Don’t miss the (pre)party

May 9, 2016 ● Experiences

So, you got your 3-day pass for the big festival, you’ve planned out your train route and are all set for an awesome 3 day party with your favorite bands. What could be better? Well what if I told you, you could extend that party an extra day, see some surprise sets from aforementioned awesome bands, enjoy a party with the Naeba locals, take in a fireworks show, a traditional Japanese Bon-Odori dance and it was all for free. Allow me to make the case why you can’t truely experience this great festival if you don’t come up on Thursday.

Fuji Rock Virgin Talks Expectations and Memories of Festivals Past

April 20, 2016 ● Experiences

Back during the days when I was living in a climate that required much less stoicism and bug spray, I used to spend much of my summer vacations looking forward to hitting the Reading Festival, or whatever else I could afford to go to on a student booksellers’ wage. Sadly, those days are gone, and although this is not my first festival experience in Japan – I once spent a weekend at a campsite halfway up a mountain in Wakayama getting bombarded by Gabba and Chip music til 3am every night– it will be my first Fuji Rock. Nor will it be my first festival as a reporter. I had great fun last year covering the Boomtown Fair festival in the UK; the experience was much more pleasant than I had been expecting, and has hopefully set me up nicely for the Fuji Rock preparation.

Father and Son Festival Fun

April 20, 2016 ● Experiences, Interviews

When I was a kid heading off to festivals, my parents would drop me off at the train station, tell me to be careful and drive off home relieved to have a weekend free from my own personal teenage tornado. The thought of them accompanying me to a festival never crossed my mind, and certainly never would have even flickered across theirs – festival toilets are something they have never had the misfortune to experience and I feel it should ever remain that way. So when I was introduced to Jonny Woodward by a mutual friend, I was pretty impressed to find that he manages to survive Fuji Rock with his dad, and has done on several occasions.