1 – Jack White
There’s nothing else I can do than to bow down to this man. I grew up listening to The White Stripes, but I hadn’t paid too much attention to Jack White since those days (Sorry, man). But after seeing him perform right from the pit, I have newfound respect and love for him. Not only was his whole stage setup (black, white, and blue!) iconic, I couldn’t stop my jaw from dropping every time he riffed his guitar; nonetheless, with his eyes closed for the majority of the time. It was an honor and a joy to experience the musical genius perform at Fuji Rock!

REPORT

2 – Japanese Breakfast
I’ve been waiting to see Michelle Zauner perform in person for so long, and I sure wasn’t disappointed. I’ve followed Japanese Breakfast since the beginning, mostly drawn by the band name and shocked to find out that she wasn’t Japanese, but Korean American instead. What’s race got to do with it? Well, as a fellow mixed-race Asian-American, she represents someone like myself, doing something she loves and being an incredible creator. She recently added “author” to her many titles and boy, did her novel “Crying in H Mart” really hit a note with me. So again, just being in the same space as her was a dream of mine, and to see/hear her live on top of that was fantastic. The ultimate peak was when the band played their Fleetwood Mac cover of “Dreams”. I got goosebumps!

REPORT

3 – Global metal bands
There’s something abut coming to Fuji Rock that makes me feel like I’m cool enough for heavy metal. Last year, I covered Japanese metal band, SiM and was hooked. So this year, I made sure to check out both Bloodywood from India and The Hu from Mongolia. Not only was it awesome to support bands that came to the festival from so far away, it was seriously spectacular to watch them perform this genre of music while incorporating sounds from their home countries.

BLOODYWOOD REPORT
THE HU REPORT

4 – Return of Thursday and evening fun
It’s so good to have Fuji Rock’s old traditions back. Last year, we barely had much of a celebration on Thursday night besides the fireworks. But this year, we had the Bon Odori as well as the special guest artists performing at the Red Marquee. People flocked to Oasis for some food and fun, and I could see many happy faces who were probably reunited at and with Fuji Rock for the first time in three years. While music stopped at midnight last year (sigh), this year, it went long into the night, which have always been some of my best memories of Fuji Rock, so I’m glad the late-night fun was back again. Let’s *hope* that Crystal Palace will be back by next year!

REPORT

5 – New food and drink options
Speaking of food, there were quite a few new vendors this year. While it’s always great to come back to the same delicious stalls, I loved being able to try new dishes. I especially loved the all-vegan food stall, Righteous Burger. The vendors themselves were so excited to be there, too! There were new drink stalls, like Iichiko sake and the Highball bar. They even served up a special “Fuji Rock Highball” which was rimmed with salt and kinako (roasted soybean flour) that I’m still drooling over now!

REPORT

Hopes for Next Year
1. Water re-fill stations: In an effort to look out for festival goers and Fuji Rock’s value in sustainability, I really hope to see water re-fill stations in the future. This year was especially *HOT* and I had to witness some folks struggling from heatstroke. The last thing we want is for people to have to cut their weekend short due to the lack of water supply at the festival. Fuji Rock branded steel water bottles and refill stations all around the grounds? Yes please!

2. Merch tent expansion and education for bringing kids to music festivals: How do these two topics go hand in hand, you say? I’ve noticed that not enough young children were wearing protective noise-canceling ear muffs. I even saw a girl suffering because her ears hurt. At western festivals, ear muffs for kids is a must, and I hope to see Fuji Rock continue to be an advocate for safe and ethical festival fun for the whole family. If we had merch tents in more than one spot (i.e. in front of the main entrance), not only would there be less queueing, families would be able to buy the Fuji Rock branded ear muffs no matter where they are inside the grounds.

