The first pleasant surprise for concert goers on arrival at the ski resort festival location of Naeba was that the Prince Hotel had given up it's precious golf course to be used a campsite. This meant that campers didn't have to repeat last year's gravity defying feats on the side of a ski slope, and sleep was actually possible. For those fortunate enough to arrive Thursday afternoon, there was the added bonus of snagging some shady spots- which helped extend sleep time a couple of much needed hours past daybreak.

This year's festival seemed a more rounded festival-like experience. There were more Japanese bands, two of which (Blankey Jet City and Thee Michelle Gun Elephant) headlined the main Green Stage to huge crowds. There were street performers, comedy acts, more food stalls, alternative health areas, and even a haunted house. A further bonus for the early arriving faithful was the pre-festival matsuristyle party. It kicked off with some taikodrumming and bon-odoridancing led by some local residents- who received a noisy and enthusiastic response from a crowd already fired up and well into the festival mood.
Ska legends, The Trojans, took over from the local obasans,whipping up the crowd even further by belting out a bagpipe solo of all things. A red faced white guy in a kilt standing atop the tinyest of stages, sent the crowd into a frenzy of pogo dancing and whooping.

The "free" (everyone had splashed out a considerable amount of cash to be there in the first place) bonus night then moved into the "Red Marquee" tent and continued on until 1am, with DJ Mamezuka getting things going with a great set which included a little medley of a few the artists who'd be performing over the next 3 days. The rammed marquee lapped up the preview to their favorites from Chemical Brothers, Asian Dub Foundation, and Leftfield.

Live sets from Scafull King and Ozamalti followed - leaving everyone buzzed and excited for the start of the festival proper.

Day 1

We ducked into the Marquee out of the rain after catching a competent performance by Palacebo on the main stage and stumbled on a great show by blues combo G-Love and Special Sauce. The lead singer certainly knew how to whip up the crowd and took a break from his harmonica to do a brilliant little rap in Japanese which received a great response from the crowd.

Most people hung around for Eagle-Eye Cherry, at least until he'd played his latest hit "Are you still having fun"- after which there was a mass exodus to catch Foo Fighters on the Green Stage.
Things now looked a little brighter, but the rain wouldn't quite give up completely.

I don't really know what to think about the Foo Fighters. I like watching their videos, but as for the music it doesn't really seem to have any soul and just doesn't move me. That said, I was stood along with everyone else in a pool of mud in the rain... and I'm glad I did. David Grohl really put on a good show, and his frenetic energy made the language barrier a non-issue. It was great to see him at the side of the stage before they came out jumping up and down, mouthing out "lets go" to the rest of the band hanging back before they were "officially" announced- not your average rock star bullshit of hanging back until the crowd starts chanting to make an appearance.
Just like their videos, I can't remember much about the music but I do remember Grohl bounding, spitting, and burping around the stage. He "spontaneously" jumped off the stage and ran, guitar in hand, through the crowd in the rain - which started a crush of fans moving like the tide along with him as he strutted along slapping hands along the way. Fun, but he seems like someone even your mom would approve of, and as a rock star lacks the "edge" of his former front man.

The sun went down and it was time for the Chemical Brothers on the big stage. After last year when they were preceded by Blur, we decided not to stand in front of the stage and be stuck among a mass of Blankey Jet City fans who won't dance, and moved over to the side of the stage. Couldn't actually see the stage from here - but hey, what's to see; two ordinary looking blokes behind loads of computers. There was concrete underfoot, and we were surrounded by DEDICATED party people. The Chemicals' set, the one they've toured all over the world since the release of their Surrender album, was pretty much the same as last year. The crowd was sent into a frenzy when they kicked off with "Hey Boy Hey Girl" and they left no room for the vibe to calm down hitting us with "Block Rocking Beats," "Out of Control", a wicked version of "Song to the Siren", and the simply beautiful "The Sunshine Underground". Finishing with the now classic show stopper "The Private Psychedelic Reel" - NOW it feels like a festival...shit is that the time! Sorry Blankey but I've gotta get over to the White Stage for Asian Dub Foundation.

Asian Dud Foundation are great - if have the opportunity to go see them in Osaka at Bay Side Jenny next month (October) go, go ,go! Their second time at Fuji Rock (they played in '98 when it was held in Tokyo), they obviously like being in Japan - though I'm not sure they really know where they are - of the Naeba venue, turntablist Pandit G told us, "Wow, I never knew Tokyo was so beautiful." Their fusion of drum'n'bass with reggae, rock, and asian rhythms can't fail to move you, and their energy - they are obviously just happy to be up there - is infectious. And of course it's on the White Stage - big, but with a sense of intimacy, and a crowd who are there to dance like mad things. As they dished out a mix of stuff from their latest album, and some favorites from 1998's "Rafi's Revenge" we were jumping around almost as much they were! The impromptu appearance from Audio Active's front man during the last track was the start of a bit of a theme over the next couple of days.

One thing ADF are big on is message, with several highly political songs, such as "Free Satpal Ram," about which they really care. Other than one reference to the G8 summit and the IMF that got a slight response most of it went over the heads of most of the crowd - if it means so much to them, maybe they should try using subtitles or captions on the big screen.

