With Seollal coming up this weekend, the concert scene around much of Korea is quieter than usual. That said, there will be one big event on the 12th that is really worth your support — a benefit for Haiti.
Actually it is not just one show, but three, going on at Jane’s Groove, FF and DGBD. All for just 10,000 won. Jane’s Groove starts at 9pm, then FF at 10 and DGBD at 11. That is a whole lot of music for a very reasonable price. Plus you get to help out some people who really need it.
* * *
If you go to more than one show, though, you do have a couple of other good options. Oriental Lucy, over at Ssamzie Space on the 12th, should also be a great show. Especially since it is the release party for Oriental Lucy’s new EP. It starts at 8pm, so even if you go to that show, you should have time to catch a few acts at the Haiti benefits.
On Saturday, the FF show features the first concert by Mineri in several months. They are always worth checking out. Animal Dads will be playing with them, and are always worth a listen, too.
Regardless of the shows your choose, Happy New Year.
Eshe is in a competition to perform as part of the Asian leg of the Bellydance Evolution tour. Please take a few seconds and vote for this highly talented Seoul-based artist. All you have to do is click next to her name on the poll below!
The belly dancer for Seoul world music-infused folk band Orgeltanz, together Orgeltanz & Eshe have performed throughout South Korea in clubs and at large scale events such as the Jeongu International Film Festival, Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival, and Grand Mint Festival. In December they played on Kim Chang-wan’s (from Sanullim) Lalala TV program.
During her two years in Seoul the Canada-born Eshe has also teamed up with a number of local underground acts for live collaborations including Cocore, Apollo 18, The Plastic Day, Sato Yukie, Lee Han Joo, DJ collective V.I.P, Dulsori, and others.
Eshe is on the cover of this month’s Groove Korea magazine and penned a story for the publication about her recent trip to Istanbul to study with some of Turkey’s most famed belly dancers.
Apollo 18’s “Orbis” music video starring Eshe is below:
Orgeltanz & Eshe live from Grand Mint Festival ’08 here.
V.I.P & Eshe live from the Seoul World DJ Festival ’09 here.
Cocore & Eshe live from Music Trip Festival ’09 here.
Photos of The Plastic Day & Eshe from Love Camp ’09 here.
This weekend, the big show in Hongdae is the Open Your Eyes Festival, featuring 14 mainly Korean hardcore bands for a mere 15 000 won, which is a little over 1000 won per band. Better yet, the proceeds are being donated to Shimteo Women’s Shelter and Seoul Women’s Hotline.
It’s a great chance to see a bunch of great Korean bands, including:
No Excuse (old school metallic hardcore)
Things We Say (youthcrew)
The Geeks (xyouthcrewx)
…Whatever That Means (melodic punk)
Vicious Nerds (reunion after 2+ years of old-school hardcore with short, fast songs… kinda like the NYHC band GO!)
Chadburger (Seoul city thrash punx)
Find The Spot (old-school hardcore, like a blend of ’80s DCHC and ’80s NYHC)
Sssighborggg (experimental electronics, from ambience to IDM)
The Strikers (pop-punk)
Join The Circle (fast, pissed-off political hardcore)
Unleashed Anger (metallic hardcore)
Through By Us (metalcore similar to Walls Of Jericho)
Jisan Valley Rock Festival revealed the dates today for the second edition of their festival. Jisan Valley Rock Festival 2010 will take place on July 30, July 31, and August 1 at Jisan Forest Resort in Icheon City. More details about the lineup and tickets will surface in the coming months. Happy New Year!
We here at Korea Gig Guide wanted to share our favourite live performances of 2009. Check out the lists below to see what concerts KGG staff enjoyed the most over the last twelve months and please feel free to add your own choices in the comments section.
Mark Russell:
For me, 2009 was a good but not amazing year in music. There were quite a few interesting shows, but not many that blew me away. Personal stuff and work kept me from getting to as many shows as I would have liked, and I missed a couple of the biggest shows of the year. With those caveats, my favorite shows of the year were:
- Funkafric & Boostdah at Gochangjeongol on July 4 (along with Sato Yukie and someone else, who I have now forgotten). Great show, with a real loose, retro vibe, dancing, old music and a great crowd.
