Spris Let's Rock Festival

Saturday was one of the highlights of my entire year. My awesome friend Mi Eun asked me on Thursday night if I was interested in going to the Spris Let's Rock Festival. She casually showed me the flyer and immediately I noticed that Nell (my favorite Korean band) was headlining. Uhh, YEAH I WANT TO GO! There were some other big names on the list like Big Bang and Pia (that I recognized anyway). I asked her what ticket prices were and I was shocked when she said they were $14 (for the day including a free drink) or $16 (for the day and a free drink + lunchbox). Holy crap! Cheapest festival EVER! On top of that it was really close by at Olympic Park Stadium. Needless to say, I was totally pumped to go to the festival!
The weather here is still gorgeous, despite being almost halfway into September. I think the temperature was about 29C on Saturday with perfect blue skies. I still wear skirts with bare legs or shorts everyday here. Despite being 20 minutes late because Olympic Park station is complicated to get to (Line 5 does this weird wishbone thing and we ended up going the wrong way) things went otherwise smooth. Poor Anna was on time and everyone else was late! Actually Matt and I were the least late! Garrett and Eddie ended up taking a cab after getting pissed off at Line 5 and Mi Eun lost her house keys and had to backtrack. I felt really bad for Anna! She was a great sport though.
It was really fun hanging out with Anna (she's one of the new homework room teachers at our school) and both she and Mi Eun were pretty frickin' adorable rocking out to all these bands. I was a bit surprised at how hardcore some of them were. There was this one (now I can't remember his name) who was dressed in a red jumpsuit with white lace gloves and white face paint. His music was awesome but every time I looked at him I cracked up. Especially after he smucked his makeup on the microphone and so had a flesh colored stripe down his nose. There were also high school students running around in funny outfits- like the one in the elephant suit and her friends with their giant bows and one with a Stitch mask. They must have been melting (along with the poor pelican mascot that was wandering around the festival).
In total there were 25 bands on the list but we probably saw about half. Some of the ones I can remember were Sugar Donut, Coffee Machine, Windy City, Vassline, Vanilla Unity, Pia, Eve, Lazy Bone, Big Bang, No Brain, YB, Transfixion and of course Nell. Actually we missed Big Bang because they played while we ate dinner. Dammit!! I'm not a Big Bang fan but they are really popular here and it would have been cool to see them play. Oh well, maybe another time. Mi Eun said there are more festivals coming in October. I really enjoyed Sugar Donut, Coffee Machine, Pia, YB (who created the Korea World Cup soccer song) and Nell though. They were my highlights. Windy City was kind of fun- picture a Korean reggae band. Hahah. Sort of strange. The girls braved the mosh pit while the boys sat in the beer garden for awhile. Another awesome thing about Korean rock festivals? Cameras are allowed, water costs $1/bottle and beer is $2. Also it was strange being at a festival where no one was selling t-shirts or cds.









I have to say, Nell exceeded my expectations. I was so excited to see them live- I really love their music even if I can't understand it. The lead singer's voice just affects me. They were so sweet and humble seeming too. Apparently they were discovered by Seo Tai-ji (a really famous Korean rocker). Anyway, I've made a lot of the bands into links so you can sample some Korean rock/punk for yourself. Each link is to a different song. Unfortunately I don't have Korean writing capability on my computer so I couldn't search thoroughly. Also you can see all the pictures from the festival over here. I'm so glad that Mi Eun invited us to come!