After a quick Radio Taiso remix in which guests on stage and those in the audience stretched their bodies for the retro party that was about to begin, Night Tempo immediately launched into his funky rework of Yuko Oginome’s “Eye Spy the Night” and never looked back.

More “culture curator” than DJ (his own words), Night Tempo has seemingly become a Fuji Rock mainstay, performing multiple times each visit. This is no doubt due to his ability to connect to older generations who recognize the songs he reworks, as well as a younger audience who are drawn to the catchy danceability of his work.

After gaining some momentum with his “Ladies in the City” live set on Friday, he was ready to really put all he had into his set on Saturday. It really was the perfect timing and perfect location; He hooked in those with tired legs ready to trudge back to their tent but who were suddenly drawn in to the Red Marquee tent, hypnotized by the retro bubblegum melodies and body-moving rhythms.

Even 20 minutes into the set, around the time he unleashed RA MU’s “Aoyama Killer Monogatari”, droves of people were still pouring in the back of the tent, already jamming along.

The “culture curator” title that Night Tempo has coined for himself really is spot on. His ability to clip all the catchiest parts of these 70s and 80s Japanese hits and sprinkle even more magical groove dust on top is really quite impressive. Exceeding super-nerd status in his field, he has his finger directly on the pulse of retro Japanese music and understands how to make them instantly accessible to a new generation.

His set reached back far enough to get deep cuts, but switched gears quickly enough to keep even those with short attention spans interested. He quickly bounced through well known sing-a-long’s like Akemi Ishii’s “CHA CHA CHA” and of course the rework that made him famous, Takeuchi Mariya’s “Plastic Love”.

With all the young kids grooving at the front of the stage at 1:00am, you wouldn’t be surprised to find their moms and dads all at the back, jamming just as hard.