“I just stopped listening to your story, As if I paid attention once”
-Fever, The Hives

Saturday at Fuji Rock was full of ups and downs- literally as we slid around in our sloping tent.

Saturday was my “meh” day- not too many bands that I was anxious to see, save for Scissor Sisters and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the end of the day, but there were a few pleasant surprises leading up to the evening shows.

Nothing says “wake the hell up” like Wolfmother at 11am. And, all my distaste for Led Zeppelin-inspired classic rock (and I grew up with parents who are Led Zep fans), they were pretty good. They put on a good show since they’re not a band that I would have gone to see otherwise. I had a nap on the lawn with everyone else during their set which brings up another interesting Japan fact- the Japanese can sleep anywhere and at anytime. Everywhere we went, from the most populated areas of the food court to grassy hills there were sleeping Japanese concert-goers.

We decided to go and check out Fields playing in the Red Marquee since we had seen them hanging out at Gnarls Barkley Friday and they looked like fun. Actually, when we spotted them, I said something like this: “Eve, look at those people. Those guys are hot. What is with that random cluster of really attractive people?” And Eve replied that they must be in a band, and sure enough, we read their VIP passes and discovered that they were Fields. And being attracted to hot British men, made it our goal to go see their set.
I can only describe that as a BSS/Stars mix and pretty good to say the least.

After Fields, we waited for The Rifles, one of my new favourite bands and I heart their album. The Rifles gave one of my favourite performances of the entire festival- they blew me away. I wasn’t expecting them to be that good, but they totally stole the show and the audience ate it up. I walked out of there amazed at how good they were. I danced and sang along the entire time. As if to prove how good hey were, a subsequent trip to the official merchandise stand proved futile as all of their shirts had been sold out, save for the XXL size. But if you’ve never heard of them- and I have no gauge of who or what is popular anywhere anymore since I live in a J-pop bubble- pick up their CD.
And of course, no one could top that show, especially not the Mystery Jets who are inexplicably popular here in Japan. Eve and I left their set early and wandered over to The Hives after meeting up with fellow Fukushimians Miho, Naomi and Yuki. The Hives were my second pleasant surprise of the festival- they were awesome! I’d never consider myself a fan of them or their music, but they rocked. This was also the time of day that it started to pour with rain forcing me to put on my dollar store raincoat which was exactly 2 sizes too small leaving my knees exposed and ¾ sleeves. But the rain didn’t ruin the fun- I was still jumping and dancing for The Hives. The highlight of their show was “Hate to Say I Told You So” in which the entire band froze and stood perfectly still in the middle of the guitar intro, causing the audience to go nuts. Frontman Pelle Almqvist has to be one of the best performers at the festival and is what made the show so good. Plus, you can’t help but like someone who sounds vaguely like the Muppet’s Swedish Chef. I wouldn’t hesitate to see them in concert again.

The torrential downpour forced us to cram into the covered Red Marquee stage, but as soon as Jenny Lewis came on, we decided we were better off in the pouring rain than listening to her brand of “I want to kill myself” music. After some t-shirt purchases, we made our way back to the tent to drop off some things and change out of wet clothing to grab some warmer clothes. I was here that disaster had struck- our tent was leaking and wet. Because we were on an angle on our hill, the upper part of our tent was exposed from under the rain tarp and filling with water. Great. We strategically places a plastic tarp and plastic bags at the upper part of the tent to try and block more water from coming into the tent and I patted myself on my back for thinking to put all of my blankets and clothing in plastic bags before heading out the concert area that morning.
Newly changed and wearing a handy apron/skirt fashioned out of a plastic bag to protect my shorts from my too-small raincoat, it was back to the festival to hear Sonic Youth playing in the distance.

We made our way across the site to wait for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs where my concert attire should be noted: one raincoat 2 sizes too small, 3 shirts, 1 Carleton sweatshirt tied around my waist in an attractive fashion, mud-filled shoes, knee-length shorts which I cuffed to mid-thigh range, and la piece de resistance, my plastic bag skirt. I am so cool. Eve and I were right up front for the YYYs, jumping and pushing along with the crowd which only made me even more mud splattered. As a whole, the YYY’s were okay- their sound was good, save for the fit the guitarist threw when something happened to his amp during “Phenomena.” I was disappointed which seemed to be the general sentiment from others we talked to about the show. There was virtually no audience interaction. Karen O could have just as well been performing alone in her bedroom instead of in front of a large crowd. All stage theatrics aside, it just wasn’t enough and the show could have been much better, even with valiant efforts to destroy the microphones and mic stands as the horrified crew looked on from the wings.

No pushing was necessary to secure our places along the guard rail for Scissor Sisters. Having missed opportunities to see them live in the past, I was really geared up for this show and they didn’t disappoint. No bizarre puppets and stage props, just Jake Shears and Ana Matronic hamming it up for the crowd. Their sound was incredible. They were also hilarious. The audience was jumping up and down and dancing the entire time, even as we were treated to new songs off of their upcoming album. All simulated sex on stage aside (I’m sure the Japanese were shocked) they ended the night on a high with “Filthy/Gorgeous.” Because of the big burly Black bodyguards, I wasn’t able to take any pictures. Where were the puny Japanese guys from Franz Ferdinand’s show? After their show we met up with an American lad and discussed the show. And, to our surprise, he was a big fan of Broken Social Scene. The most amazing part came when he informed us that his favourite band was Stars, leaving us dumbstruck that this dude from Boston even knew who they were. Sweet. We had made a new friend. After saying goodbye to our new friend and telling him we’d meet up at BSS on Sunday, we made our way back to the Oasis area full of food and DJs. Happening by a DJ booth that was playing old school punk and the like, we arrived in time to jump up and down in the mud (literally) to The Ramones. As some of the only females present, we made friends quickly with a group of crazy Japanese guys and their Irish mate who begged us to show up at Snow Patrol’s set. The Irish guy was feeding his Japanese friends lines for us so they could speak to us in English.
I heard: “How do you like your Export Lights?” and Eve heard some equally garbled English and gave the guy the thumbs up. Our Irish acquaintance filled us in later on what they were asking., Turns out, with a Japanese accent, “How do you like your Export Lights?” is actually “Do you like your eggs scrambled or fertilized?” And thus proved my theory wrong that I will fall madly in love with any Irishman. We stayed as the DJ's switched and Junior Senior came on, spinning a variety of tunes.
At this point my feet were raw and bloody (yes attractive, I know) from wet, dirty shoes. We waited 45 minutes in line to wash our feet in freezing water from a hose after vetoing the communal girls shower. Then it was off for a peaceful night’s sleep atop plastic bags and raincoats to protect ourselves from the damp tent floor after 5 hours of rain. Sunday would prove to be another great day culminating in a riot and Heineken induced mayhem.

“And I'll turn the tables all at once”