“Viva La” is a phrase that translates to “long live”. If you have watched a considerable amount of war movies or WWE, then you probably know that this is an accurate translation the late Eddie Guerrero saying it every time he went on stage or in war movies that ended war letters with a phrase that goes something like “Viva la resistance”. It is undeniably a very catchy and meaning phrase which is why it isn’t surprising to hear or find out that it is used as a name for many other things in this world. A perfect example of this would be the music festival in Japan called “Viva La Rock” which is also a phrase that can mean many other interesting things in Japan.
The Phrase “Viva La” Was Used In the Movie “The Flinstones in Viva Rock Vegas”
This movie isn’t related to the interesting things in Japan mentioned earlier but it is still worth learning about if you are researching about the ways that this phrase has been incorporated to the generation of the past decade. This particular Flinstones movie written by Jim Cash, Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont, and Jack Epps, Jr, is the sequel to the 1994 movie entitled “The Flintstones”. It was a memorable family and comedy movie released in the year 2000 which was set in a place that would have been the equivalent of Las Vegas, if, during the Flintstones’ time, they had such a place already.
The cast of this movie was made up of very talented and interesting Hollywood personalities. For example, the famous Fred Flintstones was played by hilarious John Goodman while Barney Rubble was played by Rick Moranis. These two actors on their own already made the movie feel like you were watching the cartoon because of how well their fit the role but with the addition of Elizabeth Perkins acting as Wilma and with Rosie O’Donnell acting the part of Betty O’Shale, it became clear why it was able to earn an impressive amount of 59.5 million dollars in the box office.
The music in this movie was made and organized by David Newman while the imaginative cinematography was done by Jamie Anderson. It was also distributed by one of the biggest companies there is in this industry and that company is none other the Universal Pictures. It was, unfortunately, made fun of by UCLA students through a mock award they called the Golden Raspberry Award but despite this fun created on the movie’s account, no one could take away the fact that it taught its young audience the right values you would want them to pick up from a comical movie like this one.
The Phrase Used In The Music Industry
“Viva la Rock” is an awesome thing to name or call something but you’d be amazed by the number of things in the music industry that actually made use of it again and again. A great example of such an occasion is the recent release of Marco Mendoza’s long-awaited solo album which he entitled “Viva La Rock”. It was released just a couple of months ago, particular on March 2 of this year with the help of Might Music. For those who do not know, this guy is a renowned American rock musician. He currently plays for a band called “The Dead Daisies” wherein he teamed up with the former members of the Thin Lizzy as well as the Black Star Riders.
As for the songs that made use of “Viva La Rock”, one was written and played by Adam and the Ants which was actually entitled “Vive Le Rock” while the other, “Viva La Rock n Roll”, was a song by the band called Alternative TV. You will love these songs if you liked the sound of the rock of the 70’s to 80’s because they are very similar. These songs talk about different things if you pay close attention to the lyrics in the song but both songs have a similar rhythm which is what gives that hue of edginess which made these types of rock songs as great as they once were. This genre type might not be at its prime anymore but it is still very enjoyable to listen to because there hasn’t been a genre near that kind of rock since it went mainstream in the decades that have passed.
Considering all the music and art that have already been discussed, it was only a matter of time before this famous “Viva La Rock” phrase was also used as the names of the music and rock bloggers and fanatics. As a customer to this type of rock music, it becomes hard to discern which bands are actually good as well as which bands to keep an eye on, especially if you are a newbie to this genre. With this said, the input that blogs and magazines, like Vive le rock awards and the Viva La Rock Magazine, become vital in finding which bands can be considered to be the cherry on top or those who are a cut above the rest. In a way, they serve as your assistant in sorting out what you like and dislike about the rock genre and from there, you will be able to effectively update yourself with the upcoming bands, albums, and record releases by artists which satisfy your taste for rock music.
