FUJI FESTIVAL REVIEW
Report From Alan Rogan
After the show at Hurtwood Park (Kenney Jones’ place in Surrey) everyone was excited that we were off to Japan in a few days! Remember, the Faces were huge in Japan. So, with that knowledge in hand, off we did go!
After a 12-hour flight the Band were driven off to their hotel in Tokyo. We, the Crew, were taken straight to the Festival, a mere 4-hour drive! You can imagine that by the time we arrived at our hotel, in the pouring rain, we were more than a little exhausted but still willing!
After a couple of hours sleep, it was time to get up, otherwise no sleep later that night. A few of us went over to the stage just to check out our gear and the stage space. I saw Big Audio Dynamite, and the Mick Jones Band, who are still great. But it wasn’t until after the headline act Coldplay had finished their set and the crew had cleared the stage that we could then get on to set up our gear to do the line check. By now it’s 1am and we have the stage till 5am. We do all this to make sure all of the gear (our own or rented) is working. I knew Ronnie’s amps were fine because he’d borrowed them from Pete Townshend, so they were in great shape. We were finished by 3am... and so to bed.
Show day! Over to the main stage to set up and work on Ronnie’s and Jesse’s guitars. Later in the afternoon Ronnie appeared, just to get a feel of the crowd and see the stage. He likes to play a guitar to warm up prior to the show so we took a couple of guitars up to the dressing rooms. It’s still raining and very muddy.
It’s now 9 o’clock and time for the Faces’ set. The crowd are full of anticipation and then the Band hit the stage........ Showtime is now!
On they go, straight into a stonking ‘MISS JUDY’S FARM’ and the Band didn’t let up till they had finished the entire set with ‘STAY WITH ME’. They still play like a happy young bunch of guys. It’s fun, classic rockin’ music and they have a great time playing it!
RONNIE is very driven when performing these songs, the songs that they gave birth to so long ago, yet they still sound fresh and new. During the show I noticed a very proud Ronnie watching and loving playing guitar with his son JESSE, who was adding some subtle bits on the quiet!
MAC was playing his usual unquestionable driving keyboards and his heartfelt soulful vocals.
KENNEY, same as he ever was playing in his favourite band and as we all know he has been in other big bands!
MICK doing a great job of the vocals. He really did the songs justice.
GLENN was quietly brilliant recreating Ronnie Lane’s fabulously odd and driving bass lines.
The audience went politely nuts throughout the entire show. When the show was over we packed our guitars and amps etc, then all off for another 4-hour drive to
Narita Airport Hotel. Just before we arrived at 4am there was an earthquake but as we were on the road we didn’t feel or know a thing about it. Phew that was a bit of luck!
We were in Japan for 46 hours. Not bad for a bunch of old geezers!