The 9th edition of Japan’s leading rock and dance fest in the Tokyo area went off with huge bang for dance fans as two of the best sets came from France’s hip beatsters Justice and the phat grooves of Fatboy Slim.
In a clever programming twist, Summer Sonic is held simultaneously in Osaka and Tokyo over two days, and the bands play each city respectively, thus reversing the line-up of the two major metropolises in Japan. In Tokyo, the venues consist of the giant convention hall called Makuhari Messe (Messe is from the German for hall) and the Chiba Marine Stadium, which is home to the baseball team the Lotte Marines. In Makuhari Messe, three stages host a myriad of acts with the Mountain stage being the biggest, fitting nearly 5,000.
It was on this stage that the venerable Justice, who have made a huge name for themselves in Japan, torched the crowd on the second day. The French duo followed Dutch house DJ Junkie XL and Japanese electro rockers Boom Boom Satellites, so the crowd was revved up for a beat heavy set. Justice did not disappoint. With huge video screens side stage and Marshall amps stacked four high, it was clear the boys meant business. The amps were actually the stage design as lights were fitted to them and flashed in concert with a giant LED design onstage. When the customary white cross lit up, the crowd roared, and Ed Banger Records was in da house. Heavily distorted bass and rock opera-esque arpeggio synth lines fired out as the crowd ate it up and shimmied down. The pair proceeded to interweave beats, drum breaks, and syncopations with the grooves, showing a real mastery of their sequencers. When the twosome broke into their hit single “We Are Your Friends”, there was near pandemonium in the crowd, and the Francophones were clearly loving every second of it.
This kind of ravenous dancing prepared the crowd for Fatboy Slim, who capped off the whole weekend, being the last set on any stage. Norman was wandering in the hospitality area sporting black half trousers and a crisp yellow tee just minutes before, but when he hit the stage, he was projecting serious dance business. Cook is well familiar with Makuhari Messe actually. In 2001, he played the venue the same day George Harrison died, and he sported a psychedelic Beatles shirt for the occasion. Then just 6 months later, he again rocked the site for a giant bash connected to the World Cup (soccer), which was held in Japan in 2002.
Norman, in his Fatboy Slim incarnation, was well up for another go at Makuhari. With spiral visuals and ice skating video (nice, as it was brutally hot that day), he charged into a reworked version of “Praise You”, followed by beats over old blues numbers, swinging horns and more pounding breaks. Naturally, he came with signature “Fatboy Slim is Fucking in Heaven” next and transposed in to more hip hop oriented tracks that were topped off with the Chemical Brothers’ “Block Rocking Beats”. Finally, he dropped Dan Le Sac & Scroobius Pip’s “Thou Shall Kill”, which was appropriate both because he was killing and because the hot British duo had played Japan a few weeks before. The crowd tore up the dance floor and showed once again the Summer Sonic delivers not only as a rock fest, but also as a dance one.
By Rob Schwartz
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