SUNNY DAY SERVICE
Some welcome warm vibes after the rain
After an afternoon deluge, the slightly soaked crowd at the Field Of Heaven could use some warmer vibes. Long-running Japanese rockers Sunny Day Service stepped up for the challenge. They delivered a mid-tempo performance heavy on easy-going strummers, with a few stylistic curveballs worked in for good measure.
Sunny Day Service have been leaning on breezy, somewhat melancholy indie-rock since the 1990s, and their Fuji Rock 2017 set put these songs front and center. Cuts such as the psych-tinged slow burner “Shiroi Koibito” and the folk-rock lament “Summer Soldier” conceal plenty of emotional depth, but on a finally dry afternoon it was the song’s easygoing nature that won over fans, who swayed in time with the guitar melodies. They picked up the pace at times, but Sunny Day Service never went beyond a pleasant jog. Which is just what those in the field wanted.
Yet they had a couple surprises, highlighted by late set addition “Machikado No Funk,” from their latest release Popcorn Ballad. What started as a clap-heavy, dusty rock number soon transformed into a hip-hop jam, with guest rappers C.O.S.A and Kid Fresino joining Sunny Day Service on stage and adding some welcome fierceness to the show. It was a jolt in an otherwise breezed-back show.
