was rocking and set closer “All the Same” showed the audience how much mastery the band have over their instruments.
