Next up was Japanese rock icon, Kiyoshiro Imawano . Now, I have to be honest with you here. I'm not a fan, and I apologize for however many toes I step on by saying this. It could be the language barrier or the generation gap, but he's usually not my thing. His side project, Love Jets, is more my speed, but the protest ballads just don't reach my jaded, Gen-X sensibilities.

However, the Asagiri Arena was not the place to reveal this. As dusk loomed, fans of all ages donned their raincoats and rubber boots and sang along with Imawano, who, as if to take advantage of the mist-shrouded ambience, was dressed in a Halloween-like fashion. Somewhere between a hunchback and a witch, Imawano donned a large hump on his back, a fake beard and one of the pointy, brown hats that have become a signature item sold only at Smash festivals. Kiyoshiro played his standards and the usual singalongs, including the Monkees' "Daydream Believer".

By the end of Iwamano's set the bonfires were roaring over 2 meters high. Appropriate, since Rovo's upcoming set was incendiary. Their two drummers bashed out blocky, splintering rhythms while Rovo's two guitarists and two programmers laid down an aural kindling of licks and loops. Rovo's centerpiece, its electric violinist, lit the match that sent his seven-piece ensemble into a blazing frenzy. Using sequencers and a wheelbarrow full of foot pedals, the violinist screeched and swooned thorough solos that alternated between drifting bliss and spiraling chaos. Their mix of jazz jam, electronica, hard rock and quirky new age music work well in the Asagiri environs, with the violin dipping, curling and spiraling just as the smoke from the searing flames of the now huge blazes set back from stage center.