- Hwang Bo-ryung at Freebird, for her new album release in May. Absolutely packed house.
- Nosaj Thing show at DGBD on June 27. In particular, the Bulssazo set that opened the gig. Bulssazo is a really interesting band, but they did not have many live shows last year. Hopefully they will play more in 2010.
- Mudaeryuk. The small, odd bar Mudaeryuk started hosting live shows in 2009, usually on Thursday evenings. The shows there are usually small and intimate, with a wide range of acts, both domestic and foreign. But the best part for me is the mood of the place. A lot of interesting artists and other people hang out there, with a decent mix of Koreans and foreigners. And they have Alley Kat Pale Ale on tap.
As for non-Korea shows:
- Leonard Cohen in Barcelona. He may have gotten schmaltzy in his old age, but he’s still one of the best songwriters ever. And seeing him in front of 11,000 rapt Catalans was an interesting experience.
- Tony Allen in Barcelona. This Allen was the drummer for Fela Kuti and a whole bunch of Afrobeat greats. Amazing show, outside beside the Barcelona Cathedral, all all for free.
Shawn Despres:
1. The Roots @ Melon-AX on January 21
2. M83 @ Red Marquee (Fuji Rock Festival, Japan) on July 24
3. Apollo 18 @ Geek Live House on May 1
4. Mass of the Fermenting Dregs @ Red Marquee (Fuji Rock Festival, Japan) on July 26
5. The Plastic Day/ Stretching Journey @ 500 on April 3
6. Ennio Morricone @ Olympic Park Gymnasium on May 27
7. Lullabye Arkestra @ Casbah Lounge (Hamilton, Canada) on January 2
8. Cocore @ DGBG on September 12
9. 49 Morphines @ Sangsang Madang on July 11
10. Sagitta @ Jeju Stepping Stone Festival on July 4
Dain Leathem:
1. Crying Nut @ Melon-AX on September 5
2. Nine Inch Nails @ ETP Festival on August 15
3. Serengeti @ FF on September 25
4. Basement Jaxx @ Jisan Valley Rock Festival on July 25
5. Common Ground @ Jisan Valley Rock Festival on July 24
6. Mineri @ Club Freebird on June 26
7. Apollo 18 @ Sangsang Madang on July 3
8. Psy @ Let’s Rock Festival on September 26
9. YB/ No Brain @ Time to Rock Festival on May 30
10. The Moonshiners @ Grand Mint Festival on October 24
Guns N’ Roses had their big concert in Korea last week. I thought I would post the comments sent to me about the show by a friend. They are short, but pretty fun, imho. Enjoy:
… went to see Guns N’ Roses (or, “Axl Rose and some other guys he found”) this past Sunday. Actually a decent show, and with the second song being the opening from Appetite for Destruction (“Do you know where the F___ you are? You’re in the F___ING JUNGLE, baby”) all were happy, if for no other reason than total ridiculousness. You will appreciate that after the lights went down, they played Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” on the sound system for about 2 or 3 minutes before starting, I guess to properly set the mood.
Other idiocies included a solo for every band member, Tommy Stinson (ex-Replacements) playing “My Generation,” one guitarist playing the James Bond theme, another playing the Pink Panther theme, the KEYBOARDIST getting a solo and playing the chords to “Ziggy Stardust,” which was basically as good as me pounding on the piano (read: “not that impressive”) and Waxl even playing Elton John on the piano before getting into “November Rain.” My goodness – throw in “Live and Let Die” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Doo-oo-oo-oo-or” and it was like more covers than originals. Anyway, was fun to go and do something, especially given our poor concert setup usually.
On the Washup Tour’s™ second leg, I’ll be seeing Earth Wind and Fire Thursday…
If anyone else there went to the show and feels like commenting, please send in your reviews. Would love to post more opinions.
Or leave your comments in the KGG forum, if you prefer. The forum is on life support these days, but it is still there.
Although they will participate in the “Bad Christmas Party” at Live Club Ssam (Ssamzie Space) next weekend, December 18’s “Almost Unplugged” gig is The Plastic Day’s proper year-end bash.
