あれからすでに17年、相も変わらずそんなことを続けている。なにはともあれ、みんなの幸せな顔を見るのが嬉しいからだ。苗場音頭での盆踊りが一段落して、花火が上がったあと、レッド・マーキーの入口のテープがカットされると、この1年間、フジロックを待ちわびていた人達が、文字通り、堰を切ったように雪崩れ込んでくる。そして、DJ MAMEZUKAの絶妙な選曲で回されるレコードからあふれ出る音の洪水をかぶる彼らの幸せな表情ったら……ありゃあしない。それに魅入られた関係者や噂を聞きつけた出演者までもが、ステージからその光景を記録しようとカメラを構えている。どうやら、運営本部でもその様子が映像で確認されているようなのだが、ちっぽけなモニターで見るのと、現場にいるのとでは大違い。実際にそれを目の当たりにしてほしいと呼び出したのが、昨年までグリーン・ステージを担当していた、主催者スマッシュの新社長、佐潟氏。それに応えてわざわざやって来てくれた彼が「確かに、そうだね。実際に見ると……」と、口にしてくれたのが嬉しかった。

加えて、今年はステージ袖に腰をかけて、最初のバンド、USを待ちわびていたのが、フジロックを生み出した日高大将。言うまでもなく、彼の写真をフィーチャーして2021年に制作した「Wanted（指名手配）」Tシャツには「彼が最前線に戻ってほしい」という願いが込められていた。かつてfujirockers.orgが作ったTシャツで、これが桁違いのセールスを記録したのはなぜか？　多くのフジロッカーがそんな思いを共有していたからに違いない。嬉しいことに、昨年はクリスタル・パレスやどん吉パークに彼が出没。体調がすぐれないと耳にしていたにもかかわらず、今年はレッド・マーキーからグリーン・ステージにも姿を見せている。しかも、彼が惚れ込んだというUSのライヴを楽しんでいる姿を目撃したのは少なくとも2回。ひょっとしたら、それ以上足を運んでいたのかもしれない。

コロナ禍以降、なかなか本来のフジロックが戻ってこないことに苛立っているフジロッカーが多いことは百も承知だ。それでも、ここにいるだけで幸せを感じていた。奥地のカフェ・ドゥ・パリもストーンド・サークルもない。ジム・ウェストを中心に集まってきたDJたちがお気に入りの音楽を楽しむブルー・ギャラクシーは復活したものの、あの周りにあったワールド・レストランは見る影もない。昔からのフジロックを知っている人間にとってみると、かなり寂しい景色にも映る。それでも、「なにやら幸せ」な自分がいるのだ。どこかで読んだ記事に「フジロックで飲むビールがめちゃ旨い」というのがあったんだが、実にその通り。なにを食っても、なにを飲んでも、ここにいることでその全てが格別なものになっているのに気付くのだ。

何度もやってきている常連にとって、フジロックは盆と正月が一緒になった、里帰りのようなもの。懐かしい友や仲間に再会できる場所でもある。年に一度、ここでしか再会しない友人だって珍しくもない。それでも、どこかで同じような世界を引きずりながら生きていることを互いに確認したり、旧交を温めることになる。しかも、初めて出会っても、どこかで繋がっているような感覚に陥ることも珍しくはない。そして、この1年を振り返りながら、あ〜でもない、こ〜でもないと会話が続いていくのだ。

この1年でフジロックに馴染みのある人たちもこの世を去っている。そんな仲間やアーティストのことが頭をかすめるのも仕方がないだろう。そんなひとりがチバユウスケ。今年、1998年の「地面が揺れた」伝説のフジロックから、スタッフが記録し続けた彼の写真をフジロッカーズ・ラウンジで展示したのは、そんな勇姿が我々に焼き付いていたからだろう。土曜日にクラフトワークが、昨年亡くなった坂本龍一への敬意を示すように「戦場のメリー・クリスマス」を奏でて、「Radioactivity」への導入部のように使ったのが話題になっているが、彼も苗場に姿を見せたアーティストのひとりだった。

Photo by MITCH IKEDA

フジロック・エキスプレスの更新作業に使う本部テントの準備と取材活動のために、精鋭スタッフと共に苗場入りした火曜日、新たな訃報が飛び込んでいた。作業を終えた夕方、UKロックの源流と言っていいだろう、ジョン・メイオールが亡くなったことを知る。ご存知の方も多いだろう。彼の次男が、フジロックの第1回目から最重要スタッフとして行動を共にしてきたスマッシュUKのジェイソンであり、幾度となくDJとして、あるいは、ザ・トロージャンズというバンドを率いて出演してきたギャズは長男。いわば、ふたりともフジロックを語るときに欠かすことができない人物となっている。彼らにどんな言葉をかければいいのか……、かなり戸惑っていた。実の父親が他界したのだ。彼らが現場を離れても誰も文句は言えないだろう。が、ジェイソンは黙々とフェスティヴァルの準備に奔走し、少し遅れてやって来たギャズには予定通りにツアー続行することを告げられる。

