"It's 273 kilometers to Fujirock, we've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses."

Katsute ni Siyagare is like a swing jazz band of yakuza watched the Blues Brothers a couple hundred times and finally got bored of watching underlings cut off pinky fingers and said to themselves, "We can do that goddammit!" And hell yes did they Friday night 1:15am at the Crystal Palace, Palace of Wonder, Fujirock Parking Lot, Naeba, Japan.

The band, whose name means "as you like it," is seven hard-looking Japanese men in suits led by a Gene Krupa-esque drummer who sings and leads red hot - read: "fast!" - swing numbers with a sometimes ska feel. It wasn't just the doubletime "Night in Tunisia" and infectious goose-step-ability of the music, they've also got the clothes, attitudes, and their brass instruments pumping in the air. With bleached short hair and sunglasses, the trumpet player reminds of a shorter version of Beat Takeshi in Zatoichi. The rest consists of sax times two, trombone, stand-up bass and an 88-fingers Louie.

The only downside this blazing set confirmed is that P.o.W. has in four short years gone mainstream FRF. The "secret party" for freaks, staff and all-weekend bingers is clearly no more. Indeed, the Crystal Palace is new this year, and marvel that it is of wood, stained glass and canvas top, the 800-person capacity capped out early even before Katsute ni Siyagare hit the stage, with at least 70-80 people logjammed around the entrance and waiting to get in - vainly. I had to use the special staff side hatch.