Who doesn¡¯t love an anniversary? For couples it¡¯s about rekindling moments of first love, for many nations it¡¯s about marking a significant moment in history. Anniversaries are, for the most part, true celebrations.
¡°I hate anniversaries,¡± says Masahiro Hidaka, the president of Smash Japan and founder of the Fuji Rock Festival, which is marking its 20th anniversary this year. ¡°I hate those kinds of things, so I didn¡¯t want that on any of the banners. Everyone on the team was saying, ¡®20 years! 20 years!¡¯ But I didn¡¯t care for any of that. It was only after a month or so of their insistence that I broke and said, ¡®Fine, let¡¯s do the whole 20th anniversary thing then.¡¯ ¡±
And so it was decided that Japan¡¯s premier music festival would officially celebrate its 20th birthday. There¡¯s good reason to: Through the years Fuji Rock has hosted everyone from Oasis to Bjork to Eminem. This year¡¯s lineup ¡ª a nod to the very first roster ¡ª features acts who were at the inaugural bash.
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