Are the stars out tonight?
"Our favorite rock star Kiyoshiro is now doing a solo tour of the stars through the Milky Way with his guitar and his bicyle." So wrote Smash president Masa Hidaka in a press release to announce the special tribute show to Kiyoshiro Imawano, the unofficial mayor of Fuji Rock who died two months ago.
Kiyoshiro will definitely pedal down from the stars to catch this tribute, which centers on his most recent back up band, Nice Middle with New Blue Day Horns. But it's the guests that will make it special: female vocalists Leyona, UA and Chara; Ulfuls frontman Tortoise Matsumoto; guitarists Char and Wilko Johnson; fellow folk god and all-round weird personality Shigeru Izumiya; Cro Magnons' vocalist Hiroto Komoto and guitarist Masatoshi Mashima; old RC Succession bandmate Reichi Nakaido; and super soul organist Booker T, who once toured behind Kiyoshiro in the 1990s with the MGs.
The party is set for the Green Stage on Saturday night before Franz Ferdinand. Let's hope it's a clear night so the stars in Alpha Centauri can join in on the fun.
-Phil
