pentaport

Pentaport Rocks Again in the Rain

Thousands of fans once again converged in the muddy Daewoo Motors Park in Song-do, Incheon, over the weekend to watch some of the hottest bands at this year's Pentaport Rock Festival. / Yonhap
By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

INCHEON ― Thousands of fans once again converged the muddy Daewoo Motors Park in Song-do over the weekend to watch some of the hottest bands from Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Japan at this year's Pentaport Rock Festival.

The occasional downpour and massive mud puddles did not deter fans from singing, jumping, dancing and just enjoying the electric performances from bands like Travis, Kasabian, The Gossip, Ellegarden and Underworld throughout the three-day event.

Pentaport, Korea's biggest rock festival, started off slow on Friday with relatively sparse crowds maybe due to the low-key daytime line-up featuring mostly Korean indie groups like Tacopy, Sweater, Double Famous and Peter Pan Complex.

Things finally got rocking when British group The Go!Team hit the Big Top Stage, the festival's main stage, on Friday afternoon. With their cheerleader-type rapping and thumping music, The Go!Team had the crowd dancing throughout their hour-long set. Ninja, rapper and vocalist, showed her funky dance moves in songs like ``Ladyflash,'' ``Grip Like a Vice'' and ``The Power is On.'' Drummer Chi Fukami Taylor and guitarist Kaori Tsuchida also doubled as vocalists for some songs.

The Music, a British band from Leeds, surprised many with their powerful performance. They grabbed the crowd's attention with songs like ``Freedom Fighters,'' ``Strength in Numbers'' and ``Belief from Within.''

Crying Nut brought Korean punk rock to the forefront at the Big Top Stage, with their fast-paced tunes and edgy lyrics. The group hopped around the stage throughout the 80-minute set, at one point even donning long mullet-style wigs and having fun with the crowd.

Many fans were eagerly waiting for Japanese punk rock group Ellegarden, who were the main headliner on Friday, because of their recent announcement to go on hiatus in September. Ellegarden did not disappoint.

Starting with ``Space Sonic,'' Ellegarden launched a non-stop barrage of pop-punk songs such as ``Marry Me,'' ``Missing,'' ``Salamander'' and ``Red Hot.'' Lead singer Takeshi Hosomi thanked the crowd for supporting the band, before ending with ``Make a Wish.''

Fans came in droves on Saturday to see the strong line-up of performers including Travis, The Gossip, End of Fashion, The Vines and popular Korean groups Jaurim, Moonshiners and Lee Han-Chun and RunRunRunaways.

The Gossip proved why they've been called one of the most exciting live performers today. Lead singer Beth Ditto had everyone in awe of her strong voice, as she sang ``Listen Up,'' ``Coal to Diamonds'' and ``Standing in the Way of Control."

Scottish rockers Travis, immensely popular among Korean fans, had the crowd singing to their emotional rock tunes. Lead singer Fran Healy's haunting voice seemed especially moving in songs such as ``Sing'' and ``Turn.''

Sunday proved that the best was yet to come, with a line-up featuring British rockers Kasabian, Hard-Fi, Feeder, and electronica duo Underworld, as well as Korean punk rockers Delispice.

Hard-Fi performed their chart-toppers such as ``Hard to Beat,'' ``Cash Machine'' and songs from their second album, ``Once Upon a Time in the West.''



British band Kasabian rocked the house with ``Club Foot'' and ``Empire'' during their 70-minute set, showing why they deserved to be named Best Live Act Award at the 2007 NME Awards.

Underworld brought the Pentaport Rock Festival to a satisfying end with an electrifying 90-minute performance that included their hit song ``Born Slippy.''

Throughout the weekend, fans had to sludge through thick, slippery mud in between performances to get from the Big Top Stage to the Pentaport Stage and back. Most fans didn't seem to mind, as they donned colorful raincoats and rubber boots or in some cases, even went barefoot in the mud.

Dozens of food stalls sold overpriced snacks and beer, while various companies like Hard Rock Cafe, Naver and Adidas had promotional booths. MySpace, the social networking Web site, organized autograph signing events for performers like The Go! Team, Kasabian, Hard Fi and Peter Pan Complex.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr