A great start to Saturday
At first, it seemed like a lost opportunity to schedule the Argentine pop duo Ca7riel and Paco Amoroso in the morning, but it actually was a stroke of genius. Saturday is traditionally the most crowded day of the festival for obvious reasons, and today is sold out. C&PA thus were charged with getting the crowd in the proper mood to last the rest of the day, and they passed with flying colors, especially pink, which Ca7riel sported in an enormously puffy air-conditioned jacket and slacks combination. Paco was all in black, though the weird shapes coming off his costume made him look like a Takashi Murakami figurine. The fact that they stayed seated for the first half of their hour-long set didn’t discourage the audience from dancing themselves, which they did with total abandon, and all the way up to the tree line.
We assume we have Sony, their label, to thank for the translated lyrics on the jumbotron screens. Lots of good-natured sexual content there, and while the duo’s music zigzags from hip-hop to smooth R&B to raunchy rock and several species of Latin dance music, it’s all wrapped in a sardonic tone. The reason they’re so easy to love is because they make you feel you’re in on their secret joke. And once they stood up and started dancing themselves, Ca7riel’s bounce contrasting fully with Paco’s swish, it was already party. In fact, the problem may be that the crowd would be too exhausted to last the day. Maybe the best opening Saturday set we’ve ever seen at Fuji
The crowd at the White Stage for opener Basque ska-punk Fermin Muguruza was much smaller but quite a bit livelier. We saw our first mosh pit of the day, which is saying something considering how hot it was. Stridently political, Muguruza covered the waterfront so to speak, ranging from Kurdish independence to chants of Free Palestine! to name-dropping important figures of the revolution. Rumor has it that he’s finally retiring, but despite the grandfatherly aspect, he still puts on a fiery show and got the kids, as well as few ojisans, pogoing enough to kick up some dust. Viva la Revolucion!