When Fuji Rock Festival promoters Smash revealed back in November that reformed Madchester act The Stone Roses would be one of this year's headliners, it felt like a coup. When they followed that up with Radiohead a few months later, it sounded even better. Yet the subsequent lineup announcements for Japan's longest running outdoor music festival have failed to live up to the promise of that initial one-two punch, especially when it transpired that the headliner would be Noel Gallagher's High-Flying Birds, returning to Japan for the third time this year. Fuji regulars will (quite rightly) insist that it's about the event itself as much as who actually plays, but we'd honestly hoped for a few more surprises than what Smash have managed to come up with so far. Here's how things are looking, as of June 21...
July 27
DJ Aki & Yuuki MC, Araab Muzik, The Back Horn, Beady Eye, The Birthday, James Blake, Boom Boom Satellites, Caravan, Sim Cass, Chatmonchy, Che Sudaka, Cobra, Cumbia Kid, Dexpistols, Django Django, Electric Guest, Eli Walks, DJ Emma, Factory Floor, The Field, Flower Companyz, Frying Dutchman, Lynval Golding (The Specials) Gossip, Goth-Trad, Hey-Smith, Hiromi The Trio Project featuring Anthony Jackson & Simon Phillips, Houribe Lou, Humbert Humbert x Cool Wise Man, Ken Ishii, Iyco, DJ Kentaro, The Kooks, DJ Krush, Kyono + DJ Baku, Lindigo, Los Lonely Boys, Mimi Maura feat. Ishikawa Michihisa Section, Mouse on the Keys, Moritz von Oswald Trio, DJ Nobu, Onda Vaga, Owl City, Q'Hey, Ernest Ranglin, Ree.K, DJ Scratchy, Ed Sheeran, The Stone Roses, Tha Blue Herb, Third Coast Kings, Tonchii, The Trojans, DJ Tsuyoshi, Twenty One Pilots, Upendra and friends, U-zhaan x Mabauna, The Very Best, Jah Wobble & Keith Levene – Metal Box in Dub
July 28
Acidman, Agoria, Asparagus, Baby Soul, Elvin Bishop, Bugs Group, Busy P, Caribou, Che Sudaka, Chihana, Ray Davies & Band, Denki Groove, The D.O.T., Frontier Backyard, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Buddy Guy, Gypsophonic Disko, The Heartbreaks, Gen Hoshino, Ayaka Ide, Fumio Ito, Anthony Joseph & The Spasm Band, Justice, Kanjuku Trio (Chu Kosaka, Shigeru Suzuki, Tokuo Nakano), Kid Massive, Steve Kimock, Kingdom Afrocks, King Nabe, Natsuki Kurai, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Lindigo, Magnolia, Mono, Mountain Mocha Kilimanjaro, My Best Fiend, Yusuke Ogawa, OL Killer, Onda Vaga, Purity Ring, Reiran, Rovo, Sakanaction, Special Others, The Specials, Spiritualized, Swiss Lips, Toots and the Maytals, The Trojans
July 29
A 100% Solaris, Alt-J, At The Drive-In, DJ Baku, Cero, Chthonic, Elvis Costello and the Imposters, De De Mouse + Drumrolls, Deserts Chang, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Dumpstaphunk, Explosions in the Sky, A Flood of Circle, Fucked Up, Galactic with Corey Glover and Corey Henry, Matsuda 'Chabe' Gakuji, Godzilla Hoshano Hikashu, Group_inou, Howler, Idjut Boys, James Iha, Yosui Inoue, Japandroids, DJ Jim, Jizue, Tokiko Kato, Katteni-Shiyagare, Michael Kiwanuka, Locofrank, Lostage, Annie Mac, Kazuhiro Momo, Mop of Head, Murasaki Baby Doll with JVC Torce TYO, Yael Naim, New Cool Collective, The New Recessionaries, Ocean Colour Scene, Okawa Takeshi, Onda Vaga, Orquesta Libre with Yuichi Ohata, Quasimode, Radiohead, Refused, Shibusashirazu Orchestra, The Shins, Strange Reitaro Travel Swing Orchestra, Tricot, Toe, M.Ward, Jack White, Noboru Yamana