Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The Bobster]

I think so, anyway.

Maybe it's old fogey-ness creeping in, but the whole rave scene just looks like a bunch of people trying to be beautiful and being seen by other beautiful people, and I do think the djs are pretty creative for what they are doing but only a handful of my friends are into it enough that I can believe the music is what they are they are there for.

Me, I like to watch people play songs, and sing them. Even a mediocre bar band playing funk hits from the 70s - even playing them badly - gets my interest more than listening to the finest sound system in the world if it's only shuffling around some cd-tracks. And I enjoy it far more when it is not a mediocre band but rather people people who care about doing what they do and doing it well and inserting something of their own uniqueness into the experience.

People have complained to me that they aren't finding the sort of venues they want, so I'm wondering where do others go when they want to see real people with musical instruments in their hands? There are probably some great places out there that I just don't know about, so tell me why doncha?

Oh, yeah, I suppose I should mention I live in Seoul but the thread doesn't have to be specific to this city. Tell us what you know.

[Zyzyfer]

There's a few bars here in Cheonan that feature live music. Two of them often have a guitarist come in and play a few tunes(one even does requests, though it's mostly Korean stuff), and the third place has a flat-out band playing popular, relatively recent music. The only problem with that place is that it's often too loud to talk, and the owner has turned into a real *beep* since I last frequented the place.

In Seoul, the best I've seen for live music thus far was when some college kids were rocking out at 2002's St. Paddy's Day celebration in Buck Mulligan's.

[djsmnc]

To the Bobster:

As a dj with 5 years experience in the scene you mentioned, I feel compelled to reply.

As much as I enjoy the music I have mixed, toyed around with and sampled, I can wholeheartedly agree with you on all of your points.
In my opinion it's a shame that many people who attend electronic music events really aren't quite interested in the music. It's rather an excuse to dress up in the newest fashionable clothing they bought that morning or to be seen with Joewhatshisname as an image-boost. However, those people come and go, and it's the true fans of the music that keep the scene alive.

Oftentimes the music is "re-invented" and put into a new context to avoid cliches and repetition.

In my case, I had been playing guitar for 5-6 years and, like you, will always enjoy the feeling of a live concert. After spending my formative educational years rotting my brain and wallet out with live concerts and hip-hop shows, I decided to finally chase a long-held dream of mine and purchase dj equipment.

5 years of clubs, raves and a radio show later, I will say that there are a lot of great things about electronic music that you don't get with live rock shows and vice versa...

With that in mind, though my closest friends back home are avid electronic music fans and dj's, we still appreciate all styles of music. I can name numerous examples of times that we'd dj somewhere and then head right over to a live jazz or rock club to hear something more interesting at the time. Most of us had our own distinct tastes in music, and we each brought a different approach to the music with us, which made our nights all the more interesting. At one point (before I came here), we were doing a live acid jazz weekly at a club, which included a dj, guitarist (a very Allman Brothers addicted anti-electronic music person), drummers and a bassist.

There are so many BS politics involved with a lot of the rave scene that can make it a total bore for a lot of people. As you said there are only a few people that seem to really enjoy it for the work that goes into its production. Then there are those who just seek a free drug experimentation venue. They don't seem to care what the dj is doing as long as there's soething coming through the speakers. The more strange the music sounds, the better.
What I despise most though is the uptight overdressed fashion model wannabies who come to parade around in their new outfit, standing alone with their group of look-alike friends just hoping, god-forbid, that none of those strange people with funny clothes touches them or asks to dance with them. They are the masters of the art of the fake smile and their sincerity is as thick as the silk outfit they spent 6 hours to make themselves look good in.
To each their own I suppose, but I must say, I'll take a grungy drunken rock concert over that crap any day...

If you hear of anything good, let me know!

[The Bobster]

djsmnc, thanks for your thoughts glad to know it's not just me. I didn't want to start a thread attacking or defending any particular type of music, though, and I wanna be clear about that. I also don't think it's fair to criticize a musical genre based on the sort of crowd it attracts, how the fans dress and what they do or don't do thereand I think we might both be guilty of that - as you say, there is always a core group of "true fans of the music that keep the scene alive," and I think that applies to any genre, whether it's Mississippi blues or psychedelic grunge or ska or whatever ... this kind of thing is precisely what has allowed live music to survive the invention of the jukebox, and it's what gives me hope it will survive into the future beyond napster as well.

I'll describe three places I've seen live music here in Korea, and since two of them are Itaewon, you might accuse me of hanging around there too much (I'd likely agree and that's one reason I opened this thread).

Just Blues is on the third floor directly across from Hollywood Bar & Grill. I've been there maybe a dozen times in the 3+ years I've been living in Seoul and usually it's Chai, the owner of the place with his house band, and that's probably because he takes it over on Saturday nights. This information is useless to you, however, because I've just recently discovered they have closed their doors and moved off to Hawaii, after 8 years in the same place. So it goes ... http://www.justblues.co.kr/newhome/files/erindex.htm

Another place on the street has a similar name, JR Blues, back of the alley that runs just to the right of Hamilton Hotel, and last Saturday, and probably for quite a while before that, there was a band playing called The Action Figures, with William. It's a pretty average bar band, I think I can say that without hurting their feelings too much, but if someone's in the mood to have fun they seem to be in the mood to give you some. William turns out to be an African-American fella from Chicago who throws his vocals up and down the place and occasionally picks up his horn - he's a serviceman who plays trumpet for the military band, and does that mean the music stops when curfew goes down? Hey, you don't ask and I won't tell ...

