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Dylanology
- June 7, 2018 ● Bands, Interviews
Toshiyuki “Heckel” Sugano and Ryosei Sato discuss Dylan.
Few artists confound audiences like Bob Dylan. In fact, a whole academic field, Dylanology, has sprung up to make sense of his exhaustive body of work. Dylan may be deserving of such attention after recently winning a Nobel Prize and his role in popular culture, for example, playing his anti-war hymn “Blowing in the Wind” minutes before Martin Luther King gave his famed “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington DC. Dylan gave a voice and a melody to the counter-culture. His artistic influences came from the free-wheeling Beat Generation, at one point inviting Alan Ginsburg on tour with him.
Fujirockers recently spoke to Mr. Toshiyuki “Heckel” Sugano who was an A&R man for CBS/Sony and producer of the album Bob Dylan at Budokan, and Humbert Humbert vocalist, Ryosei Sato. The two are devoted fans and the closest thing to Dylanologists that we could find.
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Best Spots to Chill Between Sets
- June 5, 2018 ● Essentials
The Boardwalk
The artist/stage timetable for Fuji Rock’s 2018 outing is of course yet to be revealed, but let’s take a look at this scenario: You’ve mapped out your plan of attack for the weekend down to the finest detail, but between that must-see set at the Red Marquee and your next don’t-miss act on the Green Stage, you’ve got an hour (or so) to kill.
You could make the trek early and muscle your way up to the front, but for those who want to take things a bit easier, or those into exploring all the distinctive areas that make Fuji Rock what it is, why not try a chilling out for a bit rather than rushing to or from every performance? READ MORE
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Meet the Blues Brothers from Down Under
- June 1, 2018 ● Bands, Interviews
A morning cup of joe to soothe the soul
No, I’m not talking about some Jake and Elwood cover band from Australia, I’m referring to Josh and Sam Teskey, who along with two of their best mates make up The Teskey Brothers band. They’re a hard working, authentic sounding soul/blues band hailing from just outside of Melbourne, Australia. Their music honors the classic Stax and Motown sound, while staying fresh and original. READ MORE
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Where To Wait Out The Rain At Fuji Rock
- May 29, 2018 ● Essentials
Summer music festivals tend to inspire images of sunny fields and shirtless bros in the minds of people — eternal sunshine of the Coachella mind. Alas, this is imagined, and more often than not the Fuji Rock Festival experiences at least some precipitation over the course of its three-day run. Usually, it straight-up pours at some point. Ideally, you — the smart, always-thinking-ahead punter that you are — already have a good pair of boots and a slicker ready to go. But even this prep can’t stop the rain from making your show-viewing experience a little less enjoyable.
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Fuji Rock Prep: Where to Buy Camping Gear
- May 24, 2018 ● Essentials
In the run up to the festival, we always get lots of inquiries about camping gear. However, when camping at Fuji Rock, your first concern should be whether you’ve bought a camping ticket…or not. If you haven’t, you’d better get on that – Naeba is not the place to try roughing it. If you’re attending the festival from overseas and are wondering if you can pick up camping equipment in Japan, here’s a brief guide to shops in Japan catering for your needs.
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EPPAI, Clown Prince of the Madcap
- May 21, 2018 ● Bands, Experiences, Interviews
EPPAI, busking and basking
Generally punk and one-man band are not concepts that fit together neatly in a person’s mind. Also, one would assume that the real draw of a one-man band would be the skill of the performance, not the crowd-work and attitude around the edges. Especially when the performance involves playing violin and piano at the same time. But Tokyo’s EPPAI takes the anarchy and musical/comedic sensibilities of the Marx brothers and repackages it for the 21st century in the form of a punk one-man band performance artist.
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5 reasons to get excited about Fuji Rock 2018
- May 18, 2018 ● Essentials, Experiences
The best music festival in the Far East, and possibly the known world, is upon us yet again my friends. So while I couldn’t possibly list all the reasons to get excited about Fuji Rock this year, let’s examine a few. READ MORE
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Post-Malone: From Rap to Riches
- May 15, 2018 ● Bands
WHAAAAT… Number 1 album debut on Billboard 200, three top ten tracks at the same minute, 400 million streams in a week, and oh snap, mega-hit “Psycho”, which is THE jam of the summer. Don’t believe me, check it here rocking Coachella and I bet you it’s blasting out of every Prius and Maybach cruising down the 405. Need another jam to add to the playlist? What bout this one: “Rockstar”.
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New Release Round Up: A Preview of Upcoming Material by 2018 Acts
- May 11, 2018 ● Bands
Vampire Weekend at Fuji Rock 2013
One of the big reasons that artists hit the summer festival circuit is to promote fresh new material they’ve just released.
With Fuji Rock 2018 only a few months away, we have proof of some new albums coming out between then and now, with a few others that fans expect to be released before the date of the festival comes rolling around.
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Real Rising Suns: Some Of The Up-And-Coming Japanese Acts At Fuji Rock 2018
- May 6, 2018 ● Bands
D.A.N.
Many people flock to Naeba every July because of the chance to see biggie-sized international acts take the stage at the Fuji Rock Festival, and the 2018 installment promises to deliver on that front. Yet it’s also a great chance to catch young domestic artists get a first crack at big-stage fair, and a great performance at Fuji Rock can win over new fans and potentially push themselves up a few rungs as a result. Plenty more names are sure to be announced in the months leading up to the gathering, but here are some early highlights from the pool of up-and-coming Japanese acts making the trip out to Niigata this summer.
