K-Pop Concert