Busan bursts with live music this weekend
Busan band Yajasu plays last year's Platform Magazine Busan Weekender show at HQ Bar, July 16. / Courtesy of Abi Raymaker
By Jon Dunbar
Busan's music scene is overflowing with great shows this weekend, beckoning people from all across the country to visit the city for its live music, beaches and World Expo 2030 promotions everywhere.
Seoul-based Platform Magazine will be hosting its second annual Busan Weekender across two nights at two venues, Ovantgarde and HQ Bar. Also on Saturday, there are two shows at local venues Ovantgarde and Basement that are sure to grab attention as well.
The Korea Times reached out to people involved in all three shows and presented them with a three-way prisoner's dilemma: Why should people choose to go to your show rather than the others?
“I'm a lover, not a fighter,” said Ali Safavi of the Busan post-punk band Bandits, which will be
playing at Basement on Saturday
. “I wish we could go to all the shows happening next weekend. Each gig is at a great venue with some brilliant bands playing.”
Bandits will be joined by the new Busan band SLPY, which Safavi described as “upbeat pop rock in that 'opening theme to an anime' kind of way,” and Daejeon band Neons, which Safavi said is in the vein of “dark, scuzzy 60s indie” that's been trending in Korea lately.
“At a push, I would point out that ours is a free gig,” Safavi said, before adding, “As always with any gig I put on I hope people come and have a good time and make some friends and go off and do other cool shit.”
The show starts at 9 p.m. at Basement, a venue with a dive bar feel that celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, having opened originally in 2002.
“I played my first Busan gig at Basement about 10 years ago when I started playing music and putting on gigs in Korea. I've always had a blast there,” Safavi said. “You always get a lively and diverse group of people there, more than other venues I'd say. Basement has the feel of a dive bar, but on purpose ― the owner Liam has even said that this was his goal when he opened Basement, to open a dive bar that reminded him of dive bars back home (in the U.S.) and it's a super friendly crowd too. Through the years Basement has always been host to a wide variety of bands of differing genres and the end result is always a good time. Possibly the best pizza north of Gwangan too.”
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Bandits perform at Busan's HQ Bar overlooking Gwangalli Beach. Courtesy of Nikki Bell
Platform Magazine editor Jamie Finn was even more deferential to his competition.
“Erm, I think people should go to them (other) shows,” he told The Korea Times. “Fuck it, I might go to their shows instead.”
He's being modest, maybe too modest considering the
two solid nights of great bands planned
.
The show starts on Friday at Ovantgarde, featuring Bulgogidisco, Barbie Dolls and Cheap n Sweet. Then on Saturday, the party moves to HQ Bar overlooking Gwangalli Beach, where Busan act DDBB will be joined by
and
Daegu's Drinking Boys and Girls Choir
. Visit
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This is the second year in a row Platform is running a Busan Weekender show.
“Last year was so bloody fun, and the venues were really keen to work with us again so we thought why not,” he said. “Platform Magazine covers mostly Seoul stuff but that was never the intention and as scenes grow around the country, we are hoping to be part of that.”
According to Finn, Ovantgarde is Busan's best venue. “It's become a bit of a rite of passage for bands as they have had absolutely everyone,” he said. “They even see their fair share of international touring artists! It's run by this super friggin' lovely couple who are just very very dedicated to the scene.”
He added that HQ Bar is “a different kettle of fish altogether.”
“There, atmosphere is king. It's a very fun place to hang out, meet people and get absolutely tanked,” he said. “While not a dedicated music venue in any sense of the word, the owners there really love music and do what they can to get live stuff as often as poss.”
The members of Goths on the Beach / Courtesy of Goths on the Beach
Meanwhile, the members of the beautifully named surf-goth band Goths on the Beach (GotB), set to play
, went for the jugular.
“Best sound, best dance moves, best drummer in a Dracula costume ― it'll basically be a non-stop dance party. Plus it starts at 8 so you can go before the other shows,” the band's vocalists Isaac and Kim said in a statement. “Also, proceeds from GotB merch will be going to help our bass player's father
.”
GotB will play with Eukk and Sindosi starting at 8 p.m.
“We will be at Ovantgarde which, no offense to other venues, has the most killer sound system,” they said, in apparent agreement with Finn on the city's best venue. “It also has a really cool aesthetic and friendly bar staff.”
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“Oh if that last answer wasn't too long can we add best makeup to the list?” the GotB members asked.
What makes Busan's scene so strong? Each of the three interviewees gave their answer.
“The Busan scene has a bunch of killer venues open to hosting a wide variety of sounds,” the GotB members answered. “Plus the cool beaches and sick bridges seem to inspire musicians.”
“Aesthetically? Nothing, not as far as I can see,” Finn said. “The thing that makes the Busan scene so special is that the bands who live and work there have resisted the colossal draw of Seoul. That means there's a real passion for them to stay in Busan. The life of a band is just borderline objectively easier if you live in Seoul so for them to choose to stay in Busan must mean they really love it.”
“The Busan music scene has always been small but solid,” Safavi said. He then cited the local scene's most renowned acts like Say Sue Me, Soumbalgwang and Bosudong Cooler, as well as new acts like SLPY, Yajasu, DDBB and GotB, then moved on to namedropping the city's venues, including Ol' 55 and the new location of Club Realize. “I'm not sure if any of this makes Busan unique but overall I love playing music here!”
Speaking of Ol' 55, the venue announced
this Saturday right before the newspaper's deadline. The pop-funk-R&B band D-Band will come from Japan to play a free show starting at 9:30 p.m., opened by Busan acoustic trio HUG:E. Visit