This year’s Fuji Rock Festival notched up 75,000 paid admissions, which is 7,000 more than last year. For the most part, the presence of three strong headlining acts was credited for the higher attendance.

For the record, attendance was 28,000 on Friday, July 27 (headliner: Oasis), 31,000 on Saturday (Neil Young), and 20,000 on Sunday (Eminem).

The festival started out Thursday night with a Bon Odori event – a traditional Japanese community dance ritual that is done this time of year to honor the spirits of the dead – and a free mini-concert featuring Dropkick Murphys, who also played the next day on the main Green Stage.

The Murphys were conspicuous as the only foreign punk band in attendance the whole weekend, since the festival was dedicated to the memory of Joey Ramone.

The weather was fair and dry, and while no rain fell, the White Stage in particular was plagued by choking clouds of dust. The most serious injuries reported were two cases of sunstroke. Owing to a new policy of checking armbands at a point set up between the Green and White stages, gatecrashers were kept to a minimum. One unfortunate individual who had “forged” his wristband was even arrested, but for the most part, the festival went off without any notable mishaps.

Among the highlights were Mos Def’s brilliant set, capping an afternoon of hip-hop on Friday at the White Stage where the New York rapper unveiled his new “rock ‘n’ roll band,” Black Jack Johnson, which includes former members of Bad Brains and Living Colour.

Other highlights included: Billy Corgan’s participation as sideman with New Order, whose White Stage performance Saturday night was so packed that security had to turn away latecomers; and Brian Eno’s new project, Drawn From Life, whose “music for a new century” was explained by the keyboardist in flawless Japanese to an adoring crowd on Sunday night.

Negotiations are now under way for a series of Bjork concerts at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Tokyo, which is one of three classical music venues in the city that can accommodate grand opera and ballet.

Björk will be touring major cities worldwide this fall with a full orchestra in support of her new album, Vespertine. Rumor has it that the Icelandic singer will not be using a microphone.

In other fall concert news, Fatboy Slim is slated to headline the second annual Electroglide techno festival in Tokyo sometime in November. Last year’s event, which featured Underworld in the top slot, attracted almost 18,000 ravers to the N.K. Hall near Tokyo Disneyland.

Eric Clapton‘s eight Tokyo-area shows sold out in record time, so two more were added at Budokan December 10-11.

Canada

The Tea Party will headline three of the Polliwog festival dates, a provincial tour comprising mainly Quebec hard rock and punk acts.

While The Tea Party is based in Toronto, two of its three members resided in Montreal for years, and Quebec has always been a strong market for the band.

Polliwog takes place August 2-12 and includes five outdoor venues and a club for closing night. Tuuli is the only other Toronto act performing. Anonymus, Groovy Aardvark, Mass Hysteria, Barkode, Raid, and Slaves On Dope are among the Quebec acts on the bill.

“The festival has never left the province of Quebec but is growing in size every year, this year being the biggest,” Polliwog Productions’ Mélanie Poirier said. “It is our goal to expand in the near future outside of the province of Quebec. Each year, we add more dates and bigger artists. Hopefully, this time next year we will have festival dates in Ontario.”

Ireland

Promoter MCD couldn’t have picked a better spot to open a new venue than in the middle of Dublin’s O’Connell Street.

The Ambassador, a 1,200 seater, opens at the end of the month and already has confirmed bookings for Stephen Malkmus (August 21), Spooks (23), Reel Big Fish (28), Suicide (Sept 23), Spiritualized (26), and Afro Celt Sound System (29-30), followed by Mercury Rev on October 3.

The building was previously a cinema and has had to undergo a great deal of refurbishment, but being in the centre of the city’s main thoroughfare means MCD’s investment in the lease shouldn’t be long in showing a return.

The company’s autumn schedule begins early with a couple of sold-out U2 shows at Slane Castle on August 25 and September 1, making the Irish national heroes the first band to do two shows on the 80,000-capacity site.

Australia

After building Eminem up as Public Enemy No. 1, the media that dogged his every step was disappointed when he did nothing controversial. The rapper’s arrival for two shows here for Frontier Touring had been fraught with controversy.

The media was obviously anticipating such incidents as when The Who and the Small Faces were kicked off a plane for a bread roll fight in 1967, or when a handcuffed Joe Cocker was kicked out of the country for possessing marijuana in 1972. Other exciting moments for the press include unions refusing to refuel Frank Sinatra’s plane after he called women journalists “$2.50 hookers,” Courtney Love facing court for swearing at an air hostess who told her to take her feet off the aircraft wall and Liam Gallagher breaking a fan’s nose for asking for an autograph.

Instead, Em went shopping and bowling.

The one hint of controversy was when his chain saw had to be de-toothed due to security rules at the first appearance, at Melbourne’s 15,000 capacity Rod Laver Arena. To the cheers of his crowd, Em announced, “They almost didn’t let me into your f****** country … .so I brought a gun with me. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. No, I’m not. I’m kidding.”

In a move most certainly to irritate his detractors, he claimed he wants to live in Australia. “But your f****** prime minister might not like that, ’cause I might move next door to one of you. Or maybe I’ll move next door to him.”

He added his attorney and manager had told him not to talk about his legal problems. “I’ve been having a lotta trouble with my f**** bitch wife. We won’t talk about that bitch. I go into this bar and catch my wife kissing this bouncer and I hit him a couple of times in the head with a gun. They say I pistol-whipped him. I didn’t; I hit him in the head with a gun.”

Due to the uncertainty of Em getting a visa, ticket sales were sluggish until his entry into the country was approved a week before the tour. Ultimately, only two-thirds of the venue was filled for both shows.