Long Awaited Fuji Rock Update 1
This is mostly copied from my notes...
First day:
1) Snow Patrol: mediocre lyrics and tunes. Band did try to use as much Japanese as possible, for which the audience loved them.
2) The Roosters: After 22 years of hiatus they finally played together again. Sort of a middle-aged man typical Japanese pop music band but with a sometimes punk feel and sometimes j-rock feel. Occasionally catchy (the punky songs) but mostly boring (bluesy songs). Overall, their T-shirts were far more interesting. "Who the fuck is The Rooster?" "Who the fuck is Mick Jagger?" They really feel like has-beens.
3) PJ Harvey: Amazing! She's such a brilliant performer. One of the highlights of the festival. She oozes sex appeal and creates fantastic sexual tension while onstage. Glad we didn't get to see if she was wearing underpants or not
4) Pixies: Good! But extremely faithful renditions and nothing interesting or innovative about the show. I was near the front (2 or 3 people back) from waiting for them after PJ Harvey and, Jesus, I've not been so angry at people in a long time. I got crushed by a bunch of obsessive bastards who freaked out more than I've ever seen at any show. There were so many people in the human containment pit and they all pressed forward as much as possible. So I got pinned between a bunch of Japanese men--Pixies otaku--and everytime the crowd breathed or pulsed or jumped up and down, my body did so too, albeit entirely involuntarily. And it was damn hot and hard to breathe and people kept crushing me and smashing my toes. One guy kept screaming all the words to the songs in my right ear so I couldn't hear Frank Black singing anymore. He smacked my head with his elbow, hitting my glasses so I yelled at him to stop and I think he's never seen a girl so angry before. At some point I would've punched him in the face, but range of motion and possibly getting kicked out prevented me from doing so. Later someone was crowd surfing, but I didn't notice it and I thought the guy was hitting me out of carelessness rather than unintentionally so I smacked him and I think he thought I was crazy. Bottom line: the music was good, but not amazing; they played everyone's favorites, but damn, I hate the Japanese Pixies fans. They deserve a smack in the face.
5) Lou Reed: Horrible!!!!!!!!!!!! He's such a has-been, poor Lou. While his lyrics from his days with the Velvet Underground and older solo stuff has depth and/or social relevance to it, his stuff now is the most trite, uninspired, boring, makes-you-want-to-stab-yourself-in-the-eye kind of music I've heard in some time. He tried very hard to be deep, and to show his deepest emotions to the world, I have the feeling, but he really failed. Some lyric examples:
"You pass thru anger...
You have to pass thru fire to get to the light"
followed by cliched verses of his apparent fight with alcoholism, a failing marriage, weird random emotional troubles, and a loss of life purpose, perhaps.
and
"Why do you talk so much?
Why do you talk so much?
Why do you talk so much?
Why don't you listen?"
repeated for verse after verse
First day:
1) Snow Patrol: mediocre lyrics and tunes. Band did try to use as much Japanese as possible, for which the audience loved them.
2) The Roosters: After 22 years of hiatus they finally played together again. Sort of a middle-aged man typical Japanese pop music band but with a sometimes punk feel and sometimes j-rock feel. Occasionally catchy (the punky songs) but mostly boring (bluesy songs). Overall, their T-shirts were far more interesting. "Who the fuck is The Rooster?" "Who the fuck is Mick Jagger?" They really feel like has-beens.
3) PJ Harvey: Amazing! She's such a brilliant performer. One of the highlights of the festival. She oozes sex appeal and creates fantastic sexual tension while onstage. Glad we didn't get to see if she was wearing underpants or not
4) Pixies: Good! But extremely faithful renditions and nothing interesting or innovative about the show. I was near the front (2 or 3 people back) from waiting for them after PJ Harvey and, Jesus, I've not been so angry at people in a long time. I got crushed by a bunch of obsessive bastards who freaked out more than I've ever seen at any show. There were so many people in the human containment pit and they all pressed forward as much as possible. So I got pinned between a bunch of Japanese men--Pixies otaku--and everytime the crowd breathed or pulsed or jumped up and down, my body did so too, albeit entirely involuntarily. And it was damn hot and hard to breathe and people kept crushing me and smashing my toes. One guy kept screaming all the words to the songs in my right ear so I couldn't hear Frank Black singing anymore. He smacked my head with his elbow, hitting my glasses so I yelled at him to stop and I think he's never seen a girl so angry before. At some point I would've punched him in the face, but range of motion and possibly getting kicked out prevented me from doing so. Later someone was crowd surfing, but I didn't notice it and I thought the guy was hitting me out of carelessness rather than unintentionally so I smacked him and I think he thought I was crazy. Bottom line: the music was good, but not amazing; they played everyone's favorites, but damn, I hate the Japanese Pixies fans. They deserve a smack in the face.
5) Lou Reed: Horrible!!!!!!!!!!!! He's such a has-been, poor Lou. While his lyrics from his days with the Velvet Underground and older solo stuff has depth and/or social relevance to it, his stuff now is the most trite, uninspired, boring, makes-you-want-to-stab-yourself-in-the-eye kind of music I've heard in some time. He tried very hard to be deep, and to show his deepest emotions to the world, I have the feeling, but he really failed. Some lyric examples:
"You pass thru anger...
You have to pass thru fire to get to the light"
followed by cliched verses of his apparent fight with alcoholism, a failing marriage, weird random emotional troubles, and a loss of life purpose, perhaps.
and
"Why do you talk so much?
Why do you talk so much?
Why do you talk so much?
Why don't you listen?"
repeated for verse after verse
yeah, i want the pixies to be better than they actually are. (Go Kim Deal! Go Dayton!!) but, they're not. years of hype can't be lived up to, not with just faithful renditions. *sigh* and the pixies otaku... a dangerous situation, i'd say.
ReplyDeleteas for lou reed, with lyrics like that i think he might as well just while away by the wayside, even take a walk there if he'd like.