The sixth annual
Asia Song Festival took place on Saturday, September 19th at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. The event was host to fourteen artists, hailing from eight Asian countries, with a special appearance from
Ryslana of Ukraine. The concert started at 6PM and finished at around 10PM due to the awards and encores running a little late.
Upon arriving at the World Cup Stadium, we were greeted with the usual mass of fans moving around the complex, trying to find their way around the maze of queues and information tents. When we walked into the complex proper, there a throng of several thousand people lined up in front of the main entrance. The concert staff had organized them into several thick lines that snaked around the information tents behind and down the path. We followed the line down for two minutes and finally found the football pitches and what appeared to be the end of the line, snaking around a central garden of trees and flowers. At this time, with less than two hours until the scheduled beginning of the concert, we were unsure if we would be able to get in. However, the line continued to move at a good pace and we found ourselves in front of the stadium again within thirty minutes.
After a short wait while everyone was seated and the 'filler acts' were finished, the two MCs appeared on stage, a male and female, dressed in black and light pink respectively. Shortly after a small opening ceremony of traditional Korean drums, the concert proper was under way with
Rose Shyang. Shortly thereafter, the fans were treated to the first Korean artist of the evening -
2NE1. They were dressed in their
Fire performance attire and looked fierce. They performed
Fire first and the choreography was as sharp as on any of the music shows. All of the girls were looking perky and not at all tired, despite their having just finished promotion for their first mini-album, and beginning the recording of their second. The song was sung to the standard recording, without any special remixes or additions, and sounded wonderful with the fans cheering and the powerful speakers all around the stage.
Once the first performance was over, they addressed the crowd in typical Korean fashion and proceeded to perform their second hit single,
I Don't Care. This song was very well received by the fans, and a group of male students behind me had even been shouting for it all the way through their
Fire performance. Once again, the performance was very tight and the vocal performance was strong. The crowd were making a lot more noise and singing along to the lyrics. After finishing the song, the girls were invited back out on stage to receive the reward for "Best Newcomers."
For Korean music fans, it was a long wait for the next Korean artist to perform. We were treated to performances from
Ho NGoc Ha,
K-OTIC,
Ekin Cheng, J-Pop duo
Mihimaru GT,
Chris Lee, Johnny's Entertainment idols
V6,
Ryslana and J-rock superstar
GACKT before the arrival of SM Entertainment's premier girl group,
Girls' Generation, were invited to the stage.
The girls were dressed in their white sailor uniforms for the performance and as expected, began with
Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie). The performance was obviously very well rehearsed and sounded great along with the constant chanting of the
Soshi Fanclub. The girls took a short break after the first song to address the crowd and tell them that their next performance would be from their previous mini-album,
Gee. While
Sowoneul Malhaebwa (Genie) has been incredibly popular since its release, I get the feeling in Korea that
Gee is still the fan favorite. This was confirmed by the crowd's response when the music started. I would have liked to see them make a quick wardrobe change from their white sailor uniforms to the colourful skinny jeans that
Gee made famous, but unfortunately, there was no time.
Gee was performed flawlessly and for many it was their first time seeing it performed live, so it was a special treat.
A twenty minute set by Indonesian singer
Agnes Monica seemed like an eternity for the waiting ELF fans. They were kind enough to
Agnes but it was obvious that they were dying to hear from
Super Junior. When
Agnes finally left the stage and
Super Junior were announced, the stadium started bouncing with the chanting and screaming from the
ELF supporters. They were on the left side of the stadium, and with a few members not appearing for various reasons, the group looked a little smaller than usual, but still took up more space on stage that any other group. Somewhat surprisingly, they started with
Neorago (It's You), which was the last song they promoted before stopping to make preparations for their next album. The vocals sounded good and the choreography was perhaps a little easier on the eye with fewer members to confuse things.
I was expecting them to finish with
SORRY, SORRY, but instead they performed
Galjeung. I think a lot of the fans were surprised by this also, but
Galjeung has proven to be something of a fan favorite at live performances, so perhaps it was the right choice. Again, the reduced number made it easier to follow them and keep track of each member. I'm not a huge follower of
Super Junior, but I do usually enjoy their singles and this was no exception. They do bring a lot of energy to the stage and despite leader
Leeteuk looking slightly distant at times, they had a lot of presence. After completing their song, they addressed the crowd and then went backstage.
BIG BANG was one of the main attractions, and the crowd was thrilled when they entered the stage to the cheers of
VIP.
Gara Gara GO!! was the first track and once the music had started playing, it wasn't immediately obvious where the members were going to enter from, but after a short pause for effect, the boys came into view on the top stage where
GACKT had performed earlier in the concert. Member
Daesung had been left out of the performance for health reasons and as such, the group looked a little awkward. However, they got into the performance with the same energy and flair as usual and the fans were rewarded for their waiting with some good energy and strong vocals. A lot of
BIG BANG's songs benefit from being performed on stages with big speakers and crowd participation, and this just added to the atmosphere. During
Daesung's solo lines of the song, the members continued with their choreography and covered his absence very well. Despite performing earlier in the day at
The Global Gathering,
G-Dragon showed no less energy than any other members and his new hairstyle made it much easier to follow him on stage.
The classic
Gojitmal (Lies) was the second song they performed and there was no doubt that everyone in the crowd, regardless of who they had come to see perform, responded very well. Having been such a big hit in Korea and the song that pushed
BIG BANG into the limelight, almost every Korean around the stadium started shouting applause and clapping their hands. While
Gara Gara GO!! had been handled well in regards to being a member down, now it was more obvious that there were only four members on stage. Nevertheless, it didn't seem to affect the crowd's positive response and the members all sounded good. The movement on stage was very smooth, but at the same time, slightly more robust than on TV performances.
After they left the stage, the VIP section of the crowd started to leave, along with a large number of casual viewers who had come for the music rather than to cheer on a specific artist. All fourteen artists had performed and these viewers were probably leaving so as to beat the crowds at the train station. There were a lot of families attending and it made sense for them to leave before the larger crowds of fans. But for those who hung back and waited for the MCs to finish before leaving, it was a wise choice, because
Super Junior returned to the stage to perform the song that I believe the crowd had come to hear them sing -
SORRY, SORRY. It was very energetic and the crowd backed them up with constant cheering. All the members looked strong and also seemed to be enjoying themselves and the reaction of the fans.
A short interim break was had while the stage was prepared for awards to be given to various artists. By this time, many of the casual viewers had left, while the main fan clubs remained. Prior to the awards ceremony, both
Super Junior and
Girls' Generation returned to the stage together, to perform a special song promoting "Tourism in Seoul." A few members from each group had not returned to the stage for one reason or another, but the crowd was no less excited. Both Soshi and ELF were in full voice as they supported the members and their performance. I don't know if the song was well known, or if this was the first time that it had been heard, but to my ears, it was a standard pop song with very little else about it. After the song ended, the members took a bow and left the stage for good.
All in all, the concert was incredibly good and we were able to experience a lot of music from artists that we would never have listened to, as well as some from those that we listen to regularly. For the ticket price of free, I couldn't think of a single reason not to recommend this to anyone for next year.
