RAWK!

Yesterday I saw my first rock show in a long time. Actually it was two shows. It was nice to get out and talk to people. I don't have many friends in Korea anymore, so my chances of doing something other than sitting on my keister at home are few and far between. Might as well blog about it, right?

I went to Club Heavy, a basement live venue that is a unique place in the world as far as I'm concerned. What struck me as most unique, and as something that would never ever ever ever happen in America was the system in place for acquiring drinks. They had a big refrigerator full of beer and in front of it was a shoe box full of money. If you wanted a drink, you put your money in the shoe box, gathered any change you were due, and got a brewski out of the refrigerator. The drink station was largely unmanned, and pretty much operated on your honor. In America, that shoe box or the money inside would have been gone in about three seconds, and the beer would be stolen frequently as well. It's still so amazing how trusting and safe Korea is. And, I imagine, it will be a huge culture shock for me upon leaving and having to protect myself and my belongings again.

As for the experience, it was not a crowded night. Five acts played, and it seemed like the crowd mostly consisted of the other bands waiting for their turn to play or hanging around after their set. Still, it was fun and I'm glad I went. My friend was the drummer in the first act, pictured here:

The bands were quite diverse in their sound, ranging from noisy math rock to 50's surfer rock to post-rock ambiance. Daegu itself is not really a thriving scene as far as live music goes, so they most likely cobbled together whatever acts they could and made an event out of it.

The star of the show as far as I'm concerned was On Earth, a one and sometimes two man act. The main dude behind On Earth is more of a composer than a rock musician. He sets up a huge palette of pedals and effects and goes to town layering beautiful tones and phrases on top of each other until it seems like they'll collectively bust a hole in the amp. Really talented guy.

The show at Club Heavy ended early, so the majority of us ambled a few streets over to Led Zeppelin, another live venue that I never knew existed. A few of the same acts played there, including On Earth, which meant I was lucky enough to see him in both one man and two man format, here adding a bass player to the mix.

As the show ended, this creepy dude decided he liked me and tried talking to me in his limited English, which was fine, but then he sort of...lingered. He kept trying to shake my hand and talking about how he wants to see me again and then he kept staring at me and calling my name as I was trying to get away. It was unfortunate because I liked the Led Zeppelin venue, and he is a regular there. If I go back, he might cut me up into pieces and put me in his freezer.