2009 Pentaport Rock Festival

By Dann Gaymer

(INCHEON KR) : Last weekend the dusty Daewoo motor fields south of Incheon were transformed, through a collection of carnivalesque tents, a few stages, a few thousand people and more than 60 bands, into the third Pentaport Rock Festival. Yet this year, due to the emergence of the rival festival at the Jisan Valley resort, Pentaport took on a new role as not just another festival, but as a spotlight for Korean talent.

Since 2006 the festival has brought in big names such as the Strokes, the Chemical Brothers and Franz Ferdinand and, consequently, big crowds too. However, this year the rival set up went directly head to head over the same three days, pulling together an impressive line up that included Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Patti Smith and, of course, the band that was on everyone's lips, Oasis.

There was no doubt that Jisan's roster and scheduling was intended to scuttle Pentaport and claim its crown as the premier rock festival in Korea.

Yet rather than try to compete and pull in more big names at the last minute, Pentaport instead exploited a niche market in terms of the music on offer. While Jisan's line up was one that could not be easily beat (being on par with the likes of Fuji or Glastonbury), its strength was also its weakness. The line up suggested a high-end music festival in Korea, but not a festival of high-end Korean music. Pentaport, on the other hand, seemed more focused on showing the best of what Korea has to offer.

Aside from some foreign acts, the line-up was a literal education in Korean rock for all of those in attendance, but especially expats, proving that once you get past the surface of bubble gum K-Pop there is a wealth of exceptional Korean rock and indie artists, both old and new. The past was represented well with the legendary No Brain rocking the big stage on Friday night and stadium rock gods N.E.X.T, Korea's answer to the likes of Def Leppard and Guns 'n' Roses, captivating the crowd on Saturday night complete with Eddie Van Halen-style guitar heroics.

N.E.X.T, Korea`s answer to the likes of Def Leppard and Guns `n` Roses, perform at last weekend`s Pentaport Rock Festival. [Dann Gaymer]

Contemporary groups were also well-represented, such as the hard and aggressive Apollo 18 or the bizarre yet hyper energized GoGo Star, who rocked the Jagermestier stage with their brand of sinister comic book electro-pop. The eclectic nature of Korea's music scene was also demonstrated, with performances from Trench Town revivalists Kingston Rudie Ska, whose sound and aesthetic would have been perfectly at home in Jamaica, or else examples of some fantastic singer/song writer talents, such as Siwa.

Hitting the big stage on Sunday were Galaxy Express, a band at the forefront of the new wave of K-Rock and already semi-legendary given their incendiary live performances in clubs from Hongdae all the way down to Haeundae, and a sound stalled somewhere between the Hives and Motley Crue. In an interview, they talked about the state of the Korean rock scene. "It's the same as always. It hasn't changed and it won't change because most Korean people aren't interested in rock or indie music and the media only cares about K-pop groups."

Admittedly, Pentaport still sought to cater to Koreans with a taste for foreign artists and give expats a dose of what they were missing from back home. Saturday night saw the Deftones storm the main "Big Top" stage and unleash a blistering barrage of white noise and heavy beats, with vocalist Chino Moreno bouncing all over the stage, prophesying his quasi-poetic lyrics to the crowd. Although the band rose with nu-metal groups like KoRn in the early-'90's, they have since separated themselves from the pack with their genre-blurring experiments and taken on the guise of latter-day Californian rock legends. This being their first concert in Korea, the crowd's response shows there is a good chance they will be back.

Also on the main stage Saturday were Eskimo Joe, Australia's platinum selling indie rockers, who have changed their sound with their most recent effort "Inshalla." They delivered an energetic performance, playing new songs to exhibit their fresh direction, as well as tunes from their previous albums.

Later that night over on the smaller stage Japan's DJ Kentaro laid down some hard drum and bass grooves, a genre rarely encountered in Korea's burgeoning rave scene. Finally, Sunday saw Australian television actress turned solo singer-songwriter Lenka take the big stage and serenade the crowd with her finely crafted pop masterpieces.

But Pentaport 2009 was about Korean, rather than foreign music. And for us expats, bombarded with K-pop day after day, it was music to our ears.

Rather than devoting all the attention and exposure to already successful foreign bands, it gave a pedestal for domestic talent, allowing them the recognition they deserve and elevating them out of the clubs, if only for a weekend. Still, this sort of exposure may help open doors for these groups and encourage the scene to grow outside of its apparently circular confines.

For expats who made their way to the Daewoo motor fields, the festival was an exhibition of what Korea's music scene has to offer, a fair ground of original and exciting sounds, the likes of which you would find any where else.

This year's Pentaport festival was not about pulling in the biggest bands that people already knew about, but instead giving the spotlight to Korean bands that people should know about - let's hope next year follows in the same vein.

To contact the author, see his blog at http://danngaymer.blogspot.com - Editor

Korean Artist Booking Agent/Lineup Consultant : DFSB Kollective
Korean Talent & Artist Relations Coordinator : DFSB Kollective
Featured Artists : No Brain, Sugar Donut, Rux, Apollo 18, GoGo Star, Cocore, Guckkasten, Hanumpa, Kingston Rudieska, 99 Anger, Seoul Electric Band, Galaxy Express, Huckleberry Finn, The Plastic Day, Unjin