Japan - Fuji Rock 2010 - Day Three

The last day of Fuji Rock. Still cloudy and no rain until the near the eand of the day.

Oh No! The huge line to catch the shuttle bus is back. Still not quite as long as last year, only about an hour wait.

Panorama of the Main Stage.

All of the rain means lots of nice gooey, squishy mud.

Vampire Weekend on the Main Stage.

Huge Crowds, I was counting the people at the Main Stage and reached 36,528 before I lost track because some guy kept walking back and forth in front of me.

One of the food vending areas.

This guy knows how to party.

My Favorite Japanese band from Fuji Rock is Boom Boom Satellites. Their music is kind of a mash-up of Rock and Electronic.

Boom Boom Satellites

Boom Boom Satellites

Boom Boom Satellites

Atoms for Peace

Massive Attack

Japan - Fuji Rock 2010 - Day Two

Day two of Fuji Rock. The weather forecast was looking better, but it was still pretty cloudy.

Third Eye Blind on the White Stage

Third Eye Blind on the White Stage

John Fogerty on the main stage. I have never liked Creedence Clearwater Revival so it was time to find another band to listen to.

I ended up at the White Stage where Japanese rock band The Cro-Magnons was playing. They were not awesome, but better then John Fogerty.

The Cro-Magnons

Fishbone on the Red Marquee Stage

Fishbone on the Red Marquee Stage

I was planning to stay for Flogging Molly playing at 9:30, but the rain finally showed up. The rain combined with still being a little jet-lagged made me decide to head back to the condo I was staying at for a soak in the onsen and a good nights sleep.

Japan - Fuji Rock 2010 - Day One

I've made it to Fuji Rock!

The line from to catch the shuttle bus from the train station is not too bad this year, only about 10 minutes, much better then the crazy long line from last year.

Arriving at Fuji Rock. The weather is a bit overcast and cloudy, but not too bad.

Panorama of the main stage. For the bigger bands this whole area is packed with people.

A one man band. One of the cool things a Fuji Rock is some of the smaller stages and performers scattered around.

The rain has come.

Rain, rain go away!

Some mosh pit action for Ken Yokoyama at the main stage.

Flaming Ninja?

Them Crooked Vultures on the main stage. They were not doing anything for me, so time to wander around and see who else is playing.

Broken Social Scene on the Red Marquee Stage. They seemed to be trying to see how many people they could squeeze onto the stage.

Muse, time for the main band of the day.

Muse put on a really great show.

Canada - The Offspring

While I was in Vancouver I went to see the band The Offspring play at the Vogue Theater.

Taiwan - Summer Rock Sumit

Another concert, more rain. Three of the bands that played at the Summer Sonic Music Festival in Tokyo played at a smaller music festival at the Taipei County Stadium in Taiwan. And like all the Japanese concerts I went to in the last month, it was poring rain.

The Taiwanese fans looked like they were really enjoying the concert, but they were also much less crazy then at a American or Japanese concert, no crowd-surfing or mosh-pits.

Umbrellas were not allowed in the stadium,
so everyone was leaving their umbrellas in big piles.

The fans ready to rock.

I told them that I was in the band.

Linkin Park

Rockin out to Linkin Park.

Linkin Park

Japan - Summer Sonic Music Festival 2009

This last weekend was the Summer Sonic Music Festival. Like Fuji Rock, it's a three day music festival with many great bands playing on a bunch of different stages. The Summer Sonic Festival takes place just outside of Tokyo in Chiba at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center and Chiba Marine Baseball Stadium, plus several stages around the area. To get to the festival was about a 30 minute train ride from Tokyo Station, so it's a more convenient festival to get to. Like any other big event in Japan there were an amazing number of people and sometimes long lines, but not as bad as the lines at Fuji Rock.

Unfortunately my memory card in my camera died and I lost the photos I had taken on the first two days. But here's some shots from the last day.

Poring rain in the afternoon at the Marine Stadium.
In the evenings for the bigger bands this stadium was packed to bursting.

At one of the side stages the Japanese crowd was going nuts over a Japanese Beyonce

The Makuhari Messe Convention Hall is monstrous, this is just a tiny area of it.
Inside were vender booths several small stages and three large stages.

Limp Bizkit back together

Flaming Lips

Bonus! Strippers at the Jose Cuervo Booth

Not much privacy in the bathrooms at the Marine Stadium

Japan - Where's Waldo?

I found Waldo rockin' out in the rain to Jimmey Eat World at the Fuji Rock Festival.

Japan - Fuji Rock Festival 2009

This last weekend I went to the three day Fuji Rock Festival at the Naeba Ski Resort. Over 100,000 people attend the festival to enjoy seeing their favorite bands on the many stages scattered through the woods at the base of the Naeba Ski Resort. The festival is a little strangely named because it's nowhere near Mt Fuji. The first year of the festival in 1997 was held near Mt Fuji, but after that is was moved to Naeba. I guess the promoters liked the name and kept it even with the new location.


Friday: Day One

The Naeba Ski Resort is sort of in the middle of nowhere. So taking the train to get there is a little bit of work. The closest train station is in Echigo-Yuzawa, from there you can catch a shuttle bus that takes about 40 minutes to take you the rest of the way to Naeba.

When I got to the Echigo-Yuzawa train station there was what had to have been the longest line I've ever seen of people waiting to take the shuttle bus to Naeba. The Station is pretty huge and the line wound back and forth through it.

Echigo-Yuzawa Train Station

I figured that I was getting close when line went down some stairs to where I thought we would catch the shuttle bus.


Unfortunately when I got to the bottom of the stairs there was more line, but I must be getting close, I could see the exit doors to where the buses were loading.

The bottom of the stairs, I must be getting close.

I finally get outside, ready to jump on a bus, but there is still more line outside. It's like a horribly cruel joke or Japanese TV game show. From here I can see what part of the problem is, the staff are only loading one bus at a time even though there are several buses just setting there waiting.


I eventually was able to get on a shuttle bus and take the 40 minute ride to the Naeba Ski Resort. Annoyingly, when I get to Naeba, they are only unloading one bus at a time even though there is seven or eight buses full of people waiting for their turn to unload. Once off the bus I find another huge line to exchange my ticket for a wrist band.

Naeba Ski Resort

Finally! After a hour and half train ride, two and half hours of standing in line and a 40 minute bus ride I'm about to finally enter the festival.

Entrance to the Fuji Rock Festival 2009

Oh No! Once inside the festival, there are even more lines inside. Because the different stages are scattered through the woods, there could be huge traffic-jams of people trying to get from one stage to the other.

The path from the green stage to the white stage was usually crowded.

Unfortunately it was raining, turning the ground into a muddy mess.

My shoes are never going to be the same.

Saturday: Day Two

The second day started with nicer weather. People were enjoying the sun and swimming in the little river that went through the festival area.

Relaxing by the river

I'm pretty sure she's saying "Holy crap, that water is cold"

Jet

One of the things that many people like about the Fuji Rock Festival is that you can camp out at the festival location.

Camping Area

Sunday: Day Three

The last day, more bands, more rain.

Does he have a ticket?

Long lines for the bathrooms, so many guys were improvising.

Jimmy Eat World in the poring rain.

A very wet and blurry me

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Fall Out Boy