Eternal Rock City 2012. これはやばい.
Fuji Rock can suck it! THIS is the music festival I've been waiting for.
No heavyweights like Radiohead or toe but who cares when you have almost every great indie/underground band from across Japan taking part.
NMFT alumni include: 赤い公園 !! 百蚊 (hyacca)!! sgt. !! チーナ!! uhnellys!! I just busted a nut thinking about that line-up alone.
Over 100 bands and 30 DJs over 2 days and nights.
Great f*cking bands such as: about tess / the mornings / SuiseiNoboAz / 太平洋不知火楽団 / tricot / otori / Qomolangma Tomato / deepslauter / WOZNIAK / johann / memento森 / viridian / 嘘つきバービー / 385 / 撃鉄 / THE★米騒動 and tons more
There are some bigger acts like: avengers in sci-fi / jeepta / 0.8秒と衝撃。 mellower singer-songwriter acts: predawn / YeYe
Basically everything from post-punk, HC, power-pop, jazz, spoken word, hip hop, dance, electronic, instrumental, post-rock, folk is represented with the emphasis on indie and underground Japanese bands.
This event may not have the grittier, experimental, crazy/psychotic vibe of equally fantastic festivals such as TOKYO BOREDOM and Meteo Night but it exposes music fans to more variety by including pop and semi-mainstream acts that would never be invited to TB and MN. It also has more of an aggressive and loud side to it than the recent Shimokitazawa Indie Fanclub festival last month.
The mastermind behind this behemoth of a festival is 20 year old Yuya Tsuji. He's a DJ who also curates a not-quite-monthly-but-frequently-recurring event called HIGH SCHOOL DISCO.
Since the Japanese like to abbreviate everything, this festival has been shortened and given the misleading nickname: エロフェス (EroFes). In Japan, Ero means "erotic" or "porn." This festival is clearly not about porn.... although it does conveniently take place in the Red Light district of Shinjuku (Kabukicho) and as my friend Geoff pointed out to me they have a bizarre request for sexy female volunteers to hand out TENGA Eggs at the shows.
If you're interested in Japanese music this is DEFINITELY a festival you want to check out. Even if it means flying in from another country (like I plan to do next month). The bands are so good you'll jizz your pants even without the aid of a Tenga Egg. :)
Eternal Rock City 2012
day 1: 2012.09.15 Saturday 0900h-2200h after hours event: 2012.09.15 2300h-0500h day 2: 2012.09.16 0900h-2200h
Takes place in six different live houses in Kabuki-cho district of Shinjuku: MARZ, Motion, Marble, LOFT (main stage), LOFT (bar stage), OTO, RUIDO K4.
note: NATSUMEN and ZAZEN BOYS are also playing together on Sept 16 at Studio Coast for the Alternative Tokyo festival. That makes at least 7 NMFT bands playing that weekend, six of them on the Sunday.