Fuji Rock Festival

Fuji Rock Festival
Genre Rock, electronic music
Dates last weekend of July (3 days)
Location(s) Naeba, Japan
Years active 1997–present
Website
Official site

Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. In 2005, more than 100,000 people attended the festival.

Fuji Rock Festival is named so because the first event in 1997 was held at the base of Mount Fuji. Since 1999 the festival has been held at the Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata.

Festival grounds

There are seven main stages and other minor stages scattered throughout the site. The Green stage is the main stage and it has a capacity for almost 50,000 spectators. Other stages include the White Stage, the Red Marquee, Orange Court, and Field of Heaven. The walks between some of the stages can be long, and some of the trails can be hilly, but the walks are beautiful, often taking you through forests and over sparkling streams. Dragondola – the longest gondola lift in the world, carries festival goers up to the top of the mountain overlooking the festival site.

The hub of the site is called Oasis where more than 30 food stalls from around the world gather. The main site closes each night after the final act, but Oasis continues to stay open until late at night, as well as the Red Marquee where an all-night rave continues until 5am. The site re-opens at 9am.

The night before the festival (Thursday night) features an opening party which is free entry, featuring bon-odori (traditional Japanese folk dance), prize draws, food stalls and a fireworks display.

The festival's stated aim is to be "The cleanest festival in the world"; great effort is also put into recycling.

Accommodation

Although Naeba, being a ski resort, offers a number of accommodation options such as hotels, ryokan and minshuku within walking distance of the festival site, competition for these is fierce and they tend to book out very quickly. Many festival goers find accommodation in nearby ski resorts such as Tashiro, Asagai and Mitsumata – the free shuttle bus linking JR Echigo-Yuzawa Station (in the town of Yuzawa to the festival site can be used for these areas which are en route. Some even find accommodation in the numerous options available in Yuzawa itself. The shuttle bus takes between 40 minutes to an hour each way and runs until 2am each night.

Alternatively, there is a campsite on a golf course next to the festival site which costs ¥3000 for the weekend (2011), complete with toilets, showers and food stalls. About 17,000 festival goers choose to spend their nights here every year. The campsite is hilly in many places and flat spots are taken quickly, however, the manicured putting greens, which are the flattest areas are generally out of bounds to campers.

In previous years many took the option of sleeping rough – a relatively common practise amongst young Japanese during the warmer months thanks to a low crime rate – in the vicinity of the site and Echigo-Yuzawa Station, however this is now prohibited.

Access

The festival is a free 40–60-minute shuttle bus ride from JR Echigo-Yuzawa Station in the town of Yuzawa, on the Joetsu Shinkansen (bullet train) line which link it to Tokyo station in about 1.5 hours. JR Shinkansen ticket, Tokyo to Echigo-Yuzawa is 6,490 Yen one way (for a reserved seat). Car parking also available for 3,000 Yen per day at the festival site area.[1]

History

The Green Stage
Campsite at Fuji Rock
Field of Heaven

The first year of the festival, held on Tenjinyama Ski Resort near Mt Fuji (and hence the name), was a disaster. It was scheduled to be a two-day event, but by sheer bad luck the first day of the event was struck by a typhoon. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' headline set, played through a storm despite Anthony Kiedis having a broken arm, is almost legendary amongst Fuji Rock veterans. The festival-goers were poorly prepared for the heavy rain and strong winds, and many needed medical attention from hypothermia (although no deaths occurred). The organisers decided to cancel the second day of the event (which turned out to be sunny), and thus ended Japan's first outdoor rock festival. The organizers were criticized for being poorly prepared for bad weather, and for not organising enough buses to link the site to the nearest train station.[2]

The second year, the festival moved to a temporary location in Toyosu, on Tokyo's waterfront. Although the event was a success, many found the searing heat of mid-summer Tokyo too much to bear, and it was decided that the next event was to return to the relative coolness of the mountains.

It was in 1999 the festival found its home in Naeba, Niigata prefecture. Naeba is not anywhere close to Mt. Fuji, however, the festival still retains its original name. After the horrific first year, the organizers have been running the festival smoothly up until present.

2016

The festival will run from Friday 22 July until Sunday 24 July in 2016. Headline acts on The Green Stage are Sigur Rós, Beck and Red Hot Chili Peppers.[3]

Green Stage
Friday Saturday Sunday

Sigur Rós

James Blake
Route 17 Rock'n'Roll Orchestra
Jake Bugg
Biffy Clyro
Boredoms

Beck

Wilco
Travis
Man with a Mission
Tom Odell
WANIMA
G&G Miller Orchestra

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals
Ken Yokoyama
Stereophonics
2Cellos
Mark Ernestus' Ndagga Rhythm Force
Special Guest: Denki Groove

Other acts include: Disclosure, Squarepusher, Battles and many more.