規模で言えば、比較の対象にはならないことは百も承知なのだが、フジロックを触発することになった英国のグラストンバリー・フェスティヴァルに繋がる不思議な縁がメイオール親子かもしれない。後者の主催者で会場となる農場の主、マイケル・イーヴィスが大きな影響を受けたのは1969年に開催されたバース・ブルース・フェスティヴァル。そこで演奏したジョン・メイオールとブルース・ブレイカーズを見て、「自分もフェスティヴァルをやりたい」と思うに至ったと。今ではその中心人物として全てを仕切っている末娘、エミリーが口にしている。しかも、そのライヴのステージ裏にいたのが、まだまだガキンチョだったギャズとジェイソン。ずいぶんと大人になった彼らがフジロックで最もフェスティヴァル的要素を凝縮したパレス・オヴ・ワンダーからブルー・ギャラクシーの顔のような存在となっている。

1970年に始まったグラストンバリーは今年で54年目となり、1997年に始まったフジロックは、ちょうどその半分の27年目。苗場での開催が始まった1999年から25年の節目となることが今年は話題になっているのだが、フジロックのルーツと言ってもいい、アトミック・カフェ・ミュージック・フェスティヴァルが産声を上げたのは1984年と、40年前にさかのぼる。というので、あの時、スタッフとして関わった身として、今年はジプシー・アヴァロンで続けられているアトミック・カフェのステージに立って、当時の話をしている。

あれから、とてつもない時間が過ぎ去ったように思う。その間に多くの友達や仲間に関係者がこの世を去り、フジロックが始まった頃にはまだ40代そこそこだった筆者も、すでに高齢者となっている。今年、グラストンバリーの主催者、マイケルが車いすに乗ってザ・パークと呼ばれるステージに姿を見せている一方で、フジロック生みの親、日高大将は杖を片手に前夜祭のレッド・マーキーやグリーン・ステージに立っている。かつてのようにジープで会場内を走って、動き回っていた彼らを見られないのは残念だが、世界の西と東で目撃したこの光景は彼らの想いがそのままフェスティヴァルとなっているんだろうと思わせていた。

なにやら表向きには順調に復活しているように見えるかもしれないフジロックだが、さて、どうなんだろう。確かに、主催者からは「来年はあります」と耳にしているし、今年も会場を離れるときに見たゲートには、その日程が発表されていた。しかし、その言葉の裏に「再来年はわからない」というニュアンスを感じていた。なにせ、異常とも思える円安のピークが開催期間中。ギャラの支払いはドル建てが原則なので、おそらく、海外からやって来た出演者に支払われる金額が想定よりも遙かに膨らんでいるはずだ。加えて、チケットのセールスも全盛期から比較したら、貧しかったと聞いている。チケットが値上げされているといっても、利益が出ているとは考えられない。

だからなんだろう、どこかで唐突にフジロックがなくなってしまうのではないかという危惧感は拭えない。なんの前触れもなく、消え去ってしまうような怖さも感じているのが正直なところ。でも、もちろん、そうなって欲しくない。なぜなら、想像できないのだ。年に一度帰る故郷がなくなることは。フジロックのおかげで知り合ったり、仲良くなった友人たちと再会できる機会が失われるのには耐えられないように思う。

初めてここに来た人達はどうだった？　同じように感じる？　また、来年もやってきたいと思った？　もし、そうでなかったら、フジロックの魅力が失せているってことなんだろう。もし、そうだったら、フジロックがこれでも他に類を見ない野外コンサートではなく、フェスティヴァルと呼ぶにふさわしい存在だということを証明してくれているようにも思う。でも、かつてのフジロックを取り戻したいという想いは変わらない。

今回、嬉しかったことのひとつは、会場で、かつてワールド・レストランと呼ばれる場所で中心となって動いてくれていたエチオピア人の仲間、ソロモンを見かけたこと。なんと7年ぶりに来た彼がなにを思ったか？　ひょっとして、また、彼を核にワールド・レストランのような趣を復活させてくれないだろうかと期待してしまうのだ。そして、もうひとつ嬉しかったのが、何年ぶりだろう、戻ってきてくれたジーンズのリーバイス(Levi’s）。初期のフジロックでコンスタントにサポートしてくれていた彼らが戻ってきてくれた背景に、昔のスタッフが関わっていることに驚かされていた。

