Since coming to
Korea I have been starved of live music opportunities, so it took little convincing to get me to the NOFX show in
Seoul on Tuesday night.
I’ve been a fan of Fat Mike and crew since the early 90’s when I first heard “Don’t Call Me White” played on 4zzz, while I spent 12 hours on the side of busy road counting the cars that went past. Oh the things you do to get a buck at uni. I was doubly enticed at the prospect of checking out the Korean punk scene.
Koreans in general are very good at copying/imitating the goings on from other countries. This happens at all levels, music, television, shopping malls, and even railways. I am happy to say that the punk scene gets the same treatment. It was hilarious to see these little Korean guys clad in Suicidal Tendencies hats (complete with brim upturned), black t-shirts and black jeans, complemented by the thick black rimmed coke bottle spectacles. No wonder they were all standing down the front.
One of the positives of attending a standing only gig in Asia is that the odds of some 6 ft 5 inch guy standing right in front of you decrease exponentially. On the negative side is the effort involved in actually getting there. It took me 2hrs and 45mins to get there, causing me to miss the first 45mins of the show. Luckily I was able to catch the last 45mins before traveling for another 2 hours to get back home. So 4hrs and 45mins of travel to see a band play for 45mins. I think t
he yellow dust is seeping into my brain. The venue was also a little dodgy – an underground basement which was about 15 m wide and 30 m long with no bar and no toilets. There was a stage at one end and a sound console at the other, with a couple of hundred people crammed in between. It was an intimate gig, but I didn’t get too close because I wanted to make sure I was one of the closest people to the door, in case I had to get out of there in a hurry. Man it’s hard to be sensible in punk/anarchic atmosphere!
It was a great night and I am really glad that I made the effort to get some live music back into my veins. It will have to be a pretty good band to get me to go through that again though.
Since coming to 
he yellow dust is seeping into my brain. The venue was also a little dodgy – an underground basement which was about 15 m wide and 30 m long with no bar and no toilets. There was a stage at one end and a sound console at the other, with a couple of hundred people crammed in between. It was an intimate gig, but I didn’t get too close because I wanted to make sure I was one of the closest people to the door, in case I had to get out of there in a hurry. Man it’s hard to be sensible in punk/anarchic atmosphere!
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