“Everybody's happy now, Nobody ain't laughing now”
-Hey Scenesters, The Cribs

Oh. My. God.

Where do I even begin to recount the Fuji Rock Festival? It was bloody brilliant and I have the bruises to prove it. 4 days of camping, mud, 33 bands, 3 acoustic sets, 12 hours sleep, 1 major freak-out, Orlando Bloom, 1 stripper, and lots of crazy foreigners. Since I have lots to go over, we’ll do this in separate posts. First up, I know everyone wants to breakdown of who we saw and how good they were, so I’ll give you the specs in a handy list form before getting into details and hijinks.

The 32 bands Eve and I managed to see either in their entirety or partial sets, somewhat chronologically:

Cooper Temple Clause- saw them twice; they performed the special opening night set on Thursday before the festival officially started. A bit too hard-core for me but they had some good dancy rock songs. Just had to fight to stay on my feet in the mosh pit.

Shoen Knife-Japanese all-girl rock band who were really good

10 Feet- awful screaming

The String Cheese incident- how are these people popular?

The Spinto Band- likes them before, love them now; put on a fantastic show and they really spaz out

Martha Wainwright- she was a nice, folky change to the rock bands we were seeing; besides supporting fellow Canucks, you have to love someone who wrote a song called “Bloody Motherfucking Asshole”

Asian Kung-fu Generation- they’re Britrock but in Japanese so its lots of fun

The Cribs- One of my favourite sets; I’ve seen them before but they just blew me away this time. Their set was also the site of my major freak-out…

Gnarls Barkley- quite the production with lots of back-up singers and musicians and it sounded great

Dirty Pretty Things- pretty good but I’m not sure if I would go out of my way to see them

JET- disappointing; it did get insane for “Are You Gonna Be my Girl”… they were actually kind of boring, but then again, I was counting the minutes until…

Franz Ferdinand- I heart them so! All major biases and estrogen coursing through my veins aside, they are bloody fantastic. It’s the 3rd time I’ve seen them in 10 months and this was by far their best show. They just look like they are having fun and Alex Kapranos looks damn good doing it. It also helped that I was right up front, crushed against the barrier. Definitely one of the best performances and a real crowd pleaser. Sigh. I’m already counting down until the next time I get to see them.

Wolfmother- total Led Zeppelin flashback. I enjoyed them, even though I don’t go for the classic rock vibe. Plus they were on at 11am so nothing wakes you up like some hard rock.

Fields- a nice surprise; kind of in the Stars/BSS vibe and really seemed impressed with the crowd’s reaction.

The Rifles- another of the highlights; I like their album, so seeing them live just cemented that. They were really impressive and they surprised me at how good they were. I actually walked away awe-struck.

Mystery Jets- terrible; we left after 3 songs, but the Japanese love them.

The Hives- another favourite, surprisingly. They surprised me at how good they were. I’m not a fan by any means but I would jump at the chance to see them again. A really good performance with lots of crowd interaction.

Ken Yokoyama- just heard him in passing; a quasi-screaming Japanese rock guy which wasn’t what I was expecting.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs- they were good, but I expected more. The general consensus from people I talked to was that they were disappointing. There was no crowd interaction at all. It was like watching a choreographed stage show- I’d expect it from Madonna but not the YYY’s.

Scissor Sisters- I’ve wanted to see them for a while and they didn’t disappoint. So much fun! They sounded fantastic live and the interaction between Jake and Ana and the crowd was great to be a part of. Another festival highlight.

Jenny Lewis- depressing as Hell so we got out of there before the first song was finished.

Milburn- I liked them. I’m biased towards Britrock in general, but they had a good set. They’re better live than they are on their album, although I still like it. Not as good as The Rifles, but decent.

The Refugee All-Stars of Sierra Leone- another nice change from the multiple rock bands; Good summer music.

Kodo- a Japanese taiko drum group. I forgot I was even in Japan until they came on. A little bit of Japanese culture amidst the British invasion.

Mumm-ra- another British band; they sound okay, but they just didn’t hold a candle to The Cribs or The Rifles.

KT Tunstall- she sounded good but it felt a little out of place at the festival; I think she would be better suited for a smaller venue.

The Automatic- another highlight for me; I really liked their album and seeing them live made it all sound better. They’re one of my new favourite bands; they also covered “Golddigger” complete with a flute solo…

Snow Patrol- Very bland and boring. I was indifferent to them before (I know, shocking since they’re Irish) and I just wasn’t feeling them at all.