さて、そんな今年の会場内外での顛末を伝えてくれたのは以下のスタッフの数々。会場で一生懸命動いてくれた彼らに感謝して、そして、また、ここに集まってきたみなさんと再会できることを祈って、〆の文章を終えようと思う。ありがとうございました。

■日本語版
森リョータ、阿部光平、丸山亮平、あたそ、阿部仁知、イケダノブユキ、石角友香、梶原綾乃、三浦孝文、若林修平、Asakawa Maho、東いずみ、越川由夏、泉みや、Eriko Kondo、YAMAZAKI YUIKA、渡辺紗礼、こっこ、ヌー子、浅野凜太郎、井上勝也、エモトココロ、堅田ひとみ、粂井健太、古川喜隆、小林弘輔、佐藤哲郎、白井絢香、suguta、髙津大地、HARA MASAMI(HAMA)、平川啓子、前田 俊太郎、松藤 万里子、ミッチ イケダ、宮田遼、安江正実、リン（YLC Photography）

■E-Team
Nina Cataldo、Jonathan Cooper、Park Baker、Sean Scanlan

■フジロッカーズラウンジ
mimi、obacchi、SEKI、yamato

■ウェブサイト制作＆更新
平沼寛生（プログラム開発）、迫勇一、坂上大介

■スペシャルサンクス
三ツ石哲也

Community.
Fuji Rock works hard to work with the local community and become a part of the fabric of Naeba through art work that remains up throughout the year like (Kids Land), Gonchan art work, Joe’s Garage. And each year, volunteers from far and wide turn out to construct the longest boardwalk in Japan,

There’s no doubt that Fuji Rock has benefitted the Naeba community and this year, a record number of locals and others guests (14,000) attended the pre-festival party on Thursday night. The event featured a “bono dori” performance, fireworks, and just a few speeches welcoming guests to a revered music festival with few comparisons in terms of cleanliness, outdoor setting, and good conduct.

Fuji Lore

Of course, building an incomparable music festival did not occur overnight, and it did not come easily. It came on the back’s of perhaps music’s “greatest generation,” artists whose careers stretch back to Woodstock and other protests such as the UK’s Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).

And here we honor contributions by bluesman John Mayall who played Fuji Rock on two occasions, and sending two sons Jason and Gaz to do much of the heavy lifting regarding logistics, programming, and art. His inspiration also led to the Field of Heaven, which caters to older musical forms and musicians, though the may not achieve the same number of streams or downloads.

Major laurels go to Smash and Fuji Rock founder, Masa Hideki, for first conceived the idea and funded it. He also crafted a musical festival that put the focus back on the people, and not the corporations or the management groups that dominate so many other festivals. The original rock rebel, much of what is good and pure about Fuji Rock can be attributed to Masa’s vision.

Art Work
Nearly every step on every path is dedicated with incredible art work made by local artisans. The work is organic, reusable, and mostly made from otherwise discarded materials. Few other festivals would care about how visitors travel from stage to stage, but at Fuji Rock, every walk or excursion is special treat.

If you look closely, there’s art in unexpected places, or art work behind the artwork. For example, just outside the festival near the storage containers are two important works by UK artist Dotmaster. While they are overlooked and unseen by many, they play an important role in the festival at a time when Glastonbury chose a fallow year, freeing up the Unfairground group to appear in Japan.

Blue Galaxy
The return of the stage was important as it proved an altar to music’s highest form: they vinyl record. With nothing more than two turntables and a very simple Pioneer mixer, some of the most solid, danceable beats were produced at this stage. For example, Ruby Flashman absolutely turned it out by dropping jungle music, while other stuck with cumbria, ska, and reggae.

And Jim West did more hours at the deck than anyone I have ever seen. Without Blue Galaxy, festival goers would be subject to ridiculously high BPM levels, and bass bombast, and overdriven tweeters coming from Red Marquee.

Turnstile
What can I say, this group which resembles a random mix of people from just about any high school in North America absolutely turned it out. And they waited until about 200 of their closest fans were able to get onstage before firing their confetti canons.

Ponder for just a moment every single person in the front mosh pit being invited onstage to dance, jump around, and have fun. Now try pulling off a song with many people surrounding you onstage.

