The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion set at Rock in Japan Festival, Hitachi Seaside Park, Hitachinaka, Ibaraki, Japan on 3 August 2001.
Jon Spencer Portrait: 吉場正和 (https://www.instagram.com/yoshibapippo/)
Images below show festival magazine with note from Jon Spencer.
Other Artists Performing on This Day:
Bamp of Chicken
Rize
bird
Air
Dragon Ash
Super Butter Dog
fra-foa
Zoobombs
Bloodthirsty Butchers
真心ブラザーズ
ソウル・フラワー・ユニオン
TRANSLATED TEXT (Rock in Japan Fes.2001 article):
“16:5 The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
2nd year try
This will be your third consecutive year performing at a Japanese festival, following Fuji Rock two years ago and Summer Sonic last year.
“That’s right. I saved the best part for last (laughs).”
Come to think of it, last year I only managed 30 minutes thanks to the never-ending James Brown. “Yes, today I’m getting my revenge, I’m going to do three hours!”
Stop taking out your frustration on others. What do you hope to achieve when you perform at festivals? “Um… yes, rock and roll! Just like the T-shirts you guys are wearing. I was surprised when I got here and everyone was wearing rock and roll. So now I feel really at home. It’s like I’m back home. Haha.”
Your live shows seem to suit a certain kind of enclosed space. So it seems like outdoor performances wouldn’t suit you, but in reality they’re always relaxed and fun. “It’s true that for a long time I kept turning down offers to perform at festivals, but once I did, I thought, wow, this is fun. I realized that Blues Explosion doesn’t just work in small venues, it works in vast open spaces too.”
OK. You’re currently recording a new album, right? Good luck.
“Yes, it’s sure to be a masterpiece. The producer is Steve Jordan, who has produced records for Keith Richards and Tom Jones. It’s a very conventional production method for JSBX. They’re surrounded by old-school rock ‘n’ roll masters. This one looks like it’ll be like a rock ‘n’ roll album from 1972. We’ll be playing a few songs from it at the live show today, so I think it’ll have that same vibe.”
This symbolizes Jon Spencer’s new style.
It was a fantastic live show. It may have been the best I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen their secret live show at the Shibuya Yaneura, but personally, this one was better. Usually, a live show is better when it’s small and the stage is closer, but what’s going on here? I don’t know. I don’t know, but with this band, when the “explosion” in the name Blues Explosion gets too much, and the “blues” gets overshadowed, it can sometimes become hard to listen to as music. In other words, it’s too junky and the sound is terrible.
On the other hand, on this day, the performance was very tight and crisp. The shape of the song was clearly visible. So, was it quiet? It was full of tension. I thought, “This is it!”
However, when I asked around later, many people said things like, “Isn’t it too mature?” and “It used to be a lot more crazy and loud.” Well, it doesn’t really matter, I thought so. I thought it was good. When I told this to Suzuki Akane from our international department, she said, “Judah Bauer said, ‘Let’s go for a mid-tempo, mature selection today,’
Apparently Jon agreed. When I met him, he was regretting it, saying, “Damn, I should have just gone for something more upper-class instead of listening to what he said.” Oh, my excitement, no need for regrets! Don’t let them dampen your excitement, even if it’s him!!!!
There was another reason why Jon Spencer didn’t create a good atmosphere overall that day. And that was the biggest and most serious problem. In the mosh pit, Japanese music fans and people who were trying to enjoy Jon Spencer’s live show couldn’t get along well, which was the same situation that happened with some bands last year. Obviously, Dragon Ash is not to blame, and more to the point, the people who were saving spots may not be to blame either. Because, “That’s not okay.”
They either don’t know about it, or even if they do, they only think, “It’s not such a strict violation of the rules, so it’s fine.” It’s a mistake on our part as organizers to have only brought about such awareness. Of course, not everyone wants to be like this.
That would have been easy, but this was just a trial run for us. As Shibuya wrote in last month’s issue, one of the great things about Fuji is that it also functions as a place where fans of Western music can discover great Japanese bands, but we wanted to do the opposite. It has been said for several years that the barrier between Western and Japanese music is disappearing, but this is because the number of great bands in Japan has increased, and this has led to a shift from Western music listeners to Japanese music listeners.
This is largely due to the increase in people getting into Japanese music from abroad, and the reverse is rare. That’s why I thought this kind of booking was meaningful. But the reason it ended up like this is because, although I thought I had done everything I could regarding ① and ②, and had held countless discussions, it just wasn’t enough. I’m sorry to everyone whose fun was ruined.
It may be impossible to achieve the ideal of having everyone acquire common sense and manners in a public venue, and in return gain freedom. But Fuji has made it a reality. Why? Because they have been encouraging participants to change their mindset for five years to achieve this, and they have racked their brains to create it, and they book in a way that creates this ideal state. As for 3, we have no intention of doing it. If we did that, there would be no point in holding this festival when there is already a great event like Fuji. They would probably say, “Well, then don’t bring in foreign artists.”
Hyogo Shinji
Reporting by Suzuki Akane”
