・Who's Gonna Come To FRF '02?

Hey everyone, Yohei here, from fujirockers.org. I'm sure that you are all anxiously awaiting news on this year's Fuji Rock lineup. So on March 28th,just 4 days before the official announcement, we at fujirockers.org finally caught up with Hidaka Taisho (Fuji Rock's main organizer/producer) and got the first big scoop on this year's line-up! Despite the recent rainy weather, it was beautiful that day. Perhaps this put Taisho in a good mood, since he gave us more information than we expected for the announcement on April 1st.

Now, let me tell you that aside from the 23 artists that will be officially announced on April 1st, other artists mentioned below are not yet officially confirmed. Some of them are still on negotiation, so there's still a chance that some might not be able to come to Fuji Rock. That being said, let's get down to Taisho's interview and the present lineup.

Friday, Green Stage

Taisho: "Let's begin with the Green Stage on Friday. The day will be headlined by Prodigy. I can't confirm yet, but I'm thinking of having the Foo Fighters before that. I've been talking to them, and they should be coming, as expected. Also, Muse and Alec Empire are confirmed to return. The Green Stage on Friday is like 'Alec Empire strikes back'."

Prodigy is finally hitting Naeba after a four-year absence. They just visited Japan in February, but only played in Tokyo, so many people from around Japan have been waiting for their return. Foo Fighters will release their new album soon and their shows are consistently mind-blowers. Word has it that both Muse and Alec Empire played incredible sets when they last visited Japan. This is a pretty heavy line up for the first day. Have you got the stamina for it?

Saturday, Green Stage

Taisho: "The Chemical Brothers will be Saturday's headliners, with the Pet Shop Boys on before them. Inoue Yosui (Japanese veteran rocker) will also come to Fuji Rock. When Yosui plays with his full band, his performance is incredible. Look forward to something different from his normal live shows. One or two American bands will play before Yosui, and Love Psychedelico and the Shibusa Shirazu Orchestra are both confirmed."

I really regretted that I didn't go to the chemicals' gig in February. I wonder how 'Star Guitar' will sound under a starry sky. I never thought the Pet Shop Boys would come to Fuji Rock! They had a great vibe at Glastonbury two years ago. My mother - who has no idea what Fuji Rock is - was excited when she heard that Inoue Yosui will be playing. Maybe my family can go to Fuji Rock with me. Love Psychedelico helped create a closer between Japanese and foreign pop or rock music. It's great that we can see them in the early part of the day. The Shibusa Shirazu Orchestra is also confirmed for the main stage at this year's Glastonbury Festival. After the beauty and chaos of their live act is witnessed, their cult following will surely grow.

Sunday, Green Stage

Taisho:"As I said before: there are some heavyweight American bands getting ready to kick your ass on Sunday, so get ready. However, because I'm such a mean guy, I'm not going to tell you who they are yet. No really, to be honest, I just can't just tell you yet, but look forward to it. If these big names are all confirmed, I'm sure there will be people coming specifically for Sunday. I was thinking of Zwan, the band fronted by Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins. However, they are unable to come this year due to their recording work. At this moment, the bands confirmed for the Green Stage on Sunday include Brahman (Japanese hardcore band), Char (Japanese veteran guitarist), and Yurayura Teikoku (from Japan). I wanted Char to play as Pink Cloud (his former band), but he is doing his current project this time."

So, he's keeping a tight lip on Sunday's big names, huh? Perhaps he wants to maintain an air of anticipation and excitement to the proceedings, so let's keep it a surprise for later! By the way, Taisho told us Char so easily, but is it the Char I'm thinking of? Is it the Char whose album was produced by Steve Lucaser of TOTO and who played a concert with Larry Carlton? This should be great news for the older generation of rockers out there.

White Stage

Taisho: "There are still a lot of bands for the White Stage that I can't talk about yet, but I can say that I'm thinking about mixing all sorts of music on Friday. At the moment, Master Low (eclectic ska musicianfrom Japan) is confirmed for Saturday, and the White Stage on Saturday will be much harder than the Green Stage, so look forward to it. On Sunday, headliners will be Spiritualized, with Cornelius preceding them. Gomez is also confirmed and Supercar could play as well."

I saw Master Low in February and it was incredible. There are also some excellent electronica and psychedelic bands confirmed for Sunday. Who knows how loud Spiritualized will play. Cornelius's new album and his mix of sound and live visuals created a buzz in the U.K. recently. Gomez will bring their psychedelic, bluesy pop to Naeba. As for Supercar ? well, so many people tried to see them at the Red Marquee last year that they were the only band that had to enforce an entrance limitation. As for Sunday, it's hard to choose between the White stage line-up and those heavy weight bands playing at the Green stage.

Red Marquee & Field Of Heaven

Taisho: "You need to give me more time for Friday's Red Marquee tent. On Saturday, Billy Brag and The Music will probably play. The Electric Soft Parade and Doves are confirmed for Sunday. We haven't decided which day they will be playing, but The Parkinsons, the UK's new garage-punk band, are also confirmed for the Red Marquee. DJ Shadow is confirmed for the night session of the Red Marquee, and The String Cheese Incident might play two sets at the Field Of Heaven. Other bands confirmed for the Field Of Heaven include Dry & Heavy (dub reggae from Japan) and Audio Active (dopey, Japanese hip-hop) Ego-wrappin'(jazzy swing w/ strong female vocals) could play too."

