"Power to the people, Power to the people, right on"
-Power to the People, John Lennon

Finally, the last in my long and winding run-down of Fuji Rock.

Sunday at Fuji Rock started off promising- it wasn’t raining! We checked out Kodo, the traditional Japanese taiko drumming group on the suggestion of Ana Matronic of Scissor Sisters who announced to the crowd that they were awesome. Kodo’s performance was when the “Wow…I’m in Japan” moment hit me. Up until that point, I could have been at a music festival anywhere. Seeing something uniquely Japanese that I won’t get a change to again, was worthwhile.

After we had our fill of drumming, it was back over to the Red Marquee to catch another new band I have a soft spot for: Milburn. I thought they were pretty good, although all the Britrock up and comers still paled when compared to The Rifles set. To break up the Britpop we went back to the Green Stage to see the Refugee All Stars of Sierra Leone while sun tanning on the grass. Our Fuji Rock itinerary may have been weighed down with Britrock, but catching the random sets in between provided a nice contrast.

After more time filling with KT Tunstall and lunch listening to Mumm-ra, we decided we needed a bathroom break before The Automatic came on, since we were really looking forward to their performance, which also marked the beginning of our run across the ski resort grounds to catch Snow Patrol on our way to Broken Social Scene. Staring off into space and thinking about things I’d like to eat, we started walking near the British Music Lounge, vaguely staring and thinking, “Hmmmm that dude on stage looks familiar.” At the same time, Eve and I realised that it was non other than BSS just beginning their acoustic set at the Lounge.

Breaking into a full on run and successfully pushing and weaving our way through the already assembled crowd, we made it to the front of the stage area to clap along to BSS. Getting plenty of looks from the band thanks to our enthusiastic cheering and my prominent red Canada tank top, we again marvelled at our good luck. It would later turn out that we were in a screaming/cheering match with our own friend Corrie (big US BSS fan!) who was on the other side of the stage. As usual, BSS were funny and somewhat confused their Japanese hosts through the great Canadian use of sarcasm, something that is completely lost on the Japanese.

After their set…or more likely after we hung around the Lounge waiting to see where/when the band would emerge…we ran over to see The Automatic, another of my newfound favourite bands. I literally spent the entire 50 minute set jumping up and down and singing along. They even broke out a cover of "Golddigger", so I had to sing along to that too. I’m all for keytars and keymonicas, but a flute solo to a rock band’s cover of Kanye West ruled.
I was so bored by Snow Patrol that again I started thinking about things I’d like to eat. They surprised me by how boring they were. I have always been on the fence or mildly dis/interested in them and I thought seeing them live might pull it all together for me, but no. I started straining my hearing to listen to rinocerose in the distance. We limited ourselves to 30 minutes of Snow Patrol and ran over to the White Stage to catch BSS and again weave our way into the front of the crowd.

As usual, BSS gave a good show with a completely different line-up than what I saw in January with Nat and Dirk. But I cannot get over how crazy the Japanese went for them. It didn’t get that crazy back home. Hand waving, clapping, jumping, pushing and dancing for the entire show which was limited to only up beat songs. It surprised me how many older songs they played as well. The band left the stage to thunderous applause and the crew came on to begin dismantling the equipment. The fans kept clapping as the band watched from the wings, prompting Brandon to come back out and wave. Next thing you know, they’re all back on stage as the awestruck crew looks around at each other for some clue of what to do. Because everything at Fuji Rock runs on such a tight and precise schedule, there’s no room for encores or for anyone to stray from their allotted time. The Japanese never met a group of Canadians who swig wine straight out o’ the bottle at 4 in the afternoon. The band came back on stage to play “KC Accidental” and the crowd rushed to the front of the stage in frenzy. It was fantastic and if it’s any judge of the reaction of the audience, BSS will be back in Japan soon.

With nothing left to do until The Raconteurs, we headed back to the Green Stage so I could have a nap during Jason Mraz. I wish I had brought my earplugs with me. I was able to tune him out a bit and catch some sleep as well as strike up a conversation with a Toronto couple next to us while waiting for Corrie and her friends.

We met up with Corrie and her gang of Amity teachers- some Americans and Brits, as well as 2 British guys we ended up drinking with. The Raconteurs sounded great but gave a short and odd set with Jack White playing with his back to the audience for quite a while and ending abruptly after a really long jam session. Bizarre.
The Strokes were also good- not a huge fan of theirs but they gave a good show. It took the crowd a long time to warm up to them. Of course, dancing to “Reptilia” brought back many good memories of drunken nights at the Dance Cave.

