ASF Rocked

I loved the show. It was awesome. Seeing a lot of top name groups at once was great, even if we were sitting pretty far back. We had a good view of the entire stage, but it was kind of hard to see the performers. Other than that, it was a good time.

And I got to see BIG BANG and 2NE1! I was so excited to get to see my two favorite groups. They totally lived up to their reputations. 2NE1 crunked and danced up a storm and Big Bang had the whole stadium screaming. I have decided that it is my goal to interview both groups before I leave Korea. I guess I better get working on my Korean, though I know that CL and Sandara are both fluent in English and I think Bom is too. Minzy, sadly doesn't, but I'm sure the other girls would be willing to translate. And I've heard that T.O.P. and G-Dragon have a good grasp of English, so I may not even need to worry about interviewing them in Korean. Though it would be awesome... incredibly scary, but awesome all the same...

And I got to see a bunch of really good new groups like K-OTIC, a fun group from Thailand, and Agnes Monica, an amazing vocalist from Indonesia. Oh, and Show Luo, a really hot singer from Taiwan. He actually got me and Jung Min interested in paying a visit to Taipei to see if all Taiwanese guys are that good-looking.

One of the more interesting acts was a singer named Ruslana from Ukraine. She kind of erupted on to the stage in a strappy, red, dress thingy with Nordic-looking back up dancers who looked like they were attacking the stage rather than dancing. I don't think the crowd knew quite what to do with her, being used to girlish pop acts like SNSD.

Speaking of which, I have to admit that SNSD stepped up their dancing during "Genie". They broke out of the cutsy, choreography and actually through in a bit of freestyle that was borderline hip hop. They still need a bit of work to get up to 2NE1's level, but they definitely are making efforts to mature in the dance department. Of course, they ended with "Gee" which kind of brought them back down to the cutesy level...

Of course, Agnes Monica blew both SNSD and 2NE1 away. She was a one-act show bursting with energy and personality. She got the crowd to join in with her in a stomp routine, right after starting a "Heal the World" sing-along in memory of Michael Jackson. Not to mention, this girl can crunk and dance like nothing I've seen in Asia... other than 2NE1, that is. But her voice is so powerful and soulful. This girl definitely has talent. And she's hoping to break out into the US music scene. I think she'll totally make it. Not only does she sing and dance well, but she writes and produces her own stuff. Something not many pop acts do today.

And I suppose I'll end this post with mentioning the awesomeness that is Gackt. I think everyone should see him live. His showmanship blew all the younger acts away. He started off with "Ghost" doing this crazy robotic dance that was so believeable that I almost thought it was a Gackt robot. And then the big screen on the stage split in the middle and his band appeared in a swirl of fog and red lighting. Course, the fireworks and flames helped add to the mystery and excitement. Yea... it was awesome...

All in all, a good show. It really got me excited about doing more in the entertainment arena. I'm hoping that things with the website really start exploding and I can get into some interviews and real event coverage. There was apparently a press conference that I missed. Oh well. I need to somehow get on some press release list. Got my work cut out for me I guess... Not going to be easy, but I'm up for a challenge. ^_^


Agnes Monica


Show Luo


Gackt from the Festival


K-OTIC


Ruslane


And just for fun... Ho Ngoc Ha, a talented performer from Vietnam