Live music concerts across Korea for Christmas
The pop-rock band Walking After U is touring across Korea, appearing in Gangneung on Friday, Daegu Saturday and Mokpo Christmas Eve. / Courtesy of Walking After U
By Jon Dunbar
For many foreigners, Christmas can be the loneliest time of year, spent far away from family and without the usual ritualized Christmas traditions. But it's especially important to go out this weekend. Fortunately, Korea's live music community is especially active for Christmas.
Here are some affordable shows in smaller, welcoming venues in Seoul, Daegu and Busan ― as well as Gangneung and Mokpo ― that are unlikely to turn away anyone at the door.
Daegu's landmark concert hall
has two Christmas concerts this weekend.
Friday's show features
ranging from mild to wild, including Ashtray, Kimbitockmin, Igloo, Polyp and the increasingly high-profile
. The show starts at 7 p.m. and costs 10,000 won.
features Seoul
. The show starts at 6 p.m. and the price is not advertised, which means it's either very affordable or very expensive. The band is back in Seoul on Christmas Day for
at Platform Changdong 61.
The
is also hitting
on Saturday, as part of a cross-Korea tour that sees them at
on Friday and
on Christmas Eve.
Choi Su-mi of Busan rock band Say Sue Me / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
Busan, Korea's second-largest city, has at least three shows this weekend.
On Saturday, popular
has a Christmas show, competing with a compilation album release by three Busan punk bands.
Say Sue Me has a
to release the mini-album “
,” at the venue Someday. The band will play an acoustic set and a full band set. Son Mooseong and Barbie Dolls open the show. It starts at 7 p.m. and entry costs 20,000 won in advance or 25,000 won at the door.
Meanwhile at
, Realize Records
, with performances by hardcore band Gwamegi, punk band Stoned and Headturner. Entry plus a CD costs 20,000 won in advance or 25,000 won at the door.
Then on Christmas Eve, Busan venue Ovantgarde hosts the
, with Daegu's Drinking Boys & Girls Choir performing with three Busan bands: ska-punk band Moon Stompers, skate punk band Sidecar and garage pop band The Vastards.
Yamagata Tweakster / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar
Music lovers stuck in the capital won't be left wanting, as Seoul has a busy live music schedule.
has a show almost every day from Thursday to New Year's Eve, skipping only Dec. 26. Schedule highlights include Lee Seong-su of Harry Big Button on Saturday, garage punk band
, then blues acts Ha Heon-jin with Kim Gan-ji on Christmas Eve, and Kim Tae-chun on Christmas Day. All shows are by donation and feature only one act.
On Friday, electro-rock band DTSQ hosts
, a holiday party with three other bands selected by DTSQ: Galaxy Express, Dead Buttons and Lemons. Attendees must bring a wrapped Christmas gift of any quality for a “Random Gift Exchange” in the middle of the show. The show at Senggi Studio in the Hongdae area costs 25,000 won in advance or 30,000 won at the door.
Also on Friday,
has a show titled
held in honor of Kim Yong-gyun, the 24-year-old subcontractor who died recently at a power plant in Taean. The nine acts include anarcho-punk band Distruggle, electronic dance maniac Yamagata Tweakster, and a solo performance by Jina of psychedelic blues band Billy Carter. The show costs 20,000 won with money going to causes yet to be determined.
GBN has a “proper” Christmas show on Saturday, titled
The show features melodic punk music, including Full Garage, Drive Shower and ska-punk band Talkbats. Entry costs 15,000 won, and the door price for students is “at your discretion.”
in Hongdae also has a Christmas show on Saturday, featuring Galaxy Express, Yeseo, Heynam Sin X Patients and Airy. Entry is 15,000 won in advance or 20,000 won at the door. The show starts at 7 p.m.
skate punk band Drinking Boys & Girls Choir
all-girl pop-rock band Walking After U
releases the “Shock Wave” compilation album