The Phrase Used as Names for the Music Festivals in Saitama
The exact timeline or beginning of the music festival in Japan called “Viva La Rock” is a mystery because information about it is hard to come by. With this said, it would be safe for you to begin with the knowledge that there was, indeed, a Viva La Rock 2015 because the website they used for the promotion of the event is still up. On the slight chance that you want proof, be thankful that all you need to do is go to “vivalarock.jp/2015”. Once you enter this, you will be brought to the website that holds the details of this 3-day event as well as the line-up of artists that played throughout these 3 days. There may be some sites that have parts of the details you are looking for with regards to the history of this music festival but those details will surely be partial. At best, you may encounter embedded videos of some performances during specific years of the Viva La Rock festival in Japan.
Every single one of these festivals has been held in one arena and that is none other than the Saitama Super Arena. The Viva La Rock festival usually starts on a Thursday and continues on until Saturday, making the event 3 days long. There have been times like in 2017 wherein the event was held as earlier as Wednesday but this only happened because May 3-5 of that year were holidays so the organizers were able to ensure the attendance would not be affected if they held the event earlier and they were right. Some people might find it strange that a music festival like this one would end on a Saturday and not a Sunday because when you look at the other music festivals in Japan, you will notice that all the other music festivals end on a Sunday to maximize the weekend. If you are part of the consensus that is curious about this, all you need to know is that things are the way they are because of the Viva La Rock Extra which is otherwise known as the Viva La Pop. This particular event is a 1-day event held on the Sunday after the Viva La Rock festival for those who feel like they still haven’t had enough fun and excitement from the previous festival.
In the Viva La Rock of 2017, a number of artists were able to grace the stage. These artists were the likes of Kana-Boon, Onigawara, The Oral Cigarettes, Keytalk, Suchmos, Sky-hi, ACIDMAN, and even UVERworld. There were many other notable artists that played during that event but this particular batch of artists should be enough to show you the level of quality that the artists in these festivals have. In the Viva La Pop event that followed in 2017, the performers were, more often than not, idol groups. If you didn’t know what idol groups are in Japan, they are the equivalent of boy bands in America except they are made up of incredibly cute ladies. To name some of the famous idol groups that participated in this event, there were the likes of Lady Baby, Negicoo, Banzo Girl Squad, and Fist Factory.
For Viva La Rock 2018, which was held during May 3-5 of this year, there were a total of about 81 artists and among these artists were Yap, Maximum the Hormone, Monoeyes, Brahman, Elephant Kashimashi, Ivy to Fraudulent Game, Red Park, Rain Parade, indogo la end, and King Gnu. Just like how Viva La Pop 2017 was held on the Sunday after Viva La Rock 2017, so too was Viva La Pop or Viva La Rock Extra 2018 was held on the Sunday after Viva La Rock 2018. The progression between these two years may be quite difficult to see because of the lack of details to compare the two with but considering that more artists came in the succeeding years of the event, it would give us a clear hint that it has been improving as the existence of this music festival goes on.
If you like rock, you are sure to want a CD of the performance of this event. Luckily, you can shop for such things in the official goods and merchandise stores of these events so just keep an eye for these stalls and you should be able to bring home a remembrance that you can keep playing to remind of this momentous festival. If the CD will not be enough, you can always go to the same festival next year to enjoy. Since it is quite hard to stay updated through their website, it would be wise to be active Twitter instead and follow tweets and retweets about the event so that you may know if there are any changes or important announcements about the festival as soon as possible.
Viva La Rock is a great and unique event as compared to other music festivals you can enjoy in Japan and because of uniqueness, that makes it extremely worth to go to because there isn’t anything like it anywhere else in the world. There is absolutely no other place in this world where you can rock and can listen to different types of rock music for 3 days and then be followed up by a series of idol group performances to end up the weekend. Even if you aren’t into the idol groups, you will surely enjoy because you will be able to learn about the Japanese culture in a way that not all people can. All you need to do is wait for announcements online about the Viva La Rock event to be held in the year of 2019 and save enough money to buy the tickets the moment you are given the opportunity to do so.