2015

The festival runs from Friday 24 July until Sunday 26 July in 2015. Headline acts on The Green Stage were Foo Fighters, Muse and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.

Green Stage
Friday Saturday Sunday

Foo Fighters

Motörhead
One Ok Rock
Owl City
The Vaccines
Route 17 Rock'n'Roll Orchestra

Muse

Deadmau5
Gen Hoshino
Nate Ruess
Hiromi Uehara The Trio Project featuring Anthony Jackson & Simon Philips
10-FEET

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

Ride
Sheena Ringo
Johnny Marr
Catfish and the Bottlemen
Alexandros

Other acts include: Royal Blood, Belle and Sebastian, FKA twigs and many more.

2014

The festival runs from Friday 25 July until Sunday 27 July in 2014. Headline acts on The Green Stage were Franz Ferdinand, Arcade Fire and Jack Johnson.

Green Stage
Friday Saturday Sunday

Franz Ferdinand

Denki Groove
Foster the People
Sano Motoharu & The Hobo King Band
Hunter Hayes
The Lumineers
Route 17 Rock'n'Roll Orchestra

Arcade Fire

Damon Albarn
The Cro-Magnons
Travis
The Waterboys
Ulfuls
The Heavy

Jack Johnson

The Flaming Lips
The Roosters
The Strypes
John Butler Trio
Begin
Ozomatli

Other acts include: Basement Jaxx, Manic Street Preachers, Outkast and many more.

2013

The festival runs from Friday 26 July until Sunday 28 July in 2013. Headline acts on The Green Stage were Nine Inch Nails, Björk and The Cure.

Green Stage
Friday Saturday Sunday

Nine Inch Nails

Brahman
My Bloody Valentine
Fun.
Kemuri
C. J. Ramone
Route 17 Rock'n'Roll Orchestra

Special Guest: Feed Me
Björk

Karl Hyde
Foals
Tamio Okuda
Aimee Mann
The Bawdies

The Cure

Vampire Weekend
Mumford & Sons
Tokiko Kato & Theatre Brook Hanseiki Rock
Wilko Johnson
Yo La Tengo
THE GOLDEN WET FINGERS

Other acts include: Skrillex, Jurassic 5, The xx and many more.

2012

The festival runs from Friday 27 July until Sunday 29 July in 2012. Headline acts on The Green Stage were The Stone Roses, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and Radiohead.

Green Stage
Friday Saturday Sunday

The Stone Roses

Beady Eye
Boom Boom Satellites
The Birthday
Owl City
Ed Sheeran
The Back Horn

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

The Specials
Ray Davies & Band
Toots and the Maytals
Seun Kuti and the Egypt 80 Orchestra

Radiohead

Elvis Costello and The Imposters
Jack White
Inoue Yosui
Toe

Other acts include: James Blake, Justice, At the Drive-In, Ocean Colour Scene, The Kooks and many more

2011

The festival ran from Friday 29 July until Sunday 31 July 2011. Headline acts on The Green Stage were Coldplay, The Faces and The Chemical Brothers, The Music closed the festival out as special guests.

Green Stage
Friday Saturday Sunday

Coldplay

Arctic Monkeys
Jimmy Eat World
Manu Chao
Kaiser Chiefs
The Vaccines
Dad Mom God

The Faces

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Battles
G. Love & Special Sauce
Fountains of Wayne

Special Guest:The Music

The Chemical Brothers
Yellow Magic Orchestra
Mogwai
Feeder
The Kills
Glasvegas
Your Song Is Good

Other acts included: Incubus, Asian Dub Foundation, Big Audio Dynamite and many more.

2010

The festival ran from Friday 30 July until Sunday 1 August 2010. Headline acts on The Green Stage were Muse, Roxy Music and Massive Attack, Scissor Sisters closed the festival out as special guests.

Green Stage
Friday Saturday Sunday

Muse

Them Crooked Vultures
Ken Yokoyama
Mutemath
The Cribs
Ash
Superfly

Special Guest: Chris Cunningham
Roxy Music

John Fogerty
Jamie Cullum
Kula Shaker
John Butler Trio

Special Guest: Scissor Sisters

Massive Attack
Atoms for Peace
Boom Boom Satellites
Vampire Weekend
Donavan Frankenreiter
Ocean Colour Scene
Asian Kung-Fu Generation

Other acts included: Ian Brown, MGMT, Belle & Sebastian, Corinne Bailey Rae and many more.

2009

The festival ran from Friday 24 July until Sunday 26 July in 2009. Headline acts on The Green Stage were Oasis, Franz Ferdinand and Weezer.