And as for Blankey Jet City, I caught their last encore of their last gig, and the tears of the hundreds of girls crushed at the front of the main stage captured on the giant screen. Not my thing, but it was quite a sight to see, thousands of people packing out the area in front of the stage and stretching right back up the hill. It was definitely a good move of the promoters putting these guys on!

Day 2

Dry and Heavy, just returned from a well received tour of Europe really are wonderful - especially outside, surrounded by mountains, under a blue sky. Made up of Audio Active's bassist (Heavy) and drummer (Dry) and vocals supplied by Likkle Mai and Ao Inoue who provide a great contrast to one another, their old school reggae doesn't break any new ground, but they do it so well. They played most of the stuff off their recently released "Full Contact" album, and of course ADF's Deeder appeared at the end to do a laid back version of ADF's "New Way, New Life" - after which much mutual hugging ensued.

Sonic Youth who were already art students being "moody" and uncompromising when many grunge rockers where still in flannel diapers were doing their stuff back on the main stage and I thought they'd be worth the walk over for - being one of those bands that you SHOULD see at least once. Maybe the fact that they're legends was unknown to most people, or maybe it was just that it was 4 o'clock in the afternoon, as there was a pretty sparse crowd, some of whom were slightly bemused at abuse some of the guitars were getting. Odd when a few hours later there were about 20,000 people watching rockers in black Thee Michelle Gun Elephant chanting "I want a motorcycle!"

So somewhat disappointed, it was back to the reliable White Stage for what was meant to be a live show with Roni Size and Reprazent. Mr Size hadn't been able to make it due to some kind of virus, so we were treated to a tag-team DJ set from the Full Cycle crew's DJ Krust and DJ Die each playing a couple of tracks at a time, and Dynamite MC instructing the crowd as to how a drum 'n' bass set works - "Wait for it, wait for the bass.. .no not yet, wait for the BASS!!" With only an hour, and two quality DJs going up against each other like this you can be sure that it'll be killer. We were not disappointed. Mixing up new tracks, many from the upcoming Reprazent album, with old favs like "Warhead" and "Brown Paper Bag" no one seemed miss Mr Size at all.

Still at the White Stage the rain started to fall but no one seemed to mind as Run DMC, still in black, still in their Adidas went through all their hits, no one in the least bit bothered that "Walk this way" and "My Addidas" are now 20 years old!

Saturday night in the Red Marquee was packed through 'till dawn. Starting with Scottish live outfit Mogwai with their beautiful guitar noise epics. Next up was Richard James, otherwise known as the Aphex Twin. Only one word can describe this set - MAD. Powerful breaks that changed relentlessly, almost daring you to try and dance. A solid F.U. to formulaic four-to-the-floor house music. Sets by Luke Slater and Co-fusion's DJ Wada followed providing a less challenging and more uplifting vibe (for this Sho-chuaddled dancer anyway. Carl Craig was also to appear just before dawn, but by 05:30 my paper thin sleeping mat was calling me.

Day 3

Moby on the White Stage, like Underworld last year, was one of the benefits of making the effort to go to FRF. In Europe and the US, thanks to his award winning "Play" album, he's now a dance music superstar and is headlining festivals in front of thousands of people. And here he was at FRF playing in the middle of the afternoon on a small stage in front of just a couple of thousand people - and what lucky people we were.

Moby plays the everyman very well, but you can sense he loves being up on that stage playing his music. He was one of the artists at this year's FRF that, despite the language barrier, really established a good rapport with the crowd. Looking like your uncle he careered around the stage like a hyperactive kid after a sugar feast, as he went through a heathy portion of the tracks on "Play" and some of his earlier should've-been-hits, pausing between tracks to chat and sign things.

Stereolab followed. OK but for me they were not much more than a welcome rest before Leftfield. Someone complained that Leftfield were a bit boring. Fair enough, they just work the computers and not much else, but those computers put out some great music and it's up to you to do with it what you please - ie get over the fact that this isn't a live "concert" but time to "dance." That said they did bring along Cheshire Cat to provide vocals on "Chant of a Poor Man" from their "Rhythm and Stealth" album - the highlights were definitely "Inspection Check One" from their classic first album "Leftism," and the encore "Phat Planet" (which if they hadn't played I would've been obliged to hunt them down back stage) - which in my opinion was 1999's best dance tune.

There was now a dilemma. Hang around for Japan's techno funsters Denki Groove or head over to the main stage for Primal Scream. I went for Primal Scream; wrong choice. Now, I love Primal Scream's music and they play it pretty well live, but having seen them a couple of times they just don't convey much "feeling" - and this is exacerbated when they play huge venues. They went through the "Xtrmntr" album and threw in a few old favorites. "Higher than the sun" is however a classic that can't fail to touch you.

FRF on the main stages was done, but continued in and around the Red Marquee until dawn with another performance by the Tojans and ska/reggae inspired bands and DJs. FRF is as much about the things you stumble across as much as the things you go wanting to see. The Field of Heaven had some gems of performances (by who I don't know) that I caught on the way to grab food or coffee, as did the Red Marquee when trying to get out of the rain showers. It's impossible to see everything, but ultimately it's about the people who come together with such positive attitudes and open minds in a beautiful place... just to be there.