that foreign music blog🌎

Hey all! My recap of the rock festival is a few weeks late, but it’s because I had a lot to process. I’ll start by saying that, unlike last year, I had absolutely no problem finding the venue. I really don’t know how I missed everything before, but my first guess is that, because I had arrived later than planned, it was a bit harder to find the signs that’d been so conveniently placed around 堺（さかい）station. This time, I arrived at the venue FROM Nagoya at about 7:30 in the morning, which means I had to get up at around 4. While I identify as mostly a morning person, 4 in the morning is pretty early, so I was amazed that I’d managed to make it to the actual venue via shuttle bus by about 9.

Given that it was so early, I didn’t expect so many people to be there, but THIS IS JAPAN. There’s a joke that Japanese people love lining up for things, even when there’s no reason. Of course, no one LIKES to line up for anything, but Japanese people are remarkably patient; I can’t think of many Westerners who’d wait two hours before a concert just to buy something. Normally, I wouldn’t have even bothered, but I’d told my friends I’d get them some merchandise, and since I was so early, I figured I’d get my stuff then.

Being low on money, I initially promised myself I wouldn’t get more than I needed, but the moment I approached the booth for KEYTALK, I suddenly found myself walking away with a towel, two bracelets, and a shirt. After that, I bought some stuff for my friend and ended up with a nice bag of concert goods. At the time, I felt good that I’d gotten all the waiting out of the way, but as the echo of the first band sounded in the distance, it dawned on me that I’d have to carry everything for the rest of the day.

And I did.

What’s funny is that, when I’d left the house, I’d deliberately taken my smallest bag so I’d be able to dance freely. Instead, my decision had inconvenienced me. That was probably the worst part of the entire event, which really wasn’t all that bad. My arm got a little sore, but I persevered and managed to dance with the other fans.

Now, the line-up was…KIND OF NUTS this time around. Frankly, when I received the schedule, I was thankful I’d gotten there so early, as well as confused by the big names listed in the early hours of the festival.

For those of you not familiar with KANA-BOON, well…here’s one of their most popular songs: ないものねだり. They’re a standard Japanese indie rock band, recognized for their distinct vocals and quirky image. I’ve never been a huge fan of them, but with a video counting fifty-five million views, you’d expect to see them closer to the bottom. Even I can admit that this song is pretty catchy. In turn, having KANA-BOON as the opening act set the bar pretty high for the rest of the day, and I wasn’t disappointed.

After KANA-BOON, I waited for KEYTALK at the stage and got as close to the front as I could. Having waited in the line for KEYTALK merchandise, I knew that a lot of people had come to see them. In fact, it got so crazy that a few mosh pits had broken out! Well…”mosh pits”. It’s not very common for Japanese audiences to get violent–in fact, it’s EXTREMELY rare, but at small punk shows or rock festivals, you might get a chance to see it. Usually what happens in these said mosh pits is that the fans form a circle and then rush into the center. It’s similar to the ‘wall of death’, but not as painful. They may do this several times depending on the band and the songs played.  In the case of KEYTALK, the songs that got fans the most hyped up were: MATSURI BAYASHI, Love Me, Yurameki Summer, and MONSTER DANCE.

After KEYTALK, a rather intimidating slew of fans flooded out from the stage area. Myself and several others headed in the direction of the Green Hill stage to go see go!go!vanillas, a band I’d grown rather curious about. During this mass transfer between stages, however, we passed the small New Beat Square stage, where Neighbors Complain was playing. At the time, everyone at that stage was waving their hands in unison, and then those bound for the Green Hill stage also began dancing along. I believe this was the song we had been drawn to: “Night Drivin’”

It was so cute to see fans of different music enjoy the contagious beat of these performers, even though none of us stayed for the entire song. I wish I could’ve gotten video of the occurrence. I dunno why, but it was just nice to see everyone dancing together.

Once I arrived at the stage, I relaxed in the picnic area. I wasn’t able to clearly see the band, go!go!vanillas, but I really just wanted to get a feel for who they were. However, when they started their song ” マジック“, I actually got up to get closer. I really love Irish melodics, so that was the song that left the biggest impression. It’s also the only song I can remember, perhaps out of fatigue. I can’t say that I’m the biggest fan right now, but I’m sure they’ll grow on me. At the very least, I appreciate the old British punk feel these guys have. They would probably translate well in Europe.

Before the last song, I returned to the Bay Field stage to hear a bit of the jazzy indie rock group, ゲスの極み乙女, who graced us with crowd favorites like, 私以外私じゃないの and オトナチック. While I was quite far in the back this time, relying on the giant monitors to see the artists clearly, I could feel how much fun everyone was having. I even watched a mother dance with her child in her arms, which was just too precious. Her son seemed to know a few of the songs, too and occasionally pumped his fist in the air. In the near distance, I saw several other mothers and fathers in a similar situation, which starkly contrasted the sea of youth that’d lobbed together for KEYTALK—perhaps because they just appeal to younger crowds with their bright colors and stage gags. ゲスの極み乙女is defined by their chic image and mature themes, such as their song,  両成敗でいいじゃない, which illuminates on marital tensions. I’m not saying this group isn’t loved by younger generations, but there definitely weren’t any mosh pits.

By around two-thirty, I was getting peckish and headed to the New Beat Square stage to snack on the chips I’d brought. Because it was the smallest stage, it was closest to the picnic areas and allowed for a more leisurely experience. I sat at one of the picnic tables and listened to a bit of the three-man band, Saucy Dog. Funny enough, I bought their EP album last year after listening to it at Tower Records, but I don’t listen to it so much. They sing mostly ballads and soft rock melodies, the raspy vocals being well complimented by the gentle ring of the female drummer. This was the song that’d initially caught my attention: いつか. I stayed for three songs before gravitating towards the Green Hill stage.

