It's hard to know what the organizers at Fuji Rock Festival were thinking when they decided to have Jack Johnson headline the main stage on the event's last day. Not the infectious cheer and endearingly kitsch theatricality of The Flaming Lips, who performed directly before, or even the guaranteed singalong power of anthem-merchants Franz Ferdinand and Arcade Fire, who had closed out the prior two nights, but Jack Johnson — a man who presumably gets most of his airplay from people on hold to understaffed call centers.
The decision may well be understood as: "We'll end with who we want, and you'll come back next year regardless." And you will, because when all is said and done, Fuji Rock continues to be a consistently brilliant music festival.
This, my sixth time in attendance, was the year that I rediscovered its delights, thanks in no small part to the glorious weather: unusual for a festival normally subjected to the volatile changes of its mountain microclimate.
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