Broken Social Scene- we all love BSS and know they give a great show; but their Japanese set is completely different to what they would play at home- only fast, upbeat songs, and a lot of older material. First of all, it was a different collective than when I saw them back in January. Secondly, the Japanese went INSANE for them- it was non-stop jumping, dancing and screaming. And in something that never happens because Fuji Rock runs on a precise schedule, BSS came back for an encore. The crew were already dismantling the equipment when BSS came back out. The crew stood around dumbfounded as BSS picked up guitars and played “KC Accidental”. It also happened to be the Canadian congregating place.

Jason Mraz- didn’t intentionally see him, but I needed a nap on the lawn. In my dream I kept asking, “Who is playing that awful music?” I woke to discover it wasn’t a dream, and it was in fact Jason Mraz.

The Raconteurs- sounded really good but gave a very short and odd set, with Jack White playing the last song with his back to the crowd. I’m not sure if I need to see them again anytime soon. And I must admit that Jack is much more attractive in person.

The Strokes- an okay performance; it took a while for them to warm up the crowd; props to Julian Casablancas for running into the crowd; they were good, but they weren’t great. I think they’d be better suited to a smaller venue.

The Happy Mondays- WTF? I speak English and I had no idea what they were saying half of the time. They were really random and somewhat obnoxious as they came off full of themselves. They teased the audience with an encore and even had a girl come onstage and ask the crowd if they wanted to hear more, whipping them into a frenzy. Bu then, they didn’t come back. Of course, it could be because Corrie and I were yelling “NO!!!”…. and randomly screaming about Sonic Youth…

So take a breather, because now we’re onto the run-down of events:

We arrived Thursday night to set up camp on a gold course at the Naeba Ski Resort in Niigata prefecture, somewhere near Nagano. Setting up our tent on a hill in the dark was kind of fun, but we managed it and made our way to the Red Marquee stage in the Oasis food court area. There was a special program on Thursday night before the festival officially began. We got to the Red Marquee to catch a performance by Japanese girl-rock band Shoen Knife who were cool. After their set, an awesome DJ came on, spinning decent music like Iggy Pop and other rock n’ roll as opposed to the usual techno/house stuff.

A woman in a wedding dress came on stage to sing happy birthday to celebrate the 10th year of Fuji Rock- then out came a tattooed dude who began sticking needles through the skin on her arms. That’s right, it was actually a freak-show circus performance, but it doesn’t end there. The needles were actually candles, which were then lit as the crowd sand Happy Birthday. Next thing you know, she starts taking her dress off as the Japanese men rush to the front to the stage, nearly trampling us in the process. Sure enough, the show ends with her gyrating in a skin coloured-thong and nipple pasties with tassels. Hello Fuji Rock Festival!

When the freaks left the stage, it was Cooper Temple Clause doing a 50 minute set. Eve and I barely managed to stay on our feet in the mosh pit before we were able to escape to a safer distance. We found out then that the Japanese audience goes completely insane for live music. CTC aren’t my cup of tea, but they do have some catchy songs and sometimes all you want to do is jump up and down.

Cruising the 24 hour food stalls was fun- I managed not to eat any Japanese food all weekend. Best part is, everything is relatively cheap, even for a festival setting. I’m used to paying $8 for a small glass of beer at concerts, but here, full bottles were all $5, making things much more enjoyable.

After a night in a sloping tent, fighting to keep from sliding to the bottom of the tent and down the hill, we were raring to go Friday morning. Friday was my day since Franz were the headliners on the massive Green Stage that night. We started the day off with catching various bands and hanging out at my favourite place: The British Music Lounge. It was at the lounge that we discovered artists were giving acoustic sets and Q&A sessions. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time to get up from for Martha Wainwright who performed my favourite song, “Factory.” We found out that “British” also includes Canada, what with our devotion to the Queen and all. You’re not allowed to take photos of artists at Fuji Rock, but since I am wily and somewhat dishonest, I was able to sneak pictures of several artists by playing the ignorant gaijin/foreigner card.

After a few more bands, we wandered back to the Lounge in time to get up front for The Cribs acoustic set.

