GMF brings minty breeze to start of autumn

Singer Lee Juck performs on stage at the Grand Mint Festival 2009 held at the Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea on October 25, 2009. [Lee Jin-hyuk/10Asia]

"There is nobody next to me. Not even you!" cries out the man on stage. But the numerous eyes and the cheering which fills up the air, betrays that man's voice. That day, that night, at that place, people were there. And most of the people there had been listening to his songs for over ten years. Otherwise, it would be impossible for such a crowd to gather. The songs people remember by their lips and not their heads, turned the final moment of the Grand Mint Festival into a place of harmonization. And none other than singer Lee Juck, who said he may be giving his first and last performance this year, was at the center of the frenzy.The festival schedule had been cut down from four days to two yet the timetable was set up more elaborately. Short live performances were given in a salon prepared in the corner in between stage changes on the main stage, and 'rock spirit' and 'dancing soul' coexisted at the stage indoors. There were also long lines to enter the waterside stage where music manias had confined themselves to spend their weekend with music. Everyone did it in their own way but the fact that these people gathered in the city on an autumn day for music and spent a peaceful time there, will remain an equal memory for everyone. Amongst them were those who wanted to make that memory even more complete -- guys who were jumping as if they would jump through the roof in time to the Peppertones music late into the night and boys who were waiting to fly paper planes. There is probably no one who is not looking forward to autumn next year.Reporter : Yoon Hee-Seong nine@10asia.co.krPhotographer : Lee Jin-hyuk eleven@10asia.co.krEditor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr, Jang Kyung-Jin three@10asia.co.kr<ⓒ10Asia All rights reserved>