With neon green hair and a black corset, she walked onto the Green Stage at 9:10 pm on Sunday night, warmly welcomed by a sea of excited fans. As an audience member watching her perform for the very first time, I quickly came to understand her impact on the music scene as the ground quite literally shook beneath my feet at the beginning of her set. Pyrotechnics were widely used throughout her performance, with flames of fire making for an impressive and unexpected introduction.

She opened with her song, “Nightmare”, a track that recounts struggle, yet reinstills a power back in the narratives of womanhood. Behind her, video clips of past Women’s Marches could be seen with signs reading “Abortion is healthcare”. “I know the world isn’t what we thought it would be,” she says, “but we’re still going to have a good time, right?”. When something needs to be said, Halsey does so with an edge and a voice capable of reverberating across a distance.

The setlist featured a well balanced choice of tracks across her many albums such as “Without Me”,“Colors”, and “You should be sad”, and included a bombshell cover of the 80s comeback hit, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” by Kate Bush. “To do this festival is my dream, so thank you for making that dream come alive tonight”, she excitedly mentions mid performance. Her passion and gratitude could be felt across the field, and the show concluded in power and a whole lot of confetti.

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!

British singer-songwriter Arlo Parks released her debut studio album Collapsed in Sunbeams in January of 2021. Only over a year has passed since her debut and her songs have already been positively received by audiences across an ocean. Some of her top hits Eugene, Caroline, and Cola made it to tonight’s setlist.

Throughout her set, Arlo reiterates how grateful she is to finally be in Japan and how much of a dream it is to be able to perform on a stage at Fuji Rock. It is a refreshing experience to watch an artist on stage enjoy themselves just as much as an audience. She and the crowd exchanged a joyful energy throughout the entirety of the set. As Arlo swayed and danced along to her songs, we as the audience did the same.

“I need you to sing the chorus as loudly as possible!” she says prior to her performance of Caroline. “My next song is Hope and this is the message I would like everyone to take away tonight”, she exclaims towards the end of the show. She introduces and envelopes her songs with care, which reminds us that each piece of art has a backstory worth celebrating. With intricate guitar solos, dancing, and all the good feelings, it was truly a joy to witness Arlo Parks’ poetry in motion tonight at the Red Marquee stage.

Dressed in red and black and wearing classic shades, Kenichi Asai, the band’s lead singer boldly walks onto the stage. He is joined by his band members, Kumiko Fukushi on keyboard, Kenichi Nakata on bass, and Kimitoshi Sotomura on the drums. He is thankful for the audience and says “thank you for coming to see us!”.

There were droplets of rain at the very beginning of the set, but it quickly subsided as the band carried on with their performance. A solid group of fans gathered at the front of the stage and the band managed to keep their fans engaged with their nostalgic tracks and friendly energy.

The band opened their set with their 1996 song, High School and closed the show with Chiisanahana (小さな花). The show held a delicate balance between old and new, beginning in a classic SHERBETS tune and managing to insert tracks from their newest album, Same.

A band who’s capable of keeping fans throughout the entirety of their career is a quality to strive for. With a musical career spanning for as long as theirs, the SHERBETS are a true representation of what it means to dedicate one’s life to the love of music.

The crowd was there, and it was about as big as Naeba Shokudo could handle. The band took to the stage and the next 40 minutes was a lesson in the definition of owning the stage. The drums were big and the bass was on point, but Otoboke Beaver is for all intents and purposes Accorinrin and Yoyoyoshie’s group, the two original members. They compliment each other perfectly, Yoyoyoshie’s blistering and frenetic guitar balancing with Accorinrin’s snarling and rapid-fire vocal performance.

They blasted through a perhaps 20 song set with plenty of crowd pleasers like Don’t Light My Fire and PARDON?, but more than any individual song was the feeling of propulsive intensity that never let up. Even the pauses between songs were no place to catch one’s breath, as the band barks off the title of the next song and heads into it before you even know what hit you.

The band has a bubbly but taunting quality that really works in an intimate setting like Naeba Shokudo, with their aggressive femininity and no holds barred attitude, like they are asking you to be a voyeur and chastising you for it at the same time. Brilliant.