Set to take place at Hongdae’s Club Ta, the Seoul trio will begin the late-night concert with a rare, hour-long acoustic set. DJ Jiung Yun and Seong Rock from Bomb&Tree will join the band for a track. Vocalist Sun Ho promises that at least one cover will be worked in as well, but isn’t revealing what it will be.
After a brief break, The Plastic Day will return to the stage for a regular 90-minute electric show that will see them tearing through nearly all of the wonderfully noisy rock anthems present on this spring’s “30 Seconds Between The Dreamer and The Realist” full-length and 2007’s “Lady” EP.
The band gets to rest after that, but the festivities will be far from finished. DJ Jiung Yun will set up shop and spin his own electronic dance remixes of his favourite tracks from The Plastic Day.
Doors for The Plastic Day’s “Almost Unplugged” will open at 11 pm and the performance will begin around midnight. The cover charge is 15,000 won.
The Plastic Day had a lot to celebrate in 2009. “30 Seconds Between The Dreamer and The Realist” received high praise from mainstream and independent Korean and English media outlets. They group were invited to appear at the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival and at Love Camp. They also opened for Tokyo’s Melt-Banana during their South Korea tour.
“30 Seconds Between The Dreamer and The Realist” was recently included amongst Indieful ROK’s Anna Lindgren’s top discs of the year on her London Korean Links “LKL Critics’ Choice 2009” list.
In other band news, bassist Ho Seong and drummer Yun Beom provide backing instrumentation on two songs on Bomb&Tree’s “Sooner Or Later” CD single that was issued earlier this month.
Last Friday I made it to Club Ta and caught an excellent night of reggae tinged/ska focused madness. Re:Ska, now a 7-piece, kicked things off with an awesome set. With their new fuller sound and great energy they have really grown in all ways since I first saw them last year. Busan Ska outfit Wake Up sadly played their last gig (goddamn military service strikes again) and showed a slightly more aggressive rocky take on ska, without resorting to the overdone punk ska sound - very nice. Then the least reggae band of the night, “Ynot?”, actually announced they weren’t really reggae, but with their positive energy, tights skills and distinct taste in covers they fit right in and had the whole place jumping crazily. Lastly, Kingston Rudie Ska arrived and raised their glasses before they kicked off an awesome set. This was a wicked night that displayed the variety, charisma and love of the local reggae/ska scene.
Did I mention this was the first of two big reggae gigs happening in Seoul in a nine-day period? If you missed last Friday’s one, then this Saturday you get a second chance to hear the love.
Club Blue Spirit hosts a more traditional reggae night on Saturday (Nov. 21), “Let Jah Music Play” with Windy City headlining. The five-piece have had a great year, headlining the tent on Saturday night at Jisan, playing after No Brain at Ssamzie fest, and need little introduction. They mix in a little funk and jazz, but remain Korea’s foremost traditional reggae band. Band leader Kim Bang Jang’s other band, I & I Djangdan, play reggae’s mellowest derivative, dub music. To see them live is to feel them, a great Korean take on this genre. Seoul’s newest reggae group, The Seoul Steady Rockers will also be there with their more uptempo reggae sounds. The lineup is completed with Mama Steppa and Bibim Kingman, and it’s a great night of diverse sounds.
Yes, the local reggae scene keeps growing, and it great to see so many acts working together to put on big nights, so go out and taste the sound - Saturday’s gig is 20,000 from 9pm.
Editor: Sadly, Blue Spirit is not on our map. Blue Spirit is down the tiny alley by Ska Bar, across the street from the 7/11 and Club Evans. I have this one map of the club, but it is only in Korean, sorry. I hope it helps, though.
Just a reminder that the electro band Yacht, together with White Rainbow, will be in Korea this week, playing three shows around the peninsula.
The mini-tour kicks off on Thursday down in Busan, where they play at club Basement at 10:30. The next night they are in Seoul, at V-Hall beginning at 10pm. And they close out the tour in Daegu on Saturday at Skyy, at 8pm.
Full information about the shows, line-ups, how to buy tickets, and more is here.
The Yacht tour is the latest promotion by Super Color Super, an upstart promotion company, headed by Sean from the band Sighborg. It is great seeing someone working so hard to improve the scene a bit, so I hope plenty of people will support the gig (especially if you want more bands to come to Korea in the future).
.jpg){kind=link}