The punks of Busan and Vancity.

Last Wednesday I went to a concert. The first one in what feels like forever, considering the one I saw in the summer was junk and the one before that (which melted my brain) was in November 2012. Three bands performed in total and they all had really good sets. The first was headed by the new age Korean Sid Vicious. The second were some Korean dad's still looking to make it big with songs they wrote twenty years ago. The headlining band called themselves the Japandroids, a lively duo from Vancouver and took the underground bar by storm. Overall the venue and the show were tons of fun.

This first band was very punk rock. It was a 3 person group, this Vicious looking character held an ax and stood behind the only mike that was on. The bassist was a girl and she had some really awesome riffs, but she was shortchanged with a "broken" mike, but she dressed the part wearing her hair like she don't care and acid washed jeans. The drummer looked like he got picked up off the street. He didn't have much of a punk edge to him: white tee, well kept jeans, and sunglasses from the terminator. His dedication to excellent posture really held him back from rocking out. The most disappointing point was when Vicious had a ten note guitar solo with his back to the audience. What a jerk, eh?

The next guys I knew would be weird from the get go based on their awfully pretentious name Genius. The lead guy was very talented but he and the rest his band mates were much older than the first band. My musically inclined friend said the drummer wasn't great, or even good for that matter, and I don't remember what he looked like, just like the bassist. The lead was all your eyes could handle, his rants about his girl friend really pulled me and his guitar was straight out of Guitar Hero. Just pouring his old, tortured soul into the microphone. The two bands worked the same way The White Stripes' openers do; they're a safety net. Even if the main attraction puts on a mediocre show they'll still blow the openers out of the water, which is exactly what they did.

The clarity of the guitarists voice over the pounding drums and the hollering from the floor in front of them was really nostalgic. Their stunts and willingness to share the stage with crowd surfers made me feel like I was back home in Kilroy's or the Cathedral (RIP). Plus, everyone was Western apart from the the local bands' supporters. It was a great night and the after party was pretty solid too. I went out of my way and personally thanked the guys for an awesome show after it concluded. They didn't show up to the after party, unless I went to the wrong place. Lots of fun though, and made it home at 3 and was only 5 minutes late for school the next day and no one was in a particular fit about that because I don't have classes until the new school year begins.

Hopefully some more bands take a geography lesson and hit up one of the most beautiful cities in all of Asia, and maybe the world.