Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2013
Who doesn’t love a good music festival? A couple days of good bands, happy people, festival junk food and drinking from morning till night—the only hassle usually a long trip to some remote location. Well, the Hostess Club Weekender eliminates this point by holding the event in the middle of Tokyo at Yebisu Garden Hall.
Like most punters, we chose our favorite bands and skipped the rest. After a 15-minute bike ride to the venue on a sunny December day, we were ready to check out Canadian electronic act Austra. The opening band did not disappoint. Lead signer Katie Stelmanis’ voice was clear and strong like the goddess of light (that’s what Austra means in Latvian mythology) and the band was mixing up their tunes to the delight of the crowd. Stelmanis’ solo version of the ballad “Home” seemed to particularly move the audience.
Next up was Omar Souleyman, who we decided to miss in order to pop out of the show for lunch at one of Ebisu’s many fine eateries. We had a couple hours to chill before hurrying back to catch Four Tet.
Four Tet is a one-man (Kieran Hebden) electronic act formerly of the band Fridge. His music is eclectic, often combining hip-hop, techno, jazz and folk with electronica. Hebden mainly performed numbers from his 2013 album Beautiful Rewind. While the music was great and true to his latest release, the show itself could have been more entertaining. Bouncing behind a laptop works at two in the morning at an underground techno clubs, but for an afternoon festival people expect a little more magic. That noted, the true Four Tet fans danced the afternoon away and left the floor with ear-to-ear smiles.
The third and final act we caught was Argentine singer, Juana Molina. The former comedian played a few favorites from older albums but mostly concentrated on tracks from her new Wed 21. Since the album went on sale just days before the event, many festivalgoers (including myself) hadn’t had the chance to get familiar with the songs. But that didn’t stop us from getting into the show. Molina’s voice was as impressive live as it is recorded, but more striking perhaps was her mastery of guitar and sampler. She created layers and layers of voice loops and guitar rifts to build songs up and tear them down. Unlike other acts, she also had a bit of fun interacting with the crowd.
Another enjoyable aspect of music festivals is discovering new bands. When the lineup for the Hostess Club Weekender was released, I was very excited to see Four Tet and Juana Molina. But the discovery of Austra had to be the highlight of the event for me (and others I’m sure). You too have a chance to discover amazing new bands when the Hostess Club Weekender returns on February 15 and 16 next year.
