Ichiko Aoba is one of the most uniquely talented performers at this year’s Fuji Rock, an incomparable singer after a choral fashion and a virtuosic classical guitar player. The fact that she has taken these somewhat less in-demand skills and parlayed them into a pop-adjacent music career is testament to her skills as an artist and as a performer. Her Sunday afternoon Field of Heaven set was a real pleasure.

Even though the set started a bit later than scheduled, it was well worth it for the extra time they had for sound-checking, as the levels for such an intimate show in such a large space were immaculate. Aoba’s choice to perform acoustic with a string quintet set her performance apart from all others at a rock-centric Fuji Rock, creating a mood more suited to a forest glade bathed in moonlight than a sun-soaked mountain festival.

Her music was haunting and dreamlike, her voice like delicate threads of a spider web caught in the wind. This was beautifully accompanied by the unhurried notes of her classical guitar. She is an artist who didn’t need gimmicks or easy pop tricks. The music wasn’t anyone but hers, though we were lucky to have her share it with us.

For the most part her quintet remained in the background, adding accents and rich layers to her performance without being obtrusive. In many significant ways Aoba was acting as a solo performer, albeit with accompaniment. This is not to say, however, that her support musicians were in any way lacking. On the contrary, the players were exceptional, all added interesting sounds and flourishes beyond what a normal string quintet is normally expected to do. The contrabass specifically provided a lot of gravity to the sparse and quiet playing of Aoba’s guitar, and the viola player was able to create some beautifully strange and ethereal sounds out of string and bow.

It was undoubtedly one of the most relaxing shows of the festival, and also one of the most beautiful. It was proof that sometimes you don’t need to rock to captivate an audience. As an audience member sometimes all you need is to feel like something fragile and beautiful is being shared directly with you.