I always find the Field of Heaven area the perfect place to kick off Fuji Rock. The area is a bit more low key, the food is usually better and stalls less crowded. The people hanging out at this stage are a bit more chill and the music is usually something of the jam band, jazz, blues or instrumental variety.

Japanese 4-piece unit Jizue opened the stage this year and they fit in perfectly with my expectation of how the fest should begin. They’re a piano-centric group, that also includes a drummer, a bassist and a guitarist. Our guitarist is also the one who makes most the exchanges with the crowd. While our sole female member, the keyboardist, provides the spark and energy of the band.

I hesitate to try to place Jizue in a category and they certainly don’t need the classification to be appreciated. Their 50-minute set showcased a variety of flavors and emotions. There were slow jams, rock based tunes, jazz numbers, solos, trip hop sounding riffs and plenty more.

Each of the 4 members can seriously play and each were given time to freely explore musical ideas before joining back with the overall groove of the band.

There is an overwhelming keyboard element to the music that always seems to be lingering in each track. Jizue progressed their set and worked up the crowd through faster syncopation as the set progressed. They brought out a guest female singer midway through who gave us a trip hop-esque rendition of her own styling.

After our guest ran through a couple tracks the band went back to jamming and playing off one another. The final 10 minute track was a glorious jam of beauty as the crowd swayed and sounds echoed in the mountains all around us.

As typical for an opening set, the whole thing finished entirely too quickly but left me with optimism of things to come. A jazzy, funky, rocking bar had been set by Jizue on one of my favorite stages at Fuji Rock. This was a bar that would no doubt be topped at some point throughout the weekend but not by many in my estimation.