FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL 2006 REPORT @ NAEBA / DAY 03
DATE : 30th July, 2006 (Sun)
PHOTOGRAPHER : Masanori Naruse / Yasuyuki Kasagi / uchuutaishi star
TEXT : Matt Cotterill (HigherFrequency)
Transit Kings, White Stage, 17:20 The genre-defying Transit Kings took to the White Stage with their sample-riddled, gracefully layered synergy of dance, ambient and rock. And the sun finally came out. The set was largely taken from their long awaited debut "Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God", which showcased in Tokyo a couple of years ago, a place which, Alex told us in an interview earlier that morning, was conveniently distant from London to avoid the press. The set merged seamlessly with the newfound sunlight and upbeat crowd who could at last leave their wellies in their tents. Guy Pratt was noticeably absent (according to Alex: because he's a slag), as was cofounder Jimmy Cauty (according to Alex: because there isn't enough money around), so it was left to Alex and producer Dom Beken, and later an entourage of guitarists, to deliver the afternoon's ambient grooves and bouncy rhythms, which, like the album, had Paterson's fingerprints all over them. Even the kids were out for this one. The Strokes, Green Stage, 20:20 Style over substance is an accusation that has been levelled at alternative new new-wave New York rocksters The Strokes in the past, and there was a palpable sense of breaking this mold in their last album "First Impressions of Earth", with its bolder, more ambitious musicality and Julian Casablancas' less fashion-addled lyrics. But the album was not without its daftness - recall lyrical gems like "I was hiding from the world, I was a squirrel" on "Fear of Sleep". So, how would Casablancas' Lower East Side nonchalance stand up to the rigors of headlining the last day at FRF? An initially gobsmacked gait at the legions of fans manifestly gave way to a rise-to-the-occasion demeanor that grew as the set evolved through the classics from "Is This It?" - tracks like "Last Night" that forged their standing and spawned a generation of bandwagon hitchers. While it was mostly guitar by numbers on the newer material, Casablancas was clearly making efforts to raise the bar - affording himself the odd mild mobbing by an eager crowd and injecting the set with a more successful brand of sarcasm than that attempted by the Chili's Anthony Kiedis the night before. "Do you believe in life after love?" he quipped, in an apparent reference to a Cher lyric, and "here we are in Zion!" just before launching into "Hard to Explain". After that track he held the mic to the audience - the ensuing fizz of noise proved he had the crowd behind him. Tracks from the latest album included "You Only Live Once", "Vision of Division", and the balladic, ever-so-slightly-whiney "Ask Me Anything". During that song's particularly wailing chorus refrain of "I've got nothing to say", it appeared even the mic had had enough as it spat, sputtered and died. Credit to Casablancas for his droll retort - tossing it away he barked into the next one "I don't know what that is.. it's all in my head; wish I wasn't so high". | |
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Happy Mondays, Green Stage, 22:30 Would you Adam and Eve it? Just a few weeks ago, in the hubris of the World Cup, Smash boldly announced this year's special guests. Yes, they would have us believe, Shaun Ryder et al would actually make it onto a plane. At the time there seemed more likelihood of Ronaldo being bought a pint in an Old Trafford pub, but oh how things can change. This had to be worth it, not just for the musical epiphany some of us had with the early Madchester scene, but more importantly for the morbid curiosity value that, frankly, Shaun Ryder is somehow defying death. Long suffering backing singer Rowetta opened the set as the bongo-laced guitar grooves of "Loose Fit" begin to swirl around the Green Stage, then on lumbers Shaun Ryder looking like a cross between a potato and a Dr. Who enemy. For a moment there it seems like he's remembered the words. Just for a moment. Not that the considerably downsized crowd in the wake of The Strokes seems bothered - it is positively heaving by the time they reach "Kinky Afro", bopping to the baggy beats of yesteryear. The spotlight seems stuck to the freaky shenanigans of Bez, for whom the years of pills, thrills and bellyaches have clearly been kinder than they have for Mr. Ryder, who stops making sense somewhere in the middle of "Hallelujah", when, rather than sing the song, he starts asking Rowetta "Are you Linda? John?" Even Bez has to be reminded on occasion by the guitarist to get his maracas in time. It's all over after "Step On", it's been short but frantically energetic, riddled with echoes of the scallies and ravers of the Hacienda heyday. While the set was one of the shortest, the buildup to the encore had to be the longest, most hyped of the weekend. The crowd was fired up to near meltdown with the "do you want some mores?", at one point someone's kid even coming out to big up the crowd. And what happened? Nothing. Bugger all. Shaun, it turns out, is too drunk. It is left to Bez to sheepishly announce to a deflated crowd that "some more" will de facto constitute his 4am DJ set. Never have so many been built up by so few for so little. Let's see if Bez can remain sober for the next three hours. | |
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Bez, Red Marquee, 04:00 Here we go. Yet another in the rich lineage of aging Manchester rockers to fall victim to the lure of the decks, an arresting phenomenon whose roster includes the likes of Peter Hook, Duffy, Mani and Johnny Marr. Now it's time to get a dose of the decks a la Bez, the Happy Mondays' moral (and mostly chemical) support mainstay. Out he comes to whoops and cheers from the crowd, and... lets his mate DJ. There's still the freaky dancing, the leaps and bounds, but accompanied by a nagging sense that he looks like the DJ's mate who's got that bit too excited he's been allowed to stand behind the decks. At least he's making requests, or rather directing the next tune he'll be bopping to. But so what, the punters love it. It was textbook party stuff, a gamut of Madchester-era, classic pop rock, that included remixes of The Charlatan's "The Only One I Know", The Stone Roses' "She Bangs the Drums", and even a version of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil". One thing you can't fault Bez for is the man's charisma, nor, for that matter, can you accuse this whole setup of being pretentious - this is quintessential Bez, a 24-hour vibe where the one unifying element is the party. Mad for it. So it's over, it's morning and Fuji's tenth anniversary plays out. A dazed and well and truly rocked Higher Frequency slopes off to pack its bags, avoiding the dejected but knowing glances from other revellers that it's over for another year. Rock and roll on Fuji no.11! | |
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