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!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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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.

Two versions of PUNPEE collided when a look alike dressed in the same gear as his 2017 White Stage set appeared before the real-life PUNPEE, making for an eye-catching visualization of the past and present.

PUNPEE is a well-loved Tokyo based multi talented DJ, rapper, and sound engineer with an extensive list of albums, EPs and singles under his belt. He is no stranger to the Fuji Rock festival, performing here a number of times on numerous stages. This time he performed memorable tracks such as “Time Machine ni Notte” (タイムマシンにのって), “BUDDY” with BIM, and finished strong with “Oldies”.

“It took 14 years to get here”, says PUNPEE, as he overlooked an impressively large crowd on the field of the Green Stage. The audience’s joy was evident as there were smiles all around and an infectious energy felt across a distance. Throughout his performance he shared heartfelt snippets of his life and conveyed immense gratitude for his journey so far.

In the backdrop, the crowd was treated to animated short films featuring PUNPEE himself, tailored to the tracks at play. With the help of special guests, 5lack, ZEEBRA, and BIM, in a span of one hour, we were treated to years worth of his work. It was an eclectic and thoughtful celebration of how far he has come, and with a new collaborative EP on the way, it looks like PUNPEE is really just getting started.

1- xiexie
This small Rookie a Go-Go band totally took me by surprise! I liked what I had heard of their stuff on Spotify but there’s some sort of magic that comes with live music. It was so fun to dance with the band members and the smaller stage just made for such an enjoyable experience.
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2 – Snail Mail
If you read my intro post, you’ve seen that I was most looking forward to Snail Mail’s set. And boy, did it deliver! I’ve been a fan of Lindsey Jordan’s work for years now and hearing Pristine live was everything 2018 Mika could have hoped for. I was also secretly hoping she would open with Valentine, so when she did I was PUMPED!
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3 – Asakura Saya
Asakura Saya was too dang cute. Her energy was perfectly matched with the Gypsy Avalon stage and the whole performance just brought a smile to my face. Her singing voice was so uniquely beautiful too!
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4 – Kaho Nakamura
It’s difficult to explain how amazing this set was. I was seriously blown away by Nakamura’s talent! She’s a fantastic performer who clearly put a lot of love and care into this festival. Calling her just a singer would be selling her far too short.
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5 – Dragondola / Day Dreaming
I loved getting to ride the Dragondola for all of its amazing views and getting a ropeway car to yourself is kind of awesome in the middle of a crowded festival. The Day Dreaming stage was relaxing, breezy and beautiful! Super worth it to go if you can swing it.
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Hopes for Next Year
I would love to see some of the artists that had to cancel at next year’s festival! Namely artists like YOASOBI, Say Sue Me and 八木海莉 were all on my festival bucket list but fate had other plans this year.

Thank you Fuji Rock 2022 for an unforgettable weekend! Until next time!

A drone of strings rose in crescendo and were soon joined by guitars, bass, keyboards and razor sharp drumming. The one-two punch of “It Runs Through Me” and “Losing My Way” set the tone for the evening, the former featuring a lovely saxophone solo that echoed across the huge clearing.

Tom’s stunning voice competed for attention with his smooth-as-silk guitar playing, and the entire band showed an unmatched harmony and chemistry. Connecting many songs without stopping in between, many of the well known pieces were built upon as live versions including extended jams, breakdowns, and solos by band members.

The lighting designer also deserves some props here for coordinating directly with the mood. What began as a stage washed completely in blue later burst into color and reinforced the rich atmosphere of each and every song. If anyone in the crowd was wondering when the giant disco ball would be put to good use, they only had to wait for the upbeat shuffling “Disco Yes” to get their answer.

Tom’s unmistakeable craft as an incredible guitarist showed through on many of the songs, and were even further amplified when joined by elements of violin and twinkling keyboards, among a huge range of instruments in the band. Cinematic vocal samples and electronic flourishes dressed up the chilled-out track “Movie”.

After previewing a new song in the smooth and groovy “Falling for You”, sweet-sounding vocals flip-flopped into a plucky funk breakdown on “Sunless Sky”. Late in the set, evocative highlights “South of the River” and “Lost in Paris” brought the performance to a climax.

As magic hour darkened into the final night of Fuji Rock for this year, Tom’s effortlessly flowing jazz seemed to hang in the air even after the stage darkened and crowds dispersed.

The band formed in 2013 in Philadelphia, PA, USA, while Zauner was still part of her emojified band, Little Big League. Japanese Breakfast has garnered worldwide attention especially over the last year, since Zauner published her memoir titled “Crying in H Mart” which illustrates her life being Korean-American, and her relationship with her mother who passed away from cancer a few years back. While Japanese Breakfast caught my attention as musicians years back, this memoir is the reason why I’ve gained deeper love and respect for Zauner and her music, due to the fact that I too, grew up in Oregon to an Asian mother and frequented H Mart (Asian grocery store) together. Zauner’s story of love and grief, and her relationship with her mother is truly relatable and thus, being in her presence at Fuji Rock was one of the most attractive parts of the lineup this year.

There was even a commemoration to her mother during “The Body is a Blade” with rotating photographs of Zauner’s childhood and photos with her mother. As the song came to an end, the backdrop displayed a photo of Zauner’s mother and got an closeup footage of Zauner on the side screens, showing how similar the two look — a sweet nod to a person who has influenced Japanese Breakfast’s career immensely.

Throughout the set, Zauner was very expressive with her movements; from passionate hands that stretched in all directions, to her smile the kept the skies sunny for the hour-long set. The visuals on the backdrop were also unique to each song, often displaying lyrics or themes that matched the energy of the song.

The cartoon visuals during “Glider”, which is a song the band produced for the Xbox game, “Sable”, made the audience feel like they were in the video game themselves. During “Everybody Wants to Love You” the words were displayed in the back, making it easy for even a non-English speaking crowd to follow along.

During “Slide Tackle”, Zauner yelled out “1, 2, 3, 4” in Japanese as she got the crowd to jump up and down to the band’s dream pop vibes.

The band then played their most famous cover, “Dream” by Fleetwood Mac as they encouraged the audience to sing along. Lastly, they ended with their greatest hit, “Diving Woman”. As the crowd cheered them on, the sun came out shining brighter than before to hint at the great set that just concluded.

The set began with a sitar-like electronic drone and a tentative ‘ohayogozaimasu’ from Terry Riley before he broke into chants, with Sara echoing them perfectly. It set a mood that fit Pyramid Garden’s yoga and granola vibe to a tee. The set proceeded under the bright mountain morning sun in a trancelike fashion, with Mr. Riley chanting and occasionally adding punctuation with a melodica. He periodically changed the tempo of a prerecorded chime loop, and considering the hypnotic drone of the music each small change felt seismic. Sara helped ground the set with her percussion, providing the foundation for Mr. Riley to build on.

After 30 unbroken minutes the set took a turn to the electronic, the performers leaving the sitar drone behind in exchange for playful synthesizer, flitting from chamber music to ragtime and everywhere in between. The element that remained was the drone, this time a very simple repeated piano phrase underneath Mr. Riley’s musical scamperings

The third song saw things get more atmospheric and slightly darker, Mr. Riley turning his hand to an effects board and creating a dark, swirling backdrop for a pulsating organ, the pulses of which Sara appeared to control via iPhone. The set perfectly demonstrated two elements that Terry Riley is known for, repetition and trance. It felt less like watching a concert and more like hearing someone perform the soundtrack to a strange, half-remembered dream. All in all it was mind expanding.