Sarah Jay - One Way
ONE WAY - Reflections on Mount Fuji Mid tour with Massive Attack, we boarded the sci-fi-esque bullet train from Tokyo, thrilled to be playing the Fuji Festival in its first year, 1998. Whilst flying through the strange landscape on this high-speed train, anticipating the stunning wonders awaiting us, waves of euphoria and anxiety came in equal measure. This was a big gig, on a big mountain! It took many years to get permission from the various powers that be to stage the Fuji rock festival on the site of this Holy Mountain. Both government and spiritualists made it clear to the world of rock n roll they were not welcome here. However, only Buddha knows how many back handers’ it took to secure the site for what is now a legendary annual music festival. We arrived at the quaint Fuji Hotel the day before the gig, giving us time to rest after a long exhausting journey. Mount Fuji was barely visible from the hotel balcony the view obscured by massive rolling dark clouds. An ominous storm was brewing. Many bands due to perform were staying here, a real who’s who of rock music. I might have been overwhelmed had I known who any of them were. Having never been a rock nerd I didn’t have a clue, which helped me stay cool. The ratio of men to women was as usual, ridiculous. My shield wall was up as the boys tended to get rather lacivious after too long on the tour bus. Rested and replenished, having had a kip, though at this stage jet lag felt permanent, I woke up in a very restless mood. Howling winds were hammering our small hotel, windows were rattled as were the hotel staff, who reminded me of air stewardesses during heavy turbulence, with that trained fake facade hiding their real feelings, this I had seen all too often. Whilst fearful we would blow away, starring me as Dorothy in an Asian version of The Wizard of Oz, I was secretly thrilled the mountain Goddess was rejecting the hedonism and chaos arriving at her foot-hills. The mountain was now invisible, cloaked in heavy black clouds, amidst a typhoon. Meanwhile a host of world famous rock bands were holed up with enough pent up energy to cause an eruption and nowhere to expend it. Tension was building. Horace Andy and Lee Perry, seasoned to such mania, from years of touring and life in Jamaica, held fort for hours. Horace proudly showing off his gun-shot wound, telling tales of his youth. Lee Perry at his side, sublimely dripping with adoring, gorgeous “babes”, reminiscent of 70’s psychaedelic album covers. Band wars broke out, Green day versus Prodigy, toting “toy” machine guns, rolling out of lifts opening fire on anyone who didn’t dive for cover. Those plastic bullets didn’t half smart! The Japanese hotel staff could not compute, freaked out and left, leaving a very open bar. It was intense, the hotel crammed full of crazy. In the cute hotel gift shop, I wrote “I love you” on post cards to family and friends, unsure if I’d make it home. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers headlined that night, playing through the storm despite Anthony Keidis’ broken arm, and were regailed as heroes. Rumours were raging that the main stage had blown away, killing people, adding to my growing Dorothy complex, (no deaths actually occurred), although many ill equipped festival goers needed medical attention. No-one was prepared for Sengen-Sama to chew them up and spit them out. We were scheduled to play on the second day, to everyone’s horror this was cancelled, the frustration peaked as it turned out to be sunny. I could picture the Goddess smirking. So what to do with a hotel full of hyped up, adrenalized rock bands? Contain them? The process of herding wild cats began, times like these I didn’t envy the tour managers. We were ferried to a fine hotel in Tokyo, and l... ------------------- هل أعجبك فيديو (Sarah Jay - One Way)؟ يمكنك اكتشاف المزيد من المحتوى المشابه، مشاهدة أحدث الفيديوهات، والتفاعل مع صناع المحتوى مباشرة على منصة VibVob. شارك برأيك في التعليقات بالأسفل وكن جزءاً من مجتمعنا التفاعلي.
