With over 100,000 revelers and an estimated US$20 million in revenue, Fuji Rock Festival is one of Japan’s largest music events. Now presenting its 20th edition, the event held at Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa steps in to full adulthood with two throwbacks to its very first edition as headliners, further confirmation that it’s an event that need never change.Saturday night headliner Beck and Sunday night closing act the Red Hot Chili Peppers both appeared at the first ever Fuji Rock held on Mount Fuji in 1997, an event never forgotten due to a typhoon that caused the cancellation during the first day while the Chilis were on stage battling the wind and rain. It was never held on Mount Fuji again.“Fuji Rock restarted the concept of the outdoor rock festival in Japan, which had died out in the 70’s,” says Rob Schwartz, Tokyo Bureau Chief of Billboard Magazine. “It’s really the touchstone in the country for all festivals.”Based on the model of Glastonbury as a festival within a natural green setting, Fuji Rock aims to be the cleanest festival in the world, and is also perhaps the politest, where the bands are known to applaud the crowd.“Fuji has what the other music festivals in the world are supposed to have but actually don't – peace and good vibes” says Schwartz. “Fuji is full of good feeling, which is not really the case in festivals in Europe and the States. It is in a natural location, including a stream that people bathe in. The idea of confrontation is unimaginable, it really does have that peaceful vibe that so many around the world seek.”Headlining the opening night will be Iceland’s Sigur Ros, a band whose ethereal music seems ideal for the mountainous backdrop of Naeba. US group Wilco, described as “a US band of stunning musical insight and unforgettable presence” regarded as “America's Conscience,” are also confirmed. Elsewhere, Japanese metal-idol group Babymetal will perform on Sunday, with Disclosure, James Blake and post rock / electronica act The Album Leaf all confirmed.For more: Fuji Rock Festival 2016
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