After their set and with several Heineken’s under my belt, it was devised that we should all go get some food before the Happy Mondays. In reality, what transpired was myself, Eve, and Andy getting separated from the group and wandering over to the British Music Lounge which had a DJ spinning Britpop. Deciding that the speakers weren’t quite loud enough, Andy and I took it upon ourselves to sing “Live Forever” by Oasis as loudly as possible. I also found a traditional Japanese triangle hat on a post that had been a home to several large green bugs which I am sure, if I had not been in a drunken state, would have terrified me. No sooner had I picked it up and put it on my head, then Andy grabbed it wore it, and passed it along to some giggling Japanese girls.

Eventually after losing Eve, we met everyone up again at the World Restaurant area for meat pie and chips and…more beer before stumbling back to the stage for the Happy Mondays. Not really knowing anything at all about the Happy Mondays but having been encouraged by every Brit we met to catch their show, we all made our way to the front of the stage as a virtual gaijin army of no less than 10 people. The Happy Mondays were bizarre- they came off as arrogant jerks, and not in a good way. The show ended and as they teased us all with the possibility of an encore, Corrie and I began heckling them. In between fits of laughter, Corrie decided to randomly begin yelling “Fuckin’ Sonic Youth!!!!” in a hoarse man-voice. So, I jumped on that band wagon and we began yelling in unison. The Happy Mondays did not come back out and I’d like to think that it was due to our heckling and cheering for Sonic Youth. We began asking random Japanese people if they liked Sonic Youth and got a variety of reactions- everything from blank stares as they tried to ignore us to high fives and cheering.

At this point “get the hell out” music began to play as the crowd dispersed. We took it as a sign to begin dancing in front of the stage with the Japanese crowd that had begun to form a mosh pit in the centre. Corrie, new friend Dave, and I plunged right into the centre of the chaos as the rest of our group stood by to watch. It was like a crazy Italian wedding gone wrong with all of us holding hands or with our arms around each other jumping to Lennon’s “Power to the People.” It was insane! It was such a fantastic experience to be thrown into the crowd, singing with strangers. Corrie and I emerged as the song finished and the crowd broke up, covered in dust.
Not wanting to end a good thing, Dave began blowing his whistle which began a riot. Japanese rushed him in a mob and it was chaos again. They picked him up on their shoulders and tossed him in the air over his head as he crowd surfed. We all stared on in disbelief. Every time he blew the whistle, it was more cheers and chaos. It was hilarious.
After this, Corrie, Andy, and I drunkenly stumbled over to the bathrooms and lost the rest of our posse in the process. People never stay where you tell them to. Upon returning to the place where we told the others to wait and finding it empty, we shrugged and went for more beer. This is why it pays to have drunken friends- they buy you the beer. The beer tent staff loved us for our drunken Japanese phrases and the fact that we kept yelling “Fuckin’ Sonic Youth” at each other, and posed for a picture with Andy. As Corrie and I waited for him, we continued yelling about Sonic Youth and were asked to pose for pictures with Japanese passers-by. Come to Japan- you will be a God.

The rest of the night is a bit of a fog that includes quasi-passing out near a dumpster, then wandering around looking for food and Eve. Being unsuccessful in both attempts, I made it back to the tent on my own and crashed.

The list of causalities form the concert is as follows: one pair of shoes, two towels, two pillows, and one raincoat as they found a new home in the dumpster. I got to see 95% of the bands I wanted to see. The only ones we had time conflicts with were Orson and Mogwai. While I would have preferred Orson to Snow Patrol, geography and time became a factor.

My favourites:
Franz Ferdinand- like you didn’t see that one coming
The Hives
Scissor Sisters
The Rifles
The Automatic

Disappointing:
Snow Patrol
Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Best showmen/woman and/or stage show:
The Hives
Franz
Scissor Sisters
The Spinto Band
BSS

Best songs performed live:
Outsiders- Franz Ferdinand: 9 drummers drumming including members of The Cribs and The Spinto Band. (YouTube's site is down, will add the video later. I think it was taken by the Spinto Band backstage of all the drummers.).
Gold Lion- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Monster- The Automatic
Peace & Quiet- The Rifles
Panzer Attack- Cooper Temple Clause
Factory- Martha Wainwright
Mirror Kissers- The Cribs
Crazy- Gnarls Barkley
Juicebox- The Strokes

My illegaly captured videoes of event (short clips only):

Gnarls Barkley- Crazy

Kodo

The Raconteurs- Steady as She Goes

Franz- Dark of the Matinee, Eleanor Put Your Boots On, & Lynsey Wells.

The Automatic- Golddigger & Raoul

The Hives- Idiot Walk

There's also some different photos on my travelblog. All in all, I would definitely do it all again. Except this time I would wear a pair of rubber boots. Leeds, T in the Park, or Glastonbury next year anyone?

"Well you get on your feet, And out on the street "