Taehwa River ROCKS!!!

One of the things that I love about this city is the fact the on any given weekend there is something going on in the city. Last night was a “Scary Monster Festival” held along the Taehwa River in the Bamboo Forest and the Korean Indie Rock Festival.

While hundreds of people came out to see plays about ghosts and demons, the main attraction was the haunted forest. It was so popular that the line stretched for a few hundred meters and was about 5 abreast. Not wanting to wait in line, I opted for the funky sounds of jazz wafting from the newly built stage located behind the bamboo forest.

I was shocked to see that an indie rock festival was going on with just a few hundred spectators. Obviously, most were tromping through the forest with their youngsters getting the crap scared out of them. This meant for more intimate performances by the bands and better seats.

For those who don’t know, indie bands in Korea are rarely seen outside of the Hongdae area in Seoul or clubs around the PNU in Busan. To hear real music and not middle school girls lip-syncing to the Wonder Girls or ajummas dancing to abracadra was a real treat. To make this even better for me, this outdoor concert had the backdrop of the new park and walking bridge.

The last band of the evening was the best of the night. “Doctor Call 911” sounded a bit like linkin Park with a ton of great original songs. The evening totally went out with a bang. The only thing that I noticed was that the musicians lacked energy. most acts of the night left the “stage presence” to the vocalists. Coming from the west where the band as a whole makes the performance (think about Flea, Angus Young, KISS, Tom Morello, etc.) I was shocked to see the bass players and guitarists off to the side in the dark leaving the jumping around to the vocalists.

At any rate, the evening was a bast and completely random as well. I encourage you to talk a walk along the Taehwa and check out what’s going on.