Seo Tai-ji Rocks Seoul in Festival
By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
The sizzling sun couldn't stop rock and roll fans from shouting and jumping at the ETP FEST (Eerie Taiji People Festival) 2009 held at Jamsil Sports Complex, southern Seoul, Saturday.
The festival, which is one of Seoul's biggest rock concerts, started at 9:30 a.m. with bands Fade, Gumx, Pia and Boom Boom Satellites performing in the summer heat.
The seats at the festival venue were off limits due to safety and security issues, but the large area set up in front of the main stage quickly filled up with more than 15,000 fans.
Participants got excited as the British rock group Keane hit the stage. The trio offered some of their best-known songs, including ``Somewhere Only We Know'' and ``Everybody's Changing,'' with frontman Tom Chaplin checking up on the crowd's condition under the sizzling sun every now and then. The group bade farewell after covering Queen's ``Under Pressure.''
American rock group Limp Bizkit followed, appearing with their original members for the first time in eight years.
The group posted the Korean national flag across the DJ box in honor of Korea's Independence Day and lead singer Fred Durst, in his signature red baseball cap, shouted ``Gamsahamnida!'' meaning ``thank you,'' to the cheering fans between songs.
At one point, Durst jumped off the stage and onto the barricade, with bodyguards holding him from falling, and continued to sing with the fans. Near the end of the performance, he even brought some cheering fans up onstage, where they danced along to the blaring music, causing concert organizers and the security team to keep a close watch for potential safety problems.
The band wrapped up their set with some of their greatest hits, including ``My Generation,'' ``Rollin''' and ``Hot Dog.''
Nine Inch Nails presented an array of electronic sounds and stage lighting techniques, offering hits like ``Head Like a Hole.'' The U.S. group offered their trademark dark sound and stage presentation, and the climax came when fans lit up their cell phones during a temporary blackout for stage changing.
As the sun finally went down, more fans gathered near the stage to await the event's final act, the so-called ``culture president'' Seo. When the 37-year-old singer finally appeared in a capsule in the middle of the stage, the crowd jumped hysterically and screamed his name.
Seo started his performance with ``Come Back Home,'' and continued with numbers like ``Internet War,'' "Hefty End'' and ``Juliet.''
``Exactly one year has passed since I saw you all at the last ETP FEST. It seems like just yesterday, but it has already been a year,'' he told his fans after a performance of ``Bermuda Triangle.''
The stage was a feast of sounds, lights and fireworks, and fans threw water bottles and ran in circles with flags and banners.
Seo closed the festival with his well-known hits from the 1990s, including ``Hayeoga'' and ``Classroom Idea.'' After offering ``Ultramania,'' he finally left the stage after singing encores ``Daegyeongseong'' and ``Live Wire."
``It's been great to perform once again at the ETP FEST, and now I will start working on my next album. Thank you all again,'' he said, smiling and waving to the crowd.
His departure was wrapped in an array of fireworks, and the long, hot yet exciting event finally came to an end.
The five-year-old festival was an overall success, but it was difficult to find respite from the sizzling heat. Although event organizers distributed water and sold soft drinks and beer, it was not enough to help cool the crowd down. Some fans fainted from the heat but were quickly treated by emergency teams located around the venue.
The heat made the event a bit sticky and tiring, but the festival proved once again that rock music works in all conditions, from last year's rain to this year's sizzling sun.