Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Two rock festivals are ready to rock the summer with the hottest bands from overseas and Korea.

Instead of giving rock fans an agonizing choice of which one to go to by holding them on the same weekend, the festivals are on different dates to provide more diverse lineups this year.

As the events offer more variety, not only rock enthusiasts but also youngsters attend, as a summer escape.

Jisan Valley Rock Festival

Jisan Valley Rock Festival (JVRF) will feature 74 artists on four unique stages at the Jisan Forest Resort in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province from July 29 to 31.

Jisan’s headliners are all British bands. Electronica duo Chemical Brothers (July 29), indie rock band Arctic Monkeys (July 30) and alternative rock band Suede (July 31) will lead the Big Top Stage which can house more than 20,000 audience members.

The Chemical Brothers return to Korea for the second time after the 2007 Pentaport Rock Festival. The Arctic Monkeys and Suede will visit Korea for the first time. The Arctic Monkeys is one of the hottest bands in the United Kingdom right now and they became the youngest headliner at the 2007 Summer Sonic Festival in Tokyo.

Other artists in the line-up include Incubus, Priscilla Ahn and Atari Teenage Riot.

Among the Korean acts, indie band Jang Gi-ha and the Faces will participate in the event for the third consecutive year along with Jaurim, Delispice, 10 cm and Monni. Veteran singer Kim Wan-sun, hip-hop group DJ DOC and Jung Ji-woon from 2AM will also appear.



The Hype Stage is new this year for campers who want to rock the hot summer nights away. The stage opens at 11 p.m. and continues until 4 a.m.

“This year’s JVRF will go beyond a simple DJ party and bring in a variety of artists from rock, hip-hop, reggae, electronica, dance and more and show current music trends regardless of genre,” an official of CJ E&M said.

A one-day pass costs 110,000 won and a three-day pass is 220,000 won. For more information, visit www.valleyrockfestival.com.



Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival

The 6th Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival will heat up the city at Dreampark from Aug. 5 to 7.

Featuring 60 musicians or groups this year, the first rock festival started in Korea, Pentaport revamped itself to contend with new rival JVRF. In addition to the main Pentaport Stage, the Dream Stage will feature new styles of music and new singers, while the Groove Stage will cater to participants staying up from midnight to 5 a.m. as it if were a club.

Three headliners, hip-hop musician B.o.B (Aug. 5th), Korn (Aug. 6th) and Simple Plan (Aug. 7th), will offer different styles of music. Korn, a two-time Grammy Award winner, will show off their nu metal brand, while Canadian punk rock quintet Simple Plan will heat up the stage.



Other overseas artist such as The Ting Tings, Neon Trees, CHK CHK CHK and Mamas Gun will also hit the Pentaport stages.

Veteran Korean rock bands such as Boohwal featuring Park Wan-kyu, No Brain and Spring Summer Autumn Winter (SSAW) will present fierce rock sounds, while indie rock groups including W&Whale, The Black Skirts and Linus’s Blanket will spice up the festival with lighter tones.

K-pop group Big Bang’s unit GD&TOP and Taeyang will meet at the rock festival and Jang Jae-in, one of the Superstar K2 finalists, will also join the festival.

“We will arrange the music regardless of style and genre to have more diversity in our festival and bring younger audiences,” an official for the Pentaport festival said.

Tickets cost 88,000 to 165,000 won at the gates and discounts are available for advance purchases. For more information, visit www.pentaportrock.com.