It didn’t take long for the crowd in the Red Marquee to gasp at Obukuro Nariaki’s early afternoon set. It came about a minute into the sparse opener “Game,” when the young singer/songwriter showed off his vocal chops for the first time, hitting high notes and getting many in the crowd to yelp in surprise. Two songs later, an even bigger collective release came. Midway through his “Lonely One,” Obukuro started singing the portion of the song done by J-pop titan Utada Hikaru. Then, a recording of her voice rang out through the speakers. For a split second, people thought she was coming in to guest. Just a false alarm though.

Save for that moment, Obukuro’s Fuji Rock debut kept the focus on him and his voice, a startling instrument all its own capable of husky rapping or choir-ready ascension. He wasted no time with chit-chat or introductions — after “Lonely One,” two other people joined him on stage to round out the sound — and just barreled through songs found on his recent debut album. Each one was sparse, guided by guitar strums and minimal beats. That left plenty of room to flex his vocals, delivering gusty rhymes on the Kanagawa-cool number “Good Boy” or aiming for the nosebleeds on “Daydreaming In Guam.” He drew big cheers when busting out a cover of Fujifabric, giving fans unfamiliar with him something to connect with.

Yet this was all about Obukuro’s voice, and for 50 minutes all he needed to do was stalk back and forth across the stage and show off his range. That got all the response he needed.