One of my great loves is jazz from the golden bebop era and in fact you can find that here in Korea. Once in Blue Moon is a short walk from Abkujeong Galleria and it is fine and elegant just as you'd expect a top-notch jazz bar to be in that ritzy part of town - male patrons are not asked to wear a tie but you wouldn't feel over-dressed if you did. The music is wonderful, a museum piece setting for some of the finest sounds from the Miles/Coltrane/Herbie Hancock eras, all played by Koreans who really know the genre and feel it exquisitely. It's actually a great place to take a date if you want to impress her with what a suave debonair sort of fellow you are, no cover, but the pricey drinks make up for that. Some of the signature house co cktails run 12,000 won so that means if you are there for the music you'll wanna sip slowly and save getting hammered for later (never ordered a martini there, but they are one of the few places in town I'd trust to get it right) As I say, go there for the music and you won't be disappointed, as my Korean friends tell me the performers there are at the top of this country's jazz recording scene.

Okay, these are examples of some of the places I like, but it's not everyone's cup of soju, and in fact there plenty of nights I'd like something else, so that's what I'm hoping to hear from you folks. In particular, I'd love to know where to go to hear Koreans playing rock and alternative and there are no doubt a lot of places near the universities I haven't gotten around to.

Like the other guy said, "If you hear of anything good, let me know!"

[Harpeau]

A few good places that I like to is Woodstock pub- Itaewon. The band L.R.D. are very good. They play a whole range of rock n' roll. Check them out.
The 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month @8pm is the Seoul Artist Network (SAN). It's an open stage of live music, poetry, performance art, dance, etc.Lot's of fun!

Also, every Tuesday night at 9pm at the Big Electric Cat, there is some great live alternative folk/blues music and poetry (open stage). It is also in Itaewon, just behind the Hamilton Hotel (just a little eastward).

Have fun and play hard.

Harpeau

[jjurabong]

Hey there,
For half-way decent jazz in a tiny, seedy little bar, go to hothouse. If you go to Hongik University, and put the university at your back, you will see a little hill street that goes up behind the park area. From the university, you would cross the street (university still at your back) and rather than go left or right on the main road, just veer up and left on the little hill thing. (sorry for the vague directions) Hothouse is an underground bar on the right. I've seen some of the more established Korean jazz guys go there for a "jam" session, and I think they also open their (tiny) stage to students and up and comers. I really liked the vibe there. My korean double-bassist boyfriend has played there, and he has an aversion to the typical pretty Korean jazz bar. He likes it rough and sweaty, so that should give you a feeling for this place.
Check it out sometime - if you don't go for it, stroll down to the main Hongdae area and go to Feedback (if it's still open - haven't been there for ages) for some live punk/rock.

[FlagWaver]

Yo Bobby!

Taehongno--On the same side of the street (main drag) as KFC but about oooohh say 1000 yards further and about 2 blocks to the right off the main street. Live Jazz, I never went in but a friend of mine went and said it was cool. The place will be obvious and is the only live Jazz bar in the area. There is a cover I believe.

[FlagWaver]

Found this:


http://www.korea.net/directory/List.asp?Category_id=m010

That site also has good info on how to collect severance pay, and more.

[gajackson1]

I have seen some GREAT live shows at Freebird - including a X-mas time showcase a few years back, with 4-5 bands? Good stuff!

I am just an audiophile. I like the rave music/scene too, but it is bacause I am a dance-a-holic. That's one of the reasons I like SKA, and it is one of my first choices to take people - canned music, but a blend of funk, trash disco, ska, reggae, etc. It's booty-licious!

G.

[The Bobster]

Flag Waver :

[indytrucks]

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Zyzyfer said:

There's a few bars here in Cheonan that feature live music. Two of them often have a guitarist come in and play a few tunes(one even does requests, though it's mostly Korean stuff), and the third place has a flat-out band playing popular, relatively recent music. The only problem with that place is that it's often too loud to talk, and the owner has turned into a real *beep* since I last frequented the place.



- Man, if you're talking about Zed Rock here in fair Cheonan, you must be joking. I think the purpose of the thread was to find where GOOD live music is being played. Last time I was at Zed Rock, the house band trotted out such classics as "The Final Countdown" and "Barbie Girl". Yeesh.

[rapier]

Live music? You can't hear yourself think and are expected to sit there like an afficionado appreciating all the finer points, and making expert comments like "She certainly does a high alto" or whatever. Itaewon is full of the "in" jazz scene, like a little America, where every Korean rebel who grew his hair long slipped into the twilight underworld of the saxaphone.
Some of the musicians act like they're madonna, they'll be getting their own bodyguards soon. Think i'll stick to my MP3 player.

[Harvard Material]

This Sunday (why a Sunday night?? Got me...), there will be 4 bands at Lime Light, in Itaewon. I think it's 10,000 to get in. Lime Light is a new bar, and it is across from Burger King - on the same side as Woodstock's.

Should be good!!

[Zyzyfer]

[Harpeau]

The 1st & 3rd Sundays of the month, live Irish Traditional music at the Soho in Itaewon at 4pm. Come on out for a good time of craik!!

Harpeau