There, the band playing was never young beach, the Hawaiianesque twang of their three guitars immediately catching my ears. I’d seen their name advertised before, but I never imagined seeing the long-haired men on stage to be the band. To be honest, I thought the band name had been a play on the English slur: B*tch, so I’d figured they’d be really hardcore punk. They ended up being the exact opposite; in fact, just by listening to them, you can feel the sour sting of pineapple on your lips! Perhaps because I was so shocked, I wasn’t immediately receptive and left the stage rather quickly, but the other day I found myself searching for one of their videos. I stumbled on this adorable gem, 明るい未来, which ultimately led me to watch four other videos.  I’m not a huge fan of love songs, but because of the band’s sound, themes of romance suit them EXTREMELY well. It’s hard not to smile when watching this young couple go through their day with a song titled “Bright Future”. It’s probably one of my favorite videos of theirs, as well as this kind of old one: あまり行かない喫茶店で. The song is good, but the video conveys a hilarious account of the vocalist’s various encounters with his bandmates. The first one with the lead guitarist cracks me up every time.

Anyway, because I hadn’t stayed long for never young beach, I decided to see The Oral Cigarettes. I’d seen them last year but I ended up being just as energetic as the first time, if not more. I was exhausted, but because I’d been pushed towards the center of the mayhem, I got my second wind and danced with the rest of the fans. It might’ve been the most violent crowd I’ve been thrown into in Japan; at a few points I was a little scared of being punched in the face by how everyone was wailing about, but it was really fun, especially during “CATCH ME” and “カンタンナコト“. Everyone was pretty crazy during every song, though. We all even headbanged together!

After The Oral Cigarettes, I was….VERY dead. I was so tired that I was considering going home, but decided to eat some curry with hopes of gaining some of that energy back. There were still bands I wanted to see after all. So, again, I took a break near the New Beat Square stage. There, I was able to hear the group Creepy Nuts, who I was shocked to find was actually hip-hop! When I went to share a link with one of my cousins, I read that Creepy Nuts consisted of DJ松永and the underground rapper R-指定. Now, what was most amazing about this revelation was that last year, I met this rather peculiar fellow who really loved R-指定. I don’t speak to him anymore, but I felt like it was fate that I’d been in time to hear him. I only stayed long enough to eat my curry, but I was really happy to have seen Creepy Nuts’ performance. I don’t know much about hip-hop, especially in Japan, so it was really refreshing. I don’t know which song they’d played, but I like this one: 合法的トビ方ノススメ. Watching a bit more closely now, this is an extremely graphic video; I don’t think I’ve ever seen drug-use or prostitution and rape in a Japanese music video! Wow!

Full of curry, I did feel better but spent the rest of the festival at the Green Hill stage. Another band I was anxious to see was sumika, who I’d never heard of until that morning when I’d saw the queue for their merchandise. It was the longest line of all the other artists at the time, so I figured they’d be worth trying to see. As I waited for sumika, I sat through the performance by Sayaka Yamamoto, who reminded me of vocalists like Aya Hirano, or…Hitomi Takahashi, or…LiSA. She has the same sort of deep, vibrato, but I think Sayaka Yamamoto’s image is a bit darker, as shown in her video for “JOKER“.

By the end of her performance, I moved towards the front of the stage and sat for the next hour to catch my breath, though I hadn’t really been moving since The Oral Cigarettes. As sumika‘s time neared, more fans began to crowd the front and that’s when I noticed the back of a fan’s shirt. Up until that point, I’d only been familiar with sumika’s bright orange towels, not sure what to expect. However, when I saw the fan’s shirt, which depicted a house with a smoking chimney, it was like all the lights switched on in my head.

SUMIKA. For the first time, a Japanese band name didn’t just seem like nonsensical words. In Japanese, sumika (住処) means “residence”. Understanding that, I was both extremely satisfied with my progress in Japanese and by the fact that I could clearly imagine what the band might sound like.  I wasn’t completely off either, as the band was introduced against a whimsical song of violins, an old piano, and tapping shoes to keep the beat. It had a very playful and folksy vibe. The vocalist, himself, donned a collared shirt with green accents and suspenders! The band is described as having an even balance of rock and pop, which is basically what they are: pop rock, but they do have a folk influence—particularly in the wholesome, upbeat piano. A good example is in the song “Lovers“. I’ll admit that I was drawn to the pianist for the majority of the performance.  He was just so adorable and playful on stage, but all the members held a warmth that made you want to hug them all. In fact, when they first came out, I felt like I was watching Mrs. Green Apple. Although they’re very different, I consider them something like cousins; definitely related, but one probably goes clubbing on the weekends, whereas the other likely prefers an intimate date at home.

Frankly, I feel that sumika’s stage presence had a lot to do with my decision to buy their album “Familia” on the spot; I mean, I liked their sound, but they all just seem like really fun, great people.

It took me a few days to really switch onto sumika, though, as I was still in the dark, heavy rock mood. However, once I gave the album a listen in its entirety, I found that I couldn’t stop. In turn, I also discovered the rock-oriented sumika with songs, “ペルソナ・プロムナード ” and “ふっかつのじゅもん “.

By the way, the pianist didn’t join the band until 2014, so that’s why he’s not in the latter video. The band also doesn’t have a bassist, which….I found kind of interesting, so I guess if you’re a bassist, it might be worth giving these guys a call. 🙂

Unfortunately, I was so tired that I couldn’t stay to watch the final act, サカナクション and took the shuttle bus back to the station at about seven. I was extremely satisfied with all that I was able to hear, though, and rode back to Nagoya with sumika still ringing in my ears. For Yutaro’s sake, I hope I don’t come to like them too much. That pianist really is too adorable.