SUPER!SONIC Day 1: One moisturizing night in Seoul

Audiences have fun at SUPER!SONIC held at the Olympic Park in Seoul on August 14, 2012 [Lee Ki-won/10Asia]

With the summer music festivals upon us, many music lovers may have had a hard time in choosing which music fest to attend.

Music festivals were lined up every weekend of July and August -- some hip-hop tunes and dance moves near the water (Summer Wave, Green Groove Festival), electronic sounds and beams under the sky or dome (Ultra Music Festival, Sensation Korea), and traditional rock and roll mud-full stages (Jisan Valley Rock Festival, Pentaport Rock Festival).

With that in mind, ticketholders to SUPER!SONIC, which kicked off its first day on August 14, have been patient since this is one of the last events happening this summer, while it is also the first time for this music fest to take place after teaming up with Japan's annual festival, SUMMER Sonic.

Even though it was hard to see the sun throughout the two-day festivities, the patient music goers were safe and sound while fully enjoying the indoor performances of big named international artists mixed with local darling bands.

Day 1

It seems to be the right choice to place Glen Check to welcome those shy and hesitant audiences who just arrived at the medium-sized stadium, called SONIC STAGE.

The fresh and young trio, donned in all black T-shirts and jeans, held a drum-beat electronic party for the listeners who seemed to be the same age as the group, able to briefly escape from their every day lives.

Jang Ki-ha and Faces' Jang Ki-ha sings with his hands up at SUPER!SONIC held at the Olympic Park in Seoul on August 14, 2012 [Lee Ki-won/10Asia]

After the fourty-minute warm up, next on the SUPER STAGE, a large-scale stadium recognized as the main stage, was filled with the cool crisp air-conditioned atmosphere though it was less crowded.

All of sudden, Jang Ki-ha and Faces appeared on stage playing storming guitar sounds and began to stir up the crowd. With the smart usage of light and shade, the band proudly displayed the advantage of performing indoors and was able to successfully capture the hearts of the crowd.

Following frontman Jang’s intended big gestures, the audience carried out Jang’s fun requirements faithfully while enjoying the group's retro style sounds, such as “Moon is Rising, Let’s Go” (translated title). Throughout the gig, the quartet once again proved that they knew how to excite the crowd.

IDIOTAPE members ZEZE (left), Dguru (middle), DR (right) give their performance at SUPER!SONIC held at the Olympic Park in Seoul on August 14, 2012 [Lee Ki-won/10Asia]

When the hungry crowd returned to the SONIC STAGE after grabbing a bite from the outdoor food booth, the trio--each performing a DJ set, a synthesizer, and a drum-- was receiving a huge response from warmed-up audiences.

IDIOTAPE, one of the hottest indie musicians in the current indie music scene, was tearing up the stage with their beats and rhythms, which gradually piled up with every hit on the keyboard and turn on the turn tables.

While giving off a look, most like grown-up version of Glen Check, the threesome electronic group successfully gave out the ups and downs in their sounds, which is enough to show what kind of music these days’ hipsters are listening to.

Gym Class Heroes Matt McGinley (left), Travie McCoy (middle), Eric Roberts (right) perform an exciting gig at SUPER!SONIC held at the Olympic Park in Seoul on August 14, 2012 [Lee Ki-won/10Asia]

After getting a fill of electronic sounds, the crowd flocked to groove along to the voice and sounds of New York based urban quartet Gym Class Heroes.

To the funky rhythm of “Peace Signs,” people released their stress while lifting up their fingers to alternatively make the peace and give the middle finger.

Though the foursome has yet to achieve overwhelming popularity in Korea, the 11-year-old group’s rapper Travie McCoy led the crowd smoothly, by saying “I can see you are ready to rock. If I count to three, I want everybody jump off. One, two, three, GO!”

Although there were DJs such as Basement Jaxx and Soulwax, the night was set for the Brave Guys, forming a long bottle-neck line to get into Jack Rock Stage, a small-sized dorm placed between two big stadiums.

The crowd filled the dorm while singing along to the comic trios lyrics for their hit tunes “Wait and Be Ready” and “I Don’t Care.”

The Smashing Pumpkins give a rocking performance at SUPER!SONIC held at the Olympic Park in Seoul on August 14, 2012 [Lee Ki-won/10Asia]

At last but not least, Smashing Pumpkins graced the SUPER STAGE with their pure guitar sounds that washed over the crowds' ears.

It was a full 90-minute show put on by both musician and fans. For Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan, who was performing at a Korean music festival for the first time, the audience gave strong responses by singing along, jumping and clapping in the air, waving and screaming.

Throughout the gig, Corgan and his bandmates showed their respect to their long-awaited fans that were crying out their names, by presenting a sole list of 20 past and presents hits from their 20 year singing career.

The over air-conditioning hall holding some 8,000 people soon turned black with wishes that more people would visit the next day, which is Korea’s Independence Day.

Audiences relax sitting on the outdoor benches at SUPER!SONIC held at the Olympic Park in Seoul, on August 14, 2012. [Lee Ki-won/10Asia]

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10 아시아 Reporter : Lee Hye Ji hjlee@
10 아시아 Editor : Lucia Hong luciahong@