This is exactly what Turnstile does night after night. The Baltimore, Maryland, group are the risking stars of the underground, playing a heavy dose of guitar riffing, pounding drums, and lyrics that inspire fans to go into battle. 

There are many circle pits throughout the concert, along with a wall of death and crowd surfing, and for the finale, a huge rush of the stage. Pat McCrory on guitar and vocals, along with acrobatic singer and frontman Brendan Yates, keep it down, while others are having so much fun jumping subway turnstiles and running from the cops.

The sound Ride had perfected was a sort of buzzy guitar and murderous drum beats, and barely their vocals had grown tired. Also, then guitarist Andy Bell had gone on and joined Oasis. 

Ride did manage to make it back as a reunion act as music festivals began to proliferate and seek out older audiences trying to recapture their prime. Mark Gardener and fellow guitarist and lyricist Andy Bell have been together already, and now they are on tour showcasing a new album, with Steve Queralt on bass and heavy hitter Laurence Colbert on drums.

So the lads are back together, and everyone is fresh-cut and serious about performance. No banter with the audience, hardly a pause between songs, and just a whale of a sound coming from the house system.

The audience is buying it up as Ride goes through a back catalog of hits and familiar numbers, all standing in front of a simple visual “RIDE.”

Early on, the duo took inspiration from Grandmaster Flash and focused mainly on vinyl, also cutting their own mixtapes, which started to draw international acclaim. The group diced and sliced 45s with precision, bringing new interpretation to the previously recorded work. The duo later morphed into the band Soulwax, but at their heart they were still always DJs. 

At one point, an album release reached the British Top 40, but that was light years ago, prior to the EDM explosion, and now the band are starting to catch up. It was clear that the DJ duo had one mission on Saturday, and that was to get the crowd dancing. Starting with Iggy Stooge’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” the band riffed in various directions, even coming around to Franky Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax,” which was very well received by the audience.

2mandjs were instrumental in defining a path forward for electronic music, earning chart-topping records and spawning many to follow, such as Daft Punk, LCD Soundsystem, and Gorillaz. While this was their past, the reality of a 2manydjs show is a thundering sound system that is as thundering as it is loud. Decibel levels verged on the unsafe, though colorful projections did keep many in the audience engaged.

At the outset, few turned out for his set, but the crowds trickled in and later filled the Field of Heaven. Whatever, the case the drum set towering in the center of the stage made people excited for a live performance and about 10 minutes after the scheduled performance time, the sound of a saxophone burst the silence, signaling the start of The Yusef Days Experience.

Yusef’s drums are an amazing mixture of different sounds and instruments, maybe about three times the size of a normal set. And when he plays, there is an overwhelming number of notes and fine nuances.

“Yo yo, how are you at Fuji Rock?” said Yusef at the start of the set. The following song, “Tidal Wave,” showcased Yousef’s delicate drumming technique and Elijah Fox’s (Key) keys, which used a variety of tones, bring a relaxed feel to the perform. This made the groove multi-layered. The second song was “Turquoise Galaxy” which really shined, the Field of Heaven audience danced with ecstatic expressions to Elijah’s fast piano.

The spectacular jazz session continues with “For My Ladies”, “Strings Of Light”, and “Mystics”. The lighting that illuminates the main players at each moment is visually stimulating, and the piano solos are interwoven with each other which is another highlight.It feels like this is exactly what the “Yusef Days Experience” is.

In the second half of the concert and singer-songwriter from Japan appeared, as the connection was made at a Blue Note concert in February. Other songs like “Instanbul,” and “The Colour Purple,” wowed the audience who participated with some very complex handclaps. For everyone at the show, they thoroughly enjoyed the 90 minute performance with was just what they needed on Saturday night.

Fans gathered at the Red Marquee well before the show; it was already hot before they went on with the song “Romance,”  which was the first track from their new album, before going into fan favorites “Jackie Down the Line” and “Big Shot” from the third album, which have already become standard songs at live performances. 

The band then performed “A Hero’s Death,”  an early anthem that gives a sense of the origin of their sound, followed by “A Lucid Dream.” And from there, we can feel the evolution from the rebellious punk band to a more grunge-inspired dystopian electronica and hip-hop-like rhythm, and then to a dreamy slowdive-like sound. 

This is proof the band is making progress with their Dan Carey, the producer of their first three albums, to “never make a similar work again” is still valid.

They are gradually releasing new variations of their music, and the post-punk number “I Love You” is strongly influenced by their Irish culture and nostalgic at the same time. Then came the melancholic tune “Favorite” and the new sounds of “Starburster,” also from the new album.