After their set, it was over to the Red Marquee to catch their show. I had been looking forward to them since I am a fan and was interested in seeing them a second time, since I am now more familiar with their songs compared to when I saw them in April. We were relatively close to the stage, jumping up and down and having fun. I often end up staring at various things when bands are on and for whatever reason, I like watching the people standing off-stage in the wings. 1/3 into their show, I see a figure arrive at the side of the stage to watch the show. My brain stops working for a minute as I fumble to process what my eyes are seeing. Turning to Eve, I prepare to say, “Look over there! It’s my boyfriend Alex Kapranos watching from the side of the stage. He’s so hot, I love him and can’t wait for Franz Ferdinand’s set tonight since they are so talented and fun. He’s come to see The Cribs because they toured together.” In reality and according to Eve, what came out of my mouth was more like, “AHHHH!!! There….him!...fuck…look…boyfriend….ugh…OH MY GOD….I LOVE HIM…Alex!” and so on and so forth as I freaked out, followed by jumping up and down and more girlish screams. I’m not embarrassed at all by my reaction. After all, its better then when I saw Bono at the Toronto Film Festival, freaked-out and took a picture of the ceiling. At least I held it together long enough to take some illegal pictures. And obviously, I spent the rest of the show watching him off-stage as Nick from Franz also showed up near the end of the set.

After The Cribs, Eve did not want to hang around the Red Marquee and wait for the Cribs and Alex & Nick to leave, so it was over to Gnarls Barkely who put on a good show and had Eve and I dancing at the back of the crowd next to the band Fields to “Crazy.” I was so pumped from seeing the guys at The Cribs that I was more than determined to get a good spot in the crowd for JET and Franz. I had jokingly informed Eve that I was going to use my mad crowd skillz to push my way to the front for Franz. In reality, it was so much easier than expected and didn’t even require any shoving to my dismay. We just wandered over to the front of the stage of JET and planted ourselves there for the next 5 hours.

As I said, JET was boring and disappointing. Near the end of the set, who should appear in front of the barrier but Orlando Bloom and Kate Bosworth who were on hand in the morning to promote Global Cool Day. My reaction on seeing Orlando Bloom in the morning, unexpectedly promoting Global Cool Day on stage was, “Weird, Orlando Bloom is here.” Seeing him in front of us for quite a long time and being bored by JET, decided to watch Orlando instead as he smoked and drank beer. I’ve never found him even the slightest bit attractive, and up close and personal, I confirmed that thought. He’s quite greasy looking. I didn’t see him at the God-awful premiere for Elizabethtown at the Toronto Film Festival last year, so I don’t know if he always looks like he needs a bath. Kate Bosworth is skeletal and plain in real life in case you’re curious. here's Orlando drinking beer (but no pictures of Skeletor):

Soon it was time for Franz, and with my place up against the metal guardrail secure, I planned out devious ways to take photos because there was no way in Hell I had made it that close to the stage to waste an opportunity for photos. I never imagined I would be closer to them there than I had been at a much, much smaller venue in Toronto. Luckily, we had rather puny Japanese security guards in front of us who were not about to get in my way. The weird thing was that at other shows, the security were big burly Black men- and those guys were intimidating. But luckily, I can take on a Japanese man any day when it comes to getting in my way. As always, Franz were awesome, with lots of crowd interaction. And as usual, Alex Kapranos was damn good-looking. I managed lots of pictures and some video through my stealthy technique. After about 9 pictures and several video later, a security guard came over and told me to shut my camera off. I played the, "What? I'm not allowed to take photos? I didn't know. I'm sooo sorry" in my sweetest little girl voice (I know, its hilarious I played the sweet and innocent role since those who know me, know I'm more likely to shove my way out of a situation or throw beer bottles as a distraction, but I digress...)

I managed a few more pictures and video after my security warning until Eve panicked and told me to put the camera away. Oh well- I got some great shots that I'm pleased with. The highlight of their show was “Outsiders” in which all of The Cribs and drummers from other bands made their way on stage for the 10 man drumming section of the song. (Check out this video to get the idea).

The first official day ends on a high note with good music and good weather. Since this entry has reached epic proportions, I’ll continue tomorrow with the next entry. I've got more pictures up on my travel blog in addition to these ones, so if you want to see more now, head over there. I'll post all my videos on my last Fuji Rock post, or you can head over to my Youtube.com page now to see them if you're that impatient.

“Hey scenesters, hey hey scenesters”