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austinmc86
Joined: 23 Feb 2010
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 Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 12:44 am Post subject: Hongdae park |
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Last night this place was crazy. There were hundreds of people, 2 bands playing, and a DJ.
Is this place always this crazy? I was in Seoul for the weekend, and i do not ever remember this place being as crazy. Usually just a few musicians, and some people hanging out.
It was my first time in Seoul in a year. Is Hongdae park like that every weekend? |
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big_fella1
Joined: 08 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 2:50 am Post subject: |
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It was like that every weekend 5 years ago.  |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 5:51 am Post subject: |
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Here's hoping PGH gets some her fathers vibe and clears that place of all the riff-raff. Break out the police and batons.
It would be one thing if you got actually half-way decent musicians there, but odds are 9/10 you've got idiot kids banging away on drums or some half-assed band with dumb Korean students bedazzled by it all and foreigners taken in by the surprising discovery of Korean "free spirits".
Stupid hippies. |
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austinmc86
Joined: 23 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 6:57 am Post subject: |
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| Hey man, a lot of those bands are actually quite good. It is nice to see Koreans who are not conformists. |
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optik404
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 9:11 am Post subject: |
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| austinmc86 wrote: |
| Hey man, a lot of those bands are actually quite good. It is nice to see Koreans who are not conformists. |
How is being in a band mean you're a non conformist. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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A lot of the bands suck and everyone is too drunk or too busy chasing tail or too wowed by the "noncomformity" to realize how lame they are. This is sad considering De Solar is right across the road.
That's not to say I haven't caught the occasional good act there. |
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toby99
Joined: 28 Aug 2009
Location: Dong-Incheon-by-the-sea, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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| The park is usually pretty happenin on weekend nights, primarily b/c of it's central location and because there is usually something going on there, be it a crappy band, art show, etc. Nothing special about the place other than it's a decent location to suck down a few cheap roadies before hitting the bars and clubs. |
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postfundie
Joined: 28 May 2004
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| Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Here's hoping PGH gets some her fathers vibe and clears that place of all the riff-raff. Break out the police and batons.
It would be one thing if you got actually half-way decent musicians there, but odds are 9/10 you've got idiot kids banging away on drums or some half-assed band with dumb Korean students bedazzled by it all and foreigners taken in by the surprising discovery of Korean "free spirits".
Stupid hippies |
You are a nationalist, conformist dolt. There is no doubting it. You'll spend page after page critiquing those who criticise the torture/ death of dogs and then in this thread critcise anything that goes against the norm. Oh man, Koreans banging away on drums? They should be singing to their Kpop, ballad crap while eating overpriced chicken seperated into nice neat groups at tables where they won't even get the chance to interact with the people at the table next to them. Mingle? Attend shows with kids playing drums and bass guitars and trying to rock out? noooo that sounds like North America. This is Korea darn it. |
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javis
Joined: 28 Feb 2013
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| Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 7:36 am Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
Here's hoping PGH gets some her fathers vibe and clears that place of all the riff-raff. Break out the police and batons.
It would be one thing if you got actually half-way decent musicians there, but odds are 9/10 you've got idiot kids banging away on drums or some half-assed band with dumb Korean students bedazzled by it all and foreigners taken in by the surprising discovery of Korean "free spirits".
Stupid hippies. |
One of my best memories (it doesn't have anything to do with taking place in Korea) was talking with a 30-40 something guy who strummed away on the guitar and sang, and discussed what it meant to live for his art, and the sacrifices he had had to make. Rejecting women who just wanted a fat wallet, etc. Also, drinking makgeolli with his straight up down on his luck friend until 9 in the morning, and just simply enjoying that human connection.
That park represents something that is precious and would be a terrible thing to lose. Sure there are Korean kiddo pretenders just hanging on to try to look cool in front of their friends and dates, but the heart and soul is much deeper. |
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toby99
Joined: 28 Aug 2009
Location: Dong-Incheon-by-the-sea, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 9:55 am Post subject: |
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| javis wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
Here's hoping PGH gets some her fathers vibe and clears that place of all the riff-raff. Break out the police and batons.
It would be one thing if you got actually half-way decent musicians there, but odds are 9/10 you've got idiot kids banging away on drums or some half-assed band with dumb Korean students bedazzled by it all and foreigners taken in by the surprising discovery of Korean "free spirits".
Stupid hippies. |
One of my best memories (it doesn't have anything to do with taking place in Korea) was talking with a 30-40 something guy who strummed away on the guitar and sang, and discussed what it meant to live for his art, and the sacrifices he had had to make. Rejecting women who just wanted a fat wallet, etc. Also, drinking makgeolli with his straight up down on his luck friend until 9 in the morning, and just simply enjoying that human connection.
That park represents something that is precious and would be a terrible thing to lose. Sure there are Korean kiddo pretenders just hanging on to try to look cool in front of their friends and dates, but the heart and soul is much deeper. |
Going back to the thread re: Koreans and their penchant for analogizing locations-
I wonder if it's fair to refer to the park as the Zuccotti Park of Korea (infamous base for the occupy protests in NYC) or Golden Gate Park of Korea (Haight-Ashbury, SF, "summer of love").
