travis concert review

Travis Overwhelmed by Korean Fans

Travis electrified the crowd with songs like ``Closer" and ``Why does It Always Rain on Me?" during their concert at Olympic Hall, southern Seoul, Sunday. / Courtesy of Yellow Entertainment

By Cathy Rose A. Garcia
Staff Reporter

Paper airplanes flew around the packed Olympic Hall, as Scottish rock band Travis performed ``Closer" in the middle of their concert in Seoul, Sunday evening.

Frontman Fran Healy could not hide a wide grin while singing, as Korean fans threw dozens of paper planes and confetti during the song's chorus.

``That's the coolest thing that has ever happened on stage. We will never forget that ever," Healy said, adding he wanted to collect the paper airplanes to bring back home to his son.

Travis was overwhelmed by the raucous reaction of Korean fans at the concert. ``We're just totally blown away tonight. It's so amazing. You're all great. I'm very seldom at a loss of words, but I'm lost for words now. I don't know what to say. I'm touched with the paper airplanes. That was fantastic," Healy said.

Sunday's concert was only the second time Travis has performed in Korea, after last year's thrilling set at the Pentaport Rock Festival in Incheon.

Fans gathered at Olympic Hall with high expectations for the band, and they were not disappointed.

A little after 6 p.m., the lights dimmed inside the hall. Suddenly, Julie Andrews' voice floated in the air: ``Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start." Fans murmured along to the song from the musical ``The Sound of Music," but then the stage lights turned red, and Travis appeared on stage, playing ``Chinese Blues" from their latest album, ``Ode to J. Smith."

Travis electrified the crowd with their music, singing ``J. Smith," ``Selfish Jean," ``Writing to Reach You," ``Re-Offender" and ``Something Anything."

``I'm not sure if this is right, but `kamsahamnida'," Healy told the cheering crowd. Fans went wild when Healy stepped down from the stage to stand in the middle of the crowd for ``Falling Down."

When Travis started playing their hit songs ``Sing" and ``Turn," it seemed like everyone was singing along to the lyrics.

As the fans chanted for an encore, Healy came out to perform ``20," a song that he wrote about adolescence when he was 19. Bassist Douglas Payne took over the vocals for the song ``Ring Out the Bell."

Then, Travis rocked the stage again with a string of songs; ``All I Want to Do Is Rock," ``Slide Show" and ``Blue Flashing Light."

After a brief break, the band came out again for a second encore. This time, Healy stood at the edge of the stage with just his guitar, while the rest of the band stood behind him as he sang ``Flowers in the Window."

No Travis concert would be complete without the band playing the crowd favorite, ``Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" Healy asked everyone to jump up and down to the beat of the music at the chorus, and they obliged.

The band ended the two-hour concert, literally on a happy note, with their song ``Happy," and a promise to come back to Seoul soon. ``I don't think there's been a crowd like you before. You're a one-off. We'll be going soon, but we'll be back soon. We'll tell all our friends and other bands that they have to come here, too. See you soon," Healy said.

cathy@koreatimes.co.kr