Shan in Japan

First time punter at the Fuji Rock festival this year. It was crowded and plenty of lining up to do, but overall an excellent event. Elle and I had tickets to the first day - 29th. We jumped on the Shinkansen and shot out to Naeba ski resort. The last time I was out here in March I had my skis and it was minus 0! Such a contrast to see the slopes green with grass.

We got there around 11am just when the bands started playing. Being a one dayer, we were rushing from stage to stage to try and see everything. If I come here again, the 3day pass is definitely worth it, where you can just relax and see the bands you want to see over the 3 days.

Beautiful boardwalks through the forest and a cool (icy) river running through. It rained a bit, which was good as it kept things cool.

Prefuse 73 cranked hard out with double drum kits and some turntables. Then made our way over for Coldplay. For a band with such a mellow and sentimental sound, I was surprised how amped they got doing their performance - not a sit down and listen band at all. Chris Martin is a bit of looney!! Jumping around all over the show. Really impressed - great live band to see.

The Pogues were there too. Listening to them just makes you want to swill beer and sing along with your mates. The singer's drunken antics were classic Irish!

The final act was Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl is a well seasoned performer. Can even crack jokes using Japanese to make the mainly Japanese audience laugh, something that nearly all other bands failed at. He was full of surprises from slow love ballads through to hard out 'bang ya head' rock. High energy and walked away feeling amped. btw - moshing with a backpack is not good....

Other notable acts were Cake, The Music, Simple Plan and plenty of other local bands. There was a Ska stage, DJ /electronica tent. Party was going all night long.... Stumbled through tent city and crashed out about 2:30am.

Great introduction to Fuji Rock and if I'm here this time next year and depending on the line up of bands, I'm definitely going to prepare for a 3 dayer!