Highlights of Metamorphose 2007:

Richie Hawtins late night thumping set, and the graphics that accompanied him.

Lindstrom - very slow and very deep electro disco purity.

DJ Calm’s morning relaxation set.

Model 500 live. Some Model 500 classics, some 80s remixes, and electro breaks.

Madd Professor, early morning dub style

This weekend was also Koenji Awaodori, my favourite of all festivls in Japan. 12,000 dancers take to the street.

First held in 1957, it is not only the most electric, often feeling more like a rock concert than a cultural festival, but also one of the biggest festivals in Tokyo - attracting 1.2million visitors.

The festival has a pretty interesting site in English here: http://www.koenji-awaodori.com/indexEn.html

I guess what I like most about the Koenji Awa Odori is seeing everyone, both the participants and the onlookers, having such a great time - especially seeing young Japanese getting down enjoying their culture so much - something you don’t really see in the West. Ok, on with the videos, not the best quality, and try to imagine the sound about 10 times louder…

…equals Tokyo Fun Party. These guys throw great ones, usually at Soft in Shibuya. Good music, good fun, and ends Sunday night in time for a train. Check out their site and their Youtube page. (The above pic is from their blog)

A belated R.I.P. to Manchester’s finest, Tony Wilson

If you want to escape the Tokyo heat for a weekend, this looks like the way to do it. 25,000 yen gets you round-trip bus from Shibuya, 2 nights accom, half a day of rafting or canyoning, a BBQ and a DJ patio party.

Carlos Gibbs of the notorious Red Box Project is part of this – one good sign that this will be a proper party to remember.

Bus leaves at 9pm, Friday, Aug 31 and returns Sep 2.
Reservation deadline is August 20th. To make reservations and ask for more info (packages, discounts, room upgrades) write greenbybus@gmail.com

One of my favorite acts this year was Marva Whitney with Osaka Monaurail, Japan’s finest funk outfit. These guys do a note-perfect impression of the JB’s, and have all the moves down cold.

Whitney was in James Brown’s backup band, and she is still a show stopper. Check this out: that’s her walking in from the left - hard to see, but she trips on a wire and wipes out.

Then what does she do? Pops right back up and bring the house down, that’s what she does:

Here she is back in the day:

Here’s a quick video rundown of highlights from the last party at Fujirock’s Palace of Wonder 2007 area. The Sunday Night/Monday Morning party at Palace is arguably the best moment of the fest each year, because it brings everyone together: staff, press and many of the acts on the bill (Chem Bros, !!!, Kaiser Chiefs, etc) end up here drinking with the locals and regular ticket holders, usually till long after the sun is up (I left at 9am because it started raining, and it was still going).

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s a few clips of the final acts in the Crystal Palace, a kickass tent on the Palace of Wonder grounds.

After killer funk DJ, Lincoln, finished his set, on comes Kwabana Lindsay, aka “Fiddler on the Rope”

Next up is Lil’ Fats and the Swingin’ Hotshot Party, a great Tin Pan Alley act complete with washboard percussion.

They had these costumes made especially for Fujirock (last time I saw them they were dressed as French Sailors from the 30’s). No vid of it here, but Lil’ Fats does an incredible Louis Armstrong impression. The crowd loved it. Here they formed a conga line:

A few glasses of champagne later it was the JVC Force DJs. This year they had a squad of American-style cheerleaders.

They’re spelling out “Arigato” if you didn’t catch it.

Amazing what short skirts and pom poms can do to a crowd (we’re dancing to the Bay City Rollers, ferchrissakes). Shouldn’t be surprised, tho. The JVC guys are the ones who brought the incredible Murasaki Babydoll burlesque team last year (English site here, Japanese site here).

A few more drinks and then it was off to the swing outside:

I still have a few bruises under my arms from wiping out like the punter in this clip. Then it was on to try to convince Fi from The Whip that she should climb one of the Palace sculptures for my own amusement. It doesn’t work.

That’s a wig she’s wearing. Most of us were wearing them since they were handing them out at the entrance.

The Palace or Wonder area has always been my favorite part of the festival. I’ll add more details later, but here’s what your confronted with upon entry:

Giant sculptures made out of scrap metal, trees made out of mufflers, freaks of all stripes and usually some kind of carnival act that revolves around pain and/or danger. This year it was the “Globe of Death”

That’s THREE motorcycles in there. Great cheap thrills. And if that wasn’t enough, the bottom opens up. I caught it as it closed.

Wicked video of Japan vs Korea B-boy battle teams fighting it out. Link via tvinjapan.com