Jisan Fest Draws 88K

Among the international artists performing were Weezer, Nas, Placebo and Jamiroquai.

The Valley Rock Festival took place in the seaside city of Ansan the week before with the Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Vampire Weekend and Skrillex playing on four stages for a wide range of patrons.

The Jisan festival had to compete with the Pentaport Rock Festival the same weekend. Jisan was hit by heavy rain, which caused a delay in Nas’s set that made it necessary for him to play at the exact same time as Weezer.

Also, the main World Stage had sound problems all weekend. The weather situation at this year’s Summer Sonic festival in Tokyo and Osaka Aug. 10-12 was of a completely different type.

The entire Japanese archipelago was blanketed under one of the worst heat waves of the last 20 years, with temperatures in Tokyo reaching into the upper 90s, and those on the field of the main Marine Stadium hitting 100. Nevertheless, though there were isolated incidents of fainting, no serious medical emergencies were reported. The only artist to cancel was Beady Eye, which was supposed to headline the Mountain Stage in Tokyo on Saturday night but pulled out after guitarist Gem Archer suffered an injury.

The Stereophonics were boosted up into the headlining position with local hard rock group Champagne filling their late afternoon slot. The two main headliners for the festival were Metallica and Muse, with Linkin Park, Fall Out Boy, Smashing Pumpkins, Pet Shop Boys and others appearing on a total of seven stages.

Organizers Creativeman Productions report that the Tokyo side of the festival was sold out, which means 65,000 people for each day, as well as 40,000 at the Sonicmania rave party that took place the night of Aug. 9. In Osaka the tally was about 50,000 persons per day.