This is how it begins
The pre-festival party, which is ostensibly thrown for the residents of Yuzawa, was packed this year. It was almost impossible to move around the Oasis, which is where all the food stalls are. We missed the bon-odori dance but managed to catch the fireworks that officially open the festival. It was a clear, cool night, which was pleasantly unusual, as there always seems to be a bit of rain the night before the festival starts.
The music was — as usual — great. The pre-fest bands are always guaranteed to get the crowd moving. The Panturas, an Indonesian psych-pop band, opened the musical portion of the evening with a scorching set at the Red Marquee, and later Parlor Greens, an organ-guitar-drums trio that glided handily from Hendrix-style blues to old school soul with a lot of attitude, set the place on fire. It helped that Jimmy James is a human jukebox who could endlessly tease the crowd with classic riffs, from rock to hip hop. We were ably primed for the weekend to come.
