Onda Vaga
Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires F.D., Argentina | SELF
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Fuji Rock Festival has had one of its most heavily attended editions in years, and it was sunny and warm to boot.
The three-day fest held at a ski resort on Mt. Naeba in Niigata prefecture, Japan had seen significant rain every year since 2003 but the 2012 version was bone dry for all but 10-15 minutes of light rain after final headliner Radiohead finished on the Green (main) stage.
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke takes over the mainstage.
In addition, promoter Smash Corporation said 140,000 people in total attended the 16th Fuji Rock Festival, surpassing usual numbers. The fest, held in Naeba since 1999, usually draws 110-130,000 partygoers. The inaugural event, actually held on Mt. Fuji in 1997, only hosted around 25,000 after the second day was washed out by a typhoon.
Radiohead, making its first appearance at the beloved celebration, were clearly a powerful draw. Billboard estimates 35,000 watched the band's two-hour plus set on Sunday night. Another attraction for somewhat older fans was a reunion show by The Stone Roses, the Friday night headliners.
Thom Yorke on stage.
Critics had contended that this year's incarnation lacked some of the star power of previous versions, but the large attendance figures proved them wrong.
Billboard estimates that the success means Smash pulled in 1.5 billion yen ($19.1 mil.) in ticket revenue, higher than the 1.35 billion yen ($17 mil.) originally projected by the publication. Part of the proceeds will be donated to the reconstruction efforts from last year's devastating earthquake and tsumami in Northeastern Japan.
Hard-working Argentinians Onda Vaga defied their name (which translates to "Lazy Style") to play seven sets throughout the festival.
The sleeper hit of the festival was the Argentinian band Onda Vaga, which played 7 distinct stage shows in addition to 2 promotional appearances at the fest. Ironically their name translates as 'Lazy Style' but that was not the case with this hardworking sextet. Their bouncy energy was so infectious that the mellowest of stages, The Gypsy Avalon, saw crowd surfing for the first time in the history of the proceedings. - www.billboard.biz
Discography
- Fuerte y Caliente (2007)
- Espiritu Salvaje (2010)
- Moshi Moshi - Best Album For Japan (2012)
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Bio
HIGHLIGHTS OF ONDA VAGA IN FUJI ROCK 2012:
- 10 concerts in 6 days (8 at Fuji Rock, 2 in Tokyo).
- They were the Nº1 selling CD at Fuji Rock official goods store (1,500 cd's. More than Radiohead, Stone Roses, Justice...)
- There's going to be a japanese tour between april and may 2013 with the next album release.
- Onda Vaga is right now (october 2012) a best seller in Tower Records in Tokio.
- Billboard review: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/global/radiohead-headlines-onda-vaga-lights-up-1007778352.story
- Time Out review: The undisputed heroes of this year's Fuji Rock Festival were Onda Vaga: http://www.timeout.jp/en/tokyo/feature/6022/Fuji-Rock-Onda-Vaga-interview
- Some videos at Fuji Rock:
* Continente de Perlas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgd_8bEUzx8
* Daydream Believer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzzU8T6PaTM
* interview and live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6SLGcR7xSQ
- Onda Vaga's album "Moshi Moshi, Best Album For Japan" released in Japan by Uncle Owen.
BIOGRAPHY:
Only, its not like someone just brought a beat up old guitar to the party. They also brought friends who brought beat up trumpets and trombones and beat up percussion instruments and their warm, broken-in voices. Maybe its because the members all share the vocals, but it always sounds like there are way more than five of them. The sound they create together is unforgettable and so immediate you could believe they wrote the songs on the spot as a friend casually held up a microphone.
Dont be fooled. Their impassioned acoustic pop, with its Spanish gypsy guitars and melancholy horns, isnt the kind of thing that happens by accident. Its not that its contrived by any means. Its just that these dudes have been working on their secret sauce for awhile now and at this point it is very well seasoned.
You can see just how comfortably this righteous ensemble clicks in their captivating Take Away Show videos for La Blogoteque, and you can hear it in their recent recordings too. Their sophomore album, Espiritu Salvaje, which came out in late 2010, is bigger and brassier than their 2008 debut Fuerte y Caliente. Tracks like Continente de Perlas are driving and energetic, but suffused with wistfulness. It sounds as though the sun is setting on their get together but, rather than pack it in, theyre just getting warmed up.
As an aside, the members of Onda Vaga also have that cute, funny, sleepy eyed Flight of the Conchords thing going on. And you know a shot of scruffy charisma never made music worse.
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