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FRF '99 was the result. Even further from
Fuji it was staged in a National Park in the small
ski resort
town of Naeba in Nigata Prefecture. The location
was indeed stunning and the line up for the three
day festival was equally impressive. There were
three large stages, a small new band stage, a dance
tent and a chill out field. FRF '99 offered a more
balanced mix of musical genres than the previous
FRFs, notably in that the powerhouses of rock were
matched by some of the biggest names in
electronic dance music and a host of top DJs
playing till dawn.
The weather was perfect, temperatures got pretty
high making high factor sun screen essential, but
the altitude took the edge off the humidity, and it
was nice and cool once the sun sank behind the
mountains which surrounded the festival site.
One of my most vivid memories of Glastonbury
Festival back in the UK is getting back to mate's
tent to find it, and all its contents had been
knicked. Then there are the horror stories that
emeged form last year's Woodstock war-zone. Despite
lamentations about the demise of Japan's civil
society, especially among the young, it was a rare
pleasure to be able to enjoy a music festival
without worrying about personal safety and your
belongings.
Still, I was shocked when a bunch of young punk
rockers who'd just got off the bus from Tokyo,
after excitedly staking out their turf with a
plastic sheet proceed to take out all of their
valaubles out of thier pockets and leave them in a
bag on the ground befiore heading off into the
mosh pit for an hour or so.
Most festival sites after 3 days look like, well
like there's been a three day festival there, and
you're knee deep in 3 day's worth of beer cups and
food containers. FRF '99 not only actively
encouraged you to deal with your garbage by giving
out bags etc but had volunteers standing in huge
garbage collection areas who would sort your trash
for you. Before each day's program started at noon
the whole site was back in pristine condition.
My only complaint about FRF '99 was that the
festival camping area was on a ski slope - and it
felt like it was on a black run and there was a
mogul right where I was trying to kip. Not only
did you find yourself scrunched up in a ball at
the bottom of the tent when you woke up, there was
virtually no shade so it was impossible to sleep
longer than 10min after the sun rose above the
mountains at 6am and started to bake your tent.
This made it difficult to fully enjoy the all night
dance tent for those who prefer a natural high. I
know camping is supposed to be part of the festival
experience, but if you're paying over 40,000 yen
for a 3 day ticket you might as well splash out and
stay in one of the many ski lodges in the area.
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