Like many attractions in Korea, it's nice because it represents something unique/hard to find elsewhere on the peninsula, but if you dropped it in most other countries it wouldn't be anything special. Pretty sure there's a better version of a run-down park with playground equipment you need a tetanus shot before using back in my podunk hometown of 10,000.
But, gotta take what you can get. I enjoy cracking a Cass tall boy or two soaking up the atmosphere there from time to time. |
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KimchiNinja
Joined: 01 May 2012
Location: Gangnam
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| Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 12:31 pm Post subject: |
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| postfundie wrote: |
You are a nationalist, conformist dolt. |
Hahaha. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 2:36 pm Post subject: |
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| postfundie wrote: |
| Quote: |
Here's hoping PGH gets some her fathers vibe and clears that place of all the riff-raff. Break out the police and batons.
It would be one thing if you got actually half-way decent musicians there, but odds are 9/10 you've got idiot kids banging away on drums or some half-assed band with dumb Korean students bedazzled by it all and foreigners taken in by the surprising discovery of Korean "free spirits".
Stupid hippies |
You are a nationalist, conformist dolt. There is no doubting it. You'll spend page after page critiquing those who criticise the torture/ death of dogs and then in this thread critcise anything that goes against the norm. Oh man, Koreans banging away on drums? They should be singing to their Kpop, ballad crap while eating overpriced chicken seperated into nice neat groups at tables where they won't even get the chance to interact with the people at the table next to them. Mingle? Attend shows with kids playing drums and bass guitars and trying to rock out? noooo that sounds like North America. This is Korea darn it. |
You're taking my post way too seriously.
And it's true that a lot of the bands there suck and people just think they're good because of the "atmosphere" and being buzzed. Every now and then you catch a good band and I've enjoyed a good night in the park listening to a good band. I've also been forced to endure a dozen crappy ones for every good one. And I'm not enough of an idiot to think that just because you bang a drum in a park that that makes you some kind of rebel.
You want some talent and to be a "rebel"? Go and catch an opera vocalists concert in some park (they happen). You'll actually get talented and skilled musicians and performers and you'll be a rebel. How many 20 somethings hang out in the park drinking beer? How many go to opera concerts? Who is the person not conforming?
Anyways, I exaggerate about the hippies. Let them play. |
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javis
Joined: 28 Feb 2013
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| Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 1:51 am Post subject: |
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| toby99 wrote: |
Like many attractions in Korea, it's nice because it represents something unique/hard to find elsewhere on the peninsula, but if you dropped it in most other countries it wouldn't be anything special. Pretty sure there's a better version of a run-down park with playground equipment you need a tetanus shot before using back in my podunk hometown of 10,000.
But, gotta take what you can get. I enjoy cracking a Cass tall boy or two soaking up the atmosphere there from time to time. |
In my opinion, you don't get anything out of places like that by just watching. You've gotta partipate. Sure, the park is nothing special, but once you realize that you too are nothing special, and you're not too cool to talk to a stranger, it frees you to give and take and become part of the human milieu. |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 2:07 am Post subject: |
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| I walked past there a few weeks ago. Looked like a bunch of kids hanging out and having some harmless fun. Compared to the naughtiness I got up to at their age, it was quite tame. Now, I feel like Danny Glover from Lethal Weapon - "I'm too old for this sheeit". |
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hiamnotcool
Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 2:18 am Post subject: |
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| postfundie wrote: |
| Quote: |
Here's hoping PGH gets some her fathers vibe and clears that place of all the riff-raff. Break out the police and batons.
It would be one thing if you got actually half-way decent musicians there, but odds are 9/10 you've got idiot kids banging away on drums or some half-assed band with dumb Korean students bedazzled by it all and foreigners taken in by the surprising discovery of Korean "free spirits".
Stupid hippies |
You are a nationalist, conformist dolt. There is no doubting it. You'll spend page after page critiquing those who criticise the torture/ death of dogs and then in this thread critcise anything that goes against the norm. Oh man, Koreans banging away on drums? They should be singing to their Kpop, ballad crap while eating overpriced chicken seperated into nice neat groups at tables where they won't even get the chance to interact with the people at the table next to them. Mingle? Attend shows with kids playing drums and bass guitars and trying to rock out? noooo that sounds like North America. This is Korea darn it. |
The park is full of hipsters, Korean or North American...just about everybody there is shameless a hipster. I don't see any starving artists, I see a lot of spoiled college kids trying to front. The park has become a sign of the new "progressive" Korea, and all the fake, shameless baggage that goes along with that title. And I hate walking down the street hearing a friggin Jason Mraz cover at every corner. I also hate hearing about how artsy and free spirited Hongdae is when it also happens to be the very place I've experienced the most hostility from Koreans. If this is what the future holds for a westernized Korea then I hope the government starts looking toward China for direction. I know the rich liberal know it all college kid type when I see it, and I've seen it more than I care to in that park. If PGH does clear that place out it will at least give the kids something to rebel about. There are some spots in Hongdae that are decent and still pushing the envelope, but I don't think the park is one of them.
And I have to laugh at how Steelrails finally criticizes something in Korea and everyone knocks him for it. Just can't win. |
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