1 – Ei Wada Electronicos Fantasticos
When I said these are not in any particular order, I lied. Because number one was Ei Wanda’s Saturday Night Naeba Shokudo performance. Feeling like a festival put on by and performed for broken appliances, it was something that needed to be seen to be believed. Pure weirdo magic.

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2 – Dinosaur Jr
This was the show I was looking forward to the most, and it did not disappoint. I have been a fan of Dinosaur Jr since I was a teenager, and to see them and have them still be this good was a total dream come true. J Mascis Rules.

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3 – Terry Riley with Sara Miyamoto – Everything and Beyond
It was super cool to see a legend like Terry Riley perform in the flesh, and even cooler to see him perform with my friend Sara Miyamoto. My only request would have been for a little more cloud cover because boy was it hot! But that didn’t stop it from being an amazingly good time.

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4 – Otoboke Beaver
I love this band. I have been a fan since they just started over a decade ago, and they rule every time. I am happy to see them get the attention they deserve, and I was super pumped to find out that they were the secret pre-festival artist on Thursday night. Sex, shibazuke and rock n’ roll!

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5 – The Weather
It didn’t really rain! Unprecedented! It was hot, but not too hot, perhaps a little too sunny, but at no point was I suffering with wet socks and a wet phone all huddled into my rain gear. Thank you Naeba!

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Hopes for Next Year
Bring back the Oasis bakery! Having a croissant or some kind of pastry in the morning helps keep me sane, and Fuji Rock this year had a shortage of bread keeping me happy. Runner up is bring back the artist name pun cocktails now that alcohol is back. A Jack White Russian? Tom Michelada? Mog-wine cooler? Lemon Dino-sour Jr? The possibilities are endless!

With colored light as dense as paint thrown on the trees in thick, shifting day-glo splendor, the boardwalk and for the first time this year the main drag between the White and Green stages were lit up like a technicolor wonderland, and all thanks to Sun Effects. It took nearly 1km of bulb line and countless projectors to do it, but if you had a chance to catch the nocturnal majesty I think you’ll agree it was worth it.

Here’s hoping Sun Effects Japan is back next to light up the night!

Set opener To the Bin My Friend started melodic and restrained, but anyone who knows Mogwai knows that restraint is a judiciously used property. Once the full band kicks in there is a sound you don’t hear so much as feel. And that, my friends, is the magic of Mogwai. Music you feel. Seismic music.

Their second song, I’m Jim Morrison, I’m Dead provided a cold and bleak soundtrack to what had been up until now a bright and sunny day. But like vengeful spirits Mogwai called for rains in Naeba, called for moors. Cold and heavy.

The crowd got into things when the band started Hunted by a Freak, with its clear guitar lines and very unclear vocals. Again, the end of the world viewed from a snow dusted moor. And a heavy one at that.

How to be a werewolf saw the set rise up and get a little cheerful for a moment. Pulsating synths and jangling guitars. Ritchie Sacramento also got a big rise out of the crowd, perhaps because it was again a song with vocals. But beyond simply that it was a banger and Mogwai nailed it.

It was brought up during the set that Mogwai were making their 22 year anniversary return to the Red Marquee tonight. I can’t imagine a better place at Fuji Rock for them. Their home here will hopefully always be open to them, and trust in heaven that we’ll have them back again soon.

Singing duties have half fallen to bassist Tyler Hyde, and their first song Up Song showed how competent she can be. It also showed the band’s continuing butterfly in a field of flowers approach to song construction, always flirting from one flower to the next, never content to stay any one place too long.

Their second song The Boy was narratively structured like chapters in a book and the whimsical nature of the song and lyrics complimented pianist Met Kershaw’s beautiful but timid singing voice. The following set of songs were equally dynamic, but all quite somber and lacking a bit of klezmer dynamism.

Their last song Dancers showed the band in a swelling and slightly brighter place, still dark but pushing towards the light. The jerking staccato stabs were the part that made the song start working, if only there had been more of them. The refrain grew and grew till it became almost an anthem, and was the most powerful part of their set.

This new, post Isaac Wood sound had a much more melancholic through-line than their previous work, more somber but still compelling. There was an x-factor the band had yet to find, a playfulness, but restructuring the way that they have had to can’t be easy. Here’s hoping they keep working at it and that they push the klezmer!

Knowing how to make an entrance rule number one for a star, and Suzuki knows how. First his band took their places, paused, and entered into the opening bars of SPY, Suzuki coming on stage to the feux James Bond riff in black pants, black sequined cummerbund, red shirt, white sport coat with polka pots and, of course, sunglasses. He said it was his first time on a Fuji Rock stage, but it certainly wasn’t his first time on a stage. He had the fluid and comfortable movements of a stage performer, and he knew how to sell the story of his songs with body language alone.

The crowd really started moving with Chigau Sou Jyanai, a funky little number which got feet tapping and behinds shaking (even if just a little bit). It gave Martin a chance to shake his stuff too.

Songs like Slow Ballad gave him a chance to slow things down and show how he earned the title Father of Love Songs. His voice is perfectly suited for Chanels-style throwback songs like this one, and he could belt it out well. Songs like Hurricane started off a portion of the set that showed this doo-wop skill off even more clearly, thanks mostly to his special guest vocalists.

It should also be mentioned that White Stage saw over-capacity crowds for this performance, going so far as stopping crossage from Tokoro Tengoku because the crowd was so thick. And people of every age were getting down to this set, and getting down hard.

Every culture needs stars like this, the showman singer staples that you and your parents can both enjoy, even if just a little bit ironically sometimes. And it isn’t hard to see how Martin earned the legendary status he has.

The Fuji Rock buskers’ resident one-man-band and Marx Brothers on speed merry prankster EPPAI is the little bit of chaos every festival needs. Rules? Where we’re going we don’t need rules. Grab a stranger and make them participate in the madness. Better yet get a stranger and make them grab a passerby to join in. Expect the unexpected is all I’m saying.

You may have missed your chance to see EPPAI perform this year, but he’ll be back next year and he’ll be with the buskers in the Oasis tonight for the daidogei send-off!

Between the Gypsy Avalon and Field of Heaven stages there is Primal, which offers poutine, pulled pork and yes, Cuban sandwiches. The perfect combination of roast pork, ham, cheese, pickles and mustard pressed on a roll is just what the doctor ordered if you are getting a bit peckish.

Don’t miss your chance to have one this year. Or two. And don’t forget the fries!

Part of the roving busker crew seen around the festival all weekend, Masato Moja is somewhere between an avant-garde clown and a magician, spending as much time doing tricks with his hair as he does doing them with playing cards. But that is his true magic, the playfulness and the irreverence. The look in his eye as he does a trick is often as good as the trick itself.

So, if you want to see a man eat a balloon, if you want to see objects mysteriously disappear, and if you want to see a toy pigeon really fly make sure to catch him wherever and whenever you can before the festival ends. Don’t forget that these performers are all working for tips, so open your wallet to them (physical or digital). Oh, and all the buskers will be assembling at the Oasis tonight at 10:30 or 11:00, don’t miss your chance to see them all in one place!