SET LIST
Romance
Jackie Down the Line
Televised Mind
Roman Holiday
Big Shot
A Hero’s Death
Nabokov
A Lucid Dream
Big
Boys in the Better Land
I Love You
Favourite
Starburster

But its a much different band now. Do they have something to prove touring with a new album, “Glasgow Eyes,” which is more uptempo, colorful, and, how do we say it, more accessible to mainstream audiences? The band played from this album, which drew a good response from the audience.

Then the band veered to the old classics, the ones that seesaw between loudness and quiet, seminal records in the early 80’s pantheon such as “Psychocandy” and “Darklands.” Classic cuts from these LPs really got the crowd swaying, such as “Some Candy” and “Head On.”

And then there was “Just Like Honey,” a beautiful crooning number almost devoid of feedback and buzz, just plain simple melody and harmonizing.

No Party for Cao Dong has won many musical awards in Taiwan, though some are still wondering if the stage is too big for them. As soon as they stepped on stage, they dispelled doubters with a powerful guitar sound a drumming that would rival any other act at Fuji Rock.

The band are composed of Wood Lin (Vo,Gt) and Judy Chan (Gt,Vo) are all dressed in black T-shirts and shorts, a simple fashion for summer, while Dennis Chang is wearing a T-shirt of the Japanese black metal/shoegaze band, Asunojokei. And new drummer Huang Shih-wei is the engine behind the band powering many of the songs with athleticism.

In the intro a guitar is pounded with a twin pedal that creates either post-rock nor shoegaze stands out. Wood Lin’s voice is deep and husky with the three singing in unison on occasion. For newcomers they are punk emo though no member has a charismatic attitude as they work together.

In “Gristy Me” and “Big Wind Simon Says,” they move from dance beats to slow down beat transitions, changing emotions within a single song. The audience knows all the songs well, and the sense of unity at the moment of explosion from the break was powerful enough to create a No Party For Cao Dong community wherever there is music.

Wood Lin muttered something like “we usually play at night so being in the sun is something strange for us.” Otherwise he kept talking to a minimum. It probably was not a coincidence that the song they played after saying “It’s a beautiful mountain…” was “The Human, the Hole and the Mountain”? Their performance, which depicts a vast landscape, was just right for the GREEN STAGE.

Near the end of the concert a circle mosh pit broke out during the tune “Emily the ghost.” The band has charisma, and it showed with “Sankai Wayfaner,” a number that is also famous in Japan. Finally, the band logo was projected large, and many people took out their smartphones.

The number of people singing along to the chorus was extremely high. It was shocking that a Taiwanese band could digest elements of post-hardcore, metal, shoegaze, and electro-dance.

The band’s popularity and appeal is growing along with the enthusiasm of Chinese audience members at Fuji Rock, where many overseas audiences participate. Sometimes music can help people understand each other. It was an hour of music which proved this point

For those unlucky to be trapped outside, there was little to do but curse their poor planning. Glass Beams, the psychedelic trio from Melbourne, Australia, play in ornate gold masks. and Glass Beams, the most mysterious masked group among the performers, appears on stage. The The band was formed in Melbourne by Rajan Silva, whose father is an Indian immigrant, and to keep the element of surprise and mystery, the band performs in masks, and the identities of the other two members have yet to be revealed. 

The visuals of the band are similarly consistent, with exotic costumes with the same color hue and style. But when it comes to their live performance, almost nothing can be predicted as this three-piece run through traditional Indian ragas and turn to pouring pre-recorded tracks to fill out their sound. The result is an astonishing and mesmerizing mix of dance music, which, given today’s heat, just might make a few people pass out.

As soon as the trio takes the stage, one notices minimal lighting, which comes from behind. This makes the band seem even more mysterious, and the opening track, “Mahal,” starts with a mysterious hypnotic sound, backed by an exotic drum groove. The simple beat paired with distorted guitar creates a familiar sound that is just a little bit outside of many people’s comfort zone, but the audience immediately starts writing and dancing. 

In the U.S., the band is frequently compared to Khruangbin, which mixes western and eastern influences but in a low-key manner. Glass Beams takes it a step further, going all in with eastern sounds with a booming backing track of bass and drums. 

In “Kong,” a metallic chiming sound is used throughout, creating a feeling of cosmic psychedelia. At the close of the number, every member is going full volume and sending the crowd into a dance frenzy. 

The Red Marquee is now a full-on dance club. Everyone was grooving and giving themselves to the vibe. The cheers and thunderous handclaps were heard everywhere, reflecting the power of music to influence and change the world for the greater good.