Fuji Rock Festival 2018, Day One

Last year I went to Fuji Rock Festival for the first time and had a great time. The food was great, the location spectacular and most importantly, the shows were awesome. As I was leaving the gates on the last day, and even after experiencing torrential rain almost non-stop from day one, I told my friend I went with: “we need to come back next year”.

Do I feel the same way now that the 2018 edition is on the books? The answer is yes, but with a caveat. Let me explain.

When the first lineup announcement was made back in February and my prediction of Kendrick Lamar headlining this year’s festival came true, I was hyped and ready to buy a ticket. Then I read the rest of the bill and felt underwhelmed. I thought maybe it’ll be like last year and each announcement will bring the goods like last year (Death Grips, Slowdive, Chronixx, Cornelius).  This didn’t happen and each lineup update failed to impress, with a couple of exceptions. The first one was the revealing of the third headliner. The second one was an artist that played on the festival’s first day that I will discuss further down.

My friend and I arrived to the festival grounds in the morning and headed to a very popular breakfast stand where I got my daily tororo meal as I did the previous year (the tororo got better each day, I guess it’s an acquired taste). We then went to the Green Stage -the main stage- to see the unfortunately named band Mongol 800. My friend told me that their pop-ska-punk brand of music was very popular back in the early 2000s. Their music felt indeed like a nostalgia act to which I couldn’t relate. Many people were into it and the place was considerably full for such an early act. A girl with a Golden Bomber fan club scarf’s spastic dance moves throughout the whole set were really fun to watch.

Speaking of bands with terrible names, the second act I caught on the first day was Let’s Eat Grandma at the Red Marquee tent. I’m not sure, but I would think that the two members of this duo are still teenagers. Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth might have looked extremely young, but they could deliver. Their music reminded me of a less self-conscious The xx. They employ interesting chord changes in their songs and have a really strong stage presence. To me they were one of the most pleasant surprises of the whole festival.

I couldn’t catch the whole set and left 35 minutes into it to try to get a good spot at the White Stage, where Parquet Courts were scheduled to play next. It was refreshing to see a band in the lineup offering a more challenging approach to their music. Their set opened with Total Football from their latest album and closed with an epic rendition of One Man No City segueing to Light Up Gold II. They went into Sister Ray territory on that last jam. I just wished the psychedelic incursions would’ve hit harder. Nonetheless it was a great performance and enjoyed their sense of humor (after someone from their crew warned them about the time, the guitar player bantered:  “sorry for the interruption, I had to talk to a cop for a minute”). The Wide Awake song was a clear highlight.

Immediately afterwards I stopped by the NGO Village and got some yakisoba for lunch and a tasty organic honey lemon beer before checking Albert Hammond Jr. I’m not familiar with his solo output and I was completely caught off-guard seeing him as such an energetic frontman. I always pictured The Strokes as being more on the gloomy side of things, but Hammond Jr. was jumping up and down the stage and into the crowd. The band was great and the tunes alright. Overall an entertaining -if not so memorable- festival set.

I then headed on to the Field of Heaven, the stage for the more jazzier and acoustic types of acts. Took a breather for about thirty minutes in some tables nearby, and later found a spot up front the stage 20 minutes before the start of Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dogs performance. By far it was -unsurprisingly- the best set of the day. Ceramic Dog is Marc Ribot’s interpretation of a rock trio. Joined by Ches Smith on drums and Shahzad Ismaily on bass and electronics, Ribot delivered an explosive performance with lots of political undertones. They opened with a song making references to Nancy Sponge the (unjustly?) infamous Sid Vicious’ girlfriend that was found murdered at their Chelsea Hotel room, a crime for which Vicious was later charged for. Among instrumental jams there were readings from manifestos, songs about outcasts in the midst of white America, and a moving version of the Civil Rights song We’ll Never Turn Back. The set closer chanted a sentiment in many people’s minds over and over: “Fuck la migra!” As with his other side projects, Ribot delivered the goods and reminded us that rock is not defined by stereotypes like image or style, but by energy. My excitement after they were announced was not unfounded.

I remembered how different and new N.E.R.D. felt when the Lapdance video first went on the air more than 15 years ago. That rap and rock mix sounded more authentic and timeless than the nu metal of the time. Seeing the group members riding bicycles down a suburban street and hearing those lyrics about “this society making a… want to kill” was something else back in 2001. After that I lost track of the group, but Pharrell went on to bigger things, for sure. Most of which were showcased at their headlining set on the Green Stage. Joined by a group of extremely talented backup dancers (my first at a concert), the band covered lots of Neptunes and Pharrell’s productions or guest appearances. From Nelly’s Hot in Herre to Kendrick Lamar’s Alright and then from Migos’ Stir Fry to Daft Punk’s Get Lucky, the latter receiving a warm reception from the large audience gathered in front of the main stage. Throughout the set Pharrell asked for mosh pits that were delivered to the chagrin of the security staff. Actually the show was interrupted once by Pharrell asking the aforementioned to loosen up the rules. For a reprise of the set closer Lemon, he asked for 20 crowdsurfers

and he got them in a matter of seconds. It was a fun headlining set.

The usual timetable clashes didn’t allow me to check Mac DeMarco and tiredness kept me away from Post Malone’s set. After some really good aburasoba, I went back to the hotel around midnight, luckily I was able to sit down on the bus on the way to Echigo-Yuzawa station. A good relaxing end to a day filled with good music.

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