DJ Shadow's debut album 'Endtroducing..' had a big influence on the hip-hop, rock, and dance music scene after its release. Finally, a second album on the way AND a trip to Naeba! The Electric Soft Parade is comprised of two brothers - only 16 and 18 years old. They are already big news in the UK music media. Doves, whose debut was rated Album Of The Year by NME a few years ago, should please all UK rock fans.

Other FRF info

Taisho: "Other bands confirmed so far include The Skatalites, Rymester, and The Cinematic Orchestra. The Skatalites are the high-priests of Ska.All true ska fans should know them.

I told you before that I wanted many new bands from abroad to play this year, but there are many difficulties. To name the bands I'm thinking of, I wanted the White Stripes, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Ryan Adams, but all of them have tight schedules. The Hives and Andrew WK cannot make it to Fuji Rock because of other commitments. The Hives already confirmed their US tour and the dates clash with Fuji Rock. Andrew WK can't come to Fuji Rock, either. Music media favorites, The Strokes, can't come either, because they will be in the studio during the summer. This is all that I can tell you about the line-up today.

Moreover, a Laser show and the art collective, The Mutoid Waste Company are both still under way, as I said before. The Rookie A Go-Go stage and the Circus of Horrors will both return to the same places as last year. The pre-festival party will be much bigger than last year, as well. I still want to do something with the Dragondola (the world longest ski lift, built in Naeba recently). I plan to open it to the public, but there are still some logistical problems, such as how to lead people to the gondola station and how long it should be open. I'm thinking of making the oasis area a chill-out spot and making the music there quiet and mellow.

Kids Land should be the same as last year. We are using all the land possible for Kids Land. Oh, by the way, we have an idea to rent out a spot for busking [amateurs performing music, drama, etc. for spare change]. Don't you think it's a good idea? We rent the space to anyone for, say, 10,000 yen, and let them to do whatever they want-singing, dancing juggling, drama, speakers, whatever. Then people can throw them money if they like it. That way, some people could make their money back and have their own chance to perform at the festival."

Pardon my ignorance, but who are The Skatalites?? I looked them up on the internet, and found out that the group was formed in 1964! They started in Jamaica and highly influenced the reggae, ska and rock-steady coming out of Jamaica for the last 35 years. Some of the original members have already passed away, but their lineup is always a who's who of Jamaican music. Jamaican music fans can't miss this one. All the new bands Taisho mentioned above are American (except The Hives from Sweden) and are very popular in the UK right now. It is good to hear that Taisho is asking these up-and-coming new bands to play Fuji Rock. He says that they are less likely to come, but we can just hope and wait.

Lastly, we asked Taisho about the limited amount of Haya-Wari discount tickets, and he said that they are already sold out.

Taisho: "I was thinking the total sale would be around 5,000, but in fact more than 10,000 were applied for. We needed to hold a drawing. I can't tell you how many applications we had, but it was far beyond 10,000. Since so many cheap tickets were sold, our profit will decrease dramatically. I didn't think of selling that many,so it's kind of a headache. If it was half of the present amount, it would have been a good ad campaign. When I first heard that the total sale exceeded 10,000, I turned pale. There are already some auctions for these tickets on the internet. We caught people auctioning off Bjork tickets when they were selling at such an expensive price. We acted kindly, and asked them to sell the tickets, and those stupid people told us their details. Well... sometimes there is nothing you can do since it's on the internet. We'll do whatever we can dotnough."

Then, Taisho told us the details of another campaign for those who could not buy the Haya Wari tickets. Among the people who buy Fuji Rock tickets during the pre-order period of e-plus between April 8 and May 31, one person out of every 1,000 tickets sold will be presented with what it called the 'Official Fuji Rock Money Card'. This card has a monetary value equal to the price of a Fuji Rock ticket. You can use it anywhere in the festival. I guess Taisho must not be as disgusted with the Haya-Wari ticket loss as he lets on.

Well, there's the scoop. While I was talking with Taisho, I could tell he was still hiding several secrets about this year's line-up. He's still got a few tricks up his sleeve, for sure. Remember folks, the number of artists mentioned above does not reach even half of the total three-day line-up. Check this space for the next scoop soon!

So, let's review. Here are the bands to be officially announced on April 1, in alphabetical order:

Alec Empire / Audio Active / Brahman / Char / The Chemical Brothers / The Cinematic Orchestra / Doves / Dry&Heavy / The Electric Soft Parade / Gomez / Love Psychedelico / Master Low / Muse / The Parkinsons / Pet Shop Boys / Prodigy / Rhymester / DJ Shadow / Shibusa Shirazu Orchestra / The Skatalites / Spiritualized / The String Cheese Incident / Yurayura Teikoku

Before closing this report, we can't forget this information. From April 10 at 1F of Shibuya's Club Quatrro, Fuji Rock Festival 2002's official shop will be opening. For more details, please check GANBAN's site. Thanks.

We're still accepting rocker's experience reports. Share your useful information or experiences with the FRF beginners. Please e-mail ORG-master. The word count should total no more than 400-1000 characters. Please title your e-mail with subject of "FRF report".

Reported by ORG-yohei (April 7, 2002)

reported by ORG-master and translated by ORG-yohei with a help og ORG-jason  (April 7, 2002)