Electro-acoustic-disco-funk-rock

Fuji Rock 2007: Part 7
!!! (Chk Chk Chk)

“Not flippin’ New Order again!”

I just woke from my nap and the unmistakeable strains of Blue Monday are once more filling the festival grounds.

"Enough with the Mancunian electro-dance!" I scream at the sound man, who is 500 yards away and oblivious to my pain. But luckily I only have to suffer thirty seconds of synth-pop. Time for more live music and now it's the turn of those New York guys with the weird name: !!! (pronounced: Chk Chk Chk.)

What do they play? It's kinda electro-acoustic-disco-funk-rock. Knowwharramean?

Before Fuji all I knew about Chk Chk Chk was that they have a very silly name and their new album got a great write-up. They are kinda American experimental grooverockers in the style of Remain in Light-era Talking Heads. But their manic front man looks more like Doctor Who (the Tom Baker version) than David Byrne.

Surveying the crowd I notice that I am one of the few people not wearing either Crocs or Wellington boots. "Is this significant?" I ask myself.

Each song is a 10-minute polyrhythmic work-out which keeps me and 30,000 friends on our feet. The slow, trance-like builds are way cool, gradually bringing on a funk euphoria which is perfect for the festival experience. Nice one.

Breakfast: Two cans of iced coffee and one pack of Marie cookies from local combini. 8 out of 10.

Lunch: Fish and chips from a nice English lady in a tent near the Green Stage. She apologizes for having no HP Sauce, but promises she'll have some next year. My friend and I muse that these vendors must be making a packet. 7 out of 10.