By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter
Summer is still a few months away, but preparations are already underway for two of Korea's biggest rock festivals.
British rockers Muse, electronic act Massive Attack and Scottish folk group Belle & Sebastian will be hitting the stage at the Jisan Valley Rock Festival this summer.
The Jisan Valley Rock Festival, in only its second year, will be held at the Jisan Forest Resort in Icheon for three days, from July 30 to Aug. 1. Aside from the international bands, Korean rock acts Moonshiners, Schizo, 3rd Line Butterfly and Yi Sung Yol are also slated to perform at the festival.
Rival Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival will be held a weekend earlier than Jisan Valley, from July 23 to 25, at the new sports complex Dream Park in Incheon. However, no line-up or ticket details have been announced as of yet.
At the Jisan Valley Rock Festival, Muse will be headlining the last day. The band has performed in Korea several times, including a headlining performance at Pentaport in July 2007 and a concert this January.
Muse, composed of Matthew Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard, is known as one of the most exciting live rock bands today. Hit songs include ``Time is Running Out,'' ``Knights of Cydonia,'' ``Starlight,'' ``Supermassive Black Hole'' and ``Uprising.''
Belle & Sebastian is an indie pop group from Glasgow, Scotland. Its members are Stuart Murdoch, Stevie Jackson, Chris Geddes, Sarah Martin, Mick Cooke, Bobby Kildea and Richard Colburn. Since 1997, the band has released several critically acclaimed albums, including ``Tigermilk,'' ``If You're Feeling Sinister,'' ``The Boy with the Arab Strap'' and ``The Life Pursuit.''
Massive Attack is composed of DJ Grant Marshall and MC Robert Del Naja, who are credited with starting the ``trip hop'' genre. It recently released its first album in seven years, ``Heligoland,'' showing the duo has not lost its touch in coming up with evocative tunes.
Last year, Jisan and Pentaport went head-to-head, as both festivals were held on the same weekend. Jisan impressed festival-goers with its well-organized event, ``green'' theme and strong line-up of foreign acts that included Oasis, Weezer, Basement Jaxx, Patti Smith, Fall Out Boy and Starsailor. On the other hand, Pentaport focused more on local indie rock acts and offered lower ticket prices.
To prepare fans for the Jisan Valley Rock Festival, organizer Nine Factory is holding a club concert, ``Valley Bridge 2010,'' at the V-Hall, Hongdae on April 23.
A one-day pass for the Jisan Valley Rock Festival is 99,000 won, a two-day pass is 143,000 won and a three-day pass is 176,000 won. Three thousand three-day passes are available at a special early bird 20 percent discount for 140,800 won.
Tickets are available on ticket.interpark.com. Visit www.valleyrockfestival.com.