Festival of love: Mei Simones, English Teacher, Little Simz
The sun was back Sunday morning and while clouds were always moving in, rain didn’t materialize. We checked out Mei Semones at the Red Marquee just after noon. Given the hangover state of many of the Fuji diehards, Semones’ jazzy indie pop, with heavy doses of bossa nova, was particularly soothing, though it was her command of Japanese — her impressionistic lyrics are in both English and Japanese, often in the same line — that made the deepest impression on the capacity crowd. Semones’ music is lulling and often soporific, but if all you had to go by was the reaction of the crowd, you’d think she was a rock god.
Later that afternoon on the same stage the Mercury-winning Brit band English Teacher really did try to summon the spirits of rock with a capital R, though being a decidedly album-oriented band they mixed the excitement of postpunk with often contemplative slower songs. It’s hard to say how much the crowd got, but they definitely reacted electrically to their more rocking material.
Another Mercury winner, Little Simz, soon materialized on the Green Stage just as the sun was going down. A resolutely emotional rapper, Simz betrayed more self-consciousness than you average MC, though she kept throwing down challenges that the huge Green Stage crowd rose to with bracing brio. Consequently, she grew more confident with each song and eventually let down her guard, beaming a full-bore smile to an enthusiastic audience she probably didn’t expect. It made an impression that maybe even she didn’t understand: The audience loved her candor and her capability to expose herself for the sake of love. And the audience genuinely loved her.