After their whirlwind set the crowd demanded more, so Otoboke Beaver came back for an encore. Which lasted 20 seconds at most. Perfect style, give the people what they asked for, then give them the finger for having asked in the first place.

Seemingly channeling Rage Against the Machine and The Prodigy vibes at times, but with lyrics in Japanese, the young band is no stranger to the Tokyo livehouse circuit. Their twitter shows a recent tour schedule full of dates all the way through September all around the city with jaunts to Kansai and other regions.

The five-piece crowded the tiny Rookie stage on Saturday morning and looked as though they brought a strong fanbase with them, as shown by the large audience which huddled near the stage in anticipation.

Rapidfire basslines and shredding guitars were played up but not overshadowed by rough stabs of synth and tight drumming. Though they had a sound all their own, I couldn’t shake the nostalgic early-2000s feel of some of their songs. Blending rock, rap, and electro elements into a high energy performance, the band’s connection to their fans and enthusiastic delivery sure made the Rookie stage feel a lot bigger than it was.

For me personally, The Internet’s ‘Hive Mind’ album will always hold a special place in my heart. I used to play the album top to bottom on repeat in my college apartment while I studied, lazed around, did the usual every-day-college-life routine. I once even had one of those ‘The Internet – Hold On (1 Hour Loop)’ YouTube videos going on in the background because I genuinely was obsessed with that song, still am.

I got to Red Marquee about 15 minutes before Syd came on and secured a good spot close to the front, with just enough breathing room to vibe and let myself dance comfortably.

She came on to ‘Insecurities’, a song from her first solo debut album ‘Fin’, and the crowd instantly was in a trance. She was wearing the new Sacai ‘Sade T-Shirt’ and some track pants, which reflected her overall stylish yet down-to-earth nature. She stated her gratitude and love for Japan, and expressed how she felt extremely lucky to be in Japan admits all of chaos of the world and borders tightening up.

To everyone’s satisfaction she kicked off her second song with a The Internet classic, ‘Special Affair’. This one really got the crowd rocking. I think for a lot of us, even though The Internet’s time wasn’t that long ago, their music feels somewhat nostalgic. Despite the band not being together anymore and members flourishing in their solo careers, a lot of us still listen to The Internet on a regular basis. It’s the kind of music that makes you feel really good.

As she went through her setlist, she moved from song to song so smoothly, with mini inserts of her talking and giving background into why or who she wrote certain songs about. Just about 3 months ago, Syd released her second solo album ‘Broken Hearts Club’, which, as she contends ‘is based on a true story’. From the new album, Syd performed ‘Tie The Knot’, ‘Out Loud’, ‘Missing Out’ and ‘CYBAH’ featuring Lucky Daye but she sang both parts, gracefully.

To my excitement, she performed several The Internet songs throughout her set including ‘Hold On’ and ‘Girl’ to which the crowd was singing every single lyric at the top of their lungs. She even did a cover of her good friend, KAYTRANADA’s ‘You’re The One’.

I found myself in the crowd singing every song back-to-back, sometimes with eyes closed, in utter bliss. It was one of those concert experiences that makes your heart go all warm and fuzzy. Around me, I saw lovers embracing, friends holding hands, dancing together and singing the words together. Syd makes music for this very reason, and you could see the biggest smile on her face as she did it and witnessed the love in the crowd.

Syd’s performance is one for the books for me, but I can’t say I expected anything less.

【SETLIST】
INSECURITIES
SPECIAL AFFAIR (The Internet song)
TIE THE KNOT
YOU’RE THE ONE (KAYTRANADA cover)
GOT HER OWN
FAST CAR
RIGHT TRACK
SMILE MORE
BODY
HOLD ON (The Internet song)
CYBAH
OUT LOUD
MISSING OUT
GIRL (The Internet song)