Green Stage
Friday Saturday Sunday

Oasis

Paul Weller
Patti Smith
Lily Allen
Doves
White Lies
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Franz Ferdinand

Kiyoshiro Imawano Special Message Orchestra (an all-star tribute to Kiyoshiro)
Ben Harper and Relentless7
Jet
UA
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80
The Birthdayl

Basement Jaxx

Weezer
Fall Out Boy
Brahman
Jimmy Eat World
Kenichi Asai
Street Sweeper Social Club
Cobra Starship

Other acts included: Röyksopp, Public Enemy and The Gaslight Anthem

2008

In 2008, the festival ran from Friday, 25 July through until Sunday, 27 July.

Artists included Adrian Sherwood, Asian Dub Foundation, Bettye Lavette, Bill Laswell presents Method of Defiance, Bloc Party, Bootsy Collins Tribute to the Godfather of Soul, The Breeders, The Courteeners, The Cribs, The Cro-Magnons, CSS, Dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip, The Death Set, Denki Groove, Doberman, Ellegarden, Erol Alkan, Feeder, Flower Travellin' Band, Foals, The Futureheads, The Go! Team, Gogol Bordello, Gossip, Grandmaster Flash, Hard-Fi, Hocus Pocus, Ian Brown, Jamie Lidell, Jason Mraz, Kasabian, Kate Nash, Lee Scratch Perry, My Bloody Valentine, Mystery Jets, Ozomatli, The presidents of the United States of America, Primal Scream, Princess Superstar, Quruli, Richie Hawtin, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ryukyudisko, Seasick Steve, Sparks, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Travis, Tricky, Underworld, The Vines, The Whigs, White Lies, Yura Yura Teikoku, The Zutons, Uri Nakayama and many more.

2007

The 2007 festival ran from Friday, 27 July through Sunday, 29 July.

Some of the bands that played in 2007 were Ash, The Ataris, Battles, Beastie Boys, The Bird and the Bee, Blonde Redhead, Boredoms, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Chemical Brothers, The Cure, Feist, Fountains of Wayne, Friction, G. Love & Special Sauce, Gov't Mule, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Groove Armada, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Jarvis Cocker, The John Butler Trio, Jonathan Richman, Joss Stone, Juliette and the Licks, Justice, Kaiser Chiefs, Kemuri, Kings of Leon, Kula Shaker, Less Than Jake, Mika, Money Mark, Muse, Ocean Colour Scene, The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group, Peter Bjorn and John, Ratatat, The Shins, Simian Mobile Disco, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, and Yo La Tengo. Ticket prices for the 2007 festival remained unchanged from the 2006 event.

2006

The 2006 festival ran from Friday, 28 July until Sunday, 30 July (actually Monday morning).

International artists booked for the 2006 festival included Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Happy Mondays, Jet, The Raconteurs, Sonic Youth, Wolfmother, Snow Patrol, The Hives, Dirty Pretty Things, KT Tunstall, Jason Mraz, The Cooper Temple Clause, Madness, Mogwai, Scissor Sisters, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Super Furry Animals, Gnarls Barkley, The Zutons, Flogging Molly, The String Cheese Incident, Donavon Frankenreiter, Tommy Guerrero, Roger Joseph Manning, Jr., The Cribs, Kula Shaker, 2manydjs, Junior Senior, Tristan Prettyman, Broken Social Scene, The Automatic, Killing Joke, Haruomi Hosono, Denki Groove, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Milburn and many more. Tickets; early bird advance tickets were available for ¥32,000. It was possible to buy a 1-day ticket. The cost was ¥16,800, however, only 10,000 1-day tickets were sold each day. There is an on-site campsite, which costs ¥2,500 per person. Parking is available at a cost of ¥2,000/day, but you must have a minimum of two people travelling by car.

2005

The 2005 festival ran from the weekend of 29 – 31 July 2005. Headliners on the Green stage include Foo Fighters, and Coldplay on Friday, Fatboy Slim and Beck on Saturday, and New Order and Primal Scream on Sunday. Other artists to perform in 2005 were The Beach Boys, Asian Dub Foundation, Charlotte Hatherley, Kaiser Chiefs, The Music, Cake, The Pogues, Röyksopp, Mylo, Night Snipers, Simple Plan, The Longcut, Laurent Garnier, Prefuse 73, Moby, Lisa Loeb, The Beautiful Girls, Eddi Reader, Maxïmo Park, Los Lobos, Dinosaur Jr., Gang of Four, Juliette and the Licks, Mercury Rev, Bill Laswell, United State of Electronica, Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, My Morning Jacket, Sigur Rós, The Mars Volta, The Go! Team, Doves, The Coral, Soulive, The John Butler Trio, The Magic Numbers, Athlete and many more.

2004

Dancing with Santos in the Red Marquee

The Chemical Brothers, Sikth, Franz Ferdinand, Jamie Cullum, Jet, Lou Reed, The Stills, The Streets, Ben Kweller, Santos, Sikth, Pixies, Courtney Love, The Killers, Dizzie Rascal, PJ Harvey, Primus, The White Stripes, Haven, Basement Jaxx, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The X-Ecutioners, Ozomatli, The Zutons, Snow Patrol, Jimmy Eat World, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jack Johnson, Donavon Frankenreiter, Belle & Sebastian, The Charlatans, Cosmic Rough Riders, Graham Coxon, !!!, Keller Williams, múm, Simple Kid, Ash, Keane, moe., The Libertines, Asian Kung-Fu Generation, Hifana, Tokyo Jihen, The Roosters and many more.

2003

Björk on the main stage at Fuji – Year 2003

Asian Dub FoundationAnthraxBjörkColdplayEl Gran SilencioElvis CostelloEvanescenceIggy PopMassive AttackMogwaiPrimal ScreamUnderworldYo La TengoMacy GrayThe MusicThe LibertinesSugar RayBen HarperSly and Robbie with Michael RoseDanko JonesDeath in VegasPrefuse 73G. Love & Special SauceDirty Dozen Brass BandSteve WinwoodJohn Mayall & the BluesbreakersVincent GalloThe OrbLemon JellyThe Jeevas and many more.

2002

The Chemical BrothersIan BrownPet Shop BoysThe ProdigyRed Hot Chili PeppersSonic YouthMuseThe MusicMidtownThe Get Up KidsHundred Reasons - CorneliusThe Cooper Temple ClauseJane's AddictionAlec EmpireThe JeevasGeorge ClintonThe SkatalitesManu ChaoBlack Rebel Motorcycle ClubTelevisionPatti SmithThe White StripesTrik TurnerThe Cinematic OrchestraDJ ShadowX-Press 2Queens of the Stone AgeSpiritualizedThe String Cheese IncidentDovesSupercar and many more.

2001

The festival ran from Friday 27 July until Sunday 29 July in 2001. Headline acts on The Green Stage were Oasis, Neil Young & Crazy Horse and Eminem.

Green Stage
Friday Saturday Sunday

Oasis

Manic Street Preachers
Travis
Asian Dub Foundation
Sherbet
Dropkick Murphys
Kemuri

Neil Young & Crazy Horse

Alanis Morissette
Stereophonics
Patti Smith
Hothouse Flowers
Juno Reactor
Number Girl

Eminem

Tool
System of a Down
Alec Empire
Xzibit
Dry & Heavy
Brahman
Fermin Muguruza

Other acts included: New OrderSquarepusherBoredomsThe Cooper Temple ClauseFeederStereo MCsEcho & the BunnymenBrian EnoColdcutMos DefUnkleMogwaiTegan and Sara and many more.

2000

Asian Dub FoundationBlankey Jet CityThe Chemical BrothersIan BrownPrimal ScreamMDFMKYo La TengoFoo FightersElliott SmithPlaceboThe Killer BarbiesFishboneJohnny MarrSonic YouthOzomatliRammsteinRun-D.M.C.MogwaiSuper Furry AnimalsMobyStereolabLeftfieldGomezG. Love & Special SauceElastica and many more.

1999

Todos Tus MuertosRage Against the MachineZZ TopBlurUnderworldPhishAtari Teenage RiotThe Black CrowesThe Jon Spencer Blues ExplosionThe Chemical BrothersLimp BizkitRay DaviesAshOcean Colour SceneJoe Strummer and the MescalerosFemi KutiTrickyHappy MondaysLee "Scratch" PerryMishkaFountains of Wayne and many more.

1998

BjörkAsian Dub FoundationBeckIan BrownIggy PopPrimal ScreamThe ProdigyBen Folds FiveKornGarbageElvis CostelloBlankey Jet CityThee Michelle Gun ElephantSonic YouthGoldieTomoyasu HoteiShonen Knife and more.

1997

BeckGreen DayFoo FightersThe ProdigyRage Against the MachineRed Hot Chili PeppersSouthern Culture on the SkidsThe High-LowsThe Yellow MonkeySummercampThird Eye Blind and more

See also

References

  1. Travel Japan Guide – The Fuji Rock Festival 2008
  2. Blog of music writer Dai Onojima (a transcript from his article on Music Magazine Sept., 1997 Issue (Japanese)
  3. http://fujirock-eng.com/lineup.html
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fuji Rock Festival.

Coordinates: 36°47′56.40″N 138°47′0.93″E / 36.7990000°N 138.7835917°E / 36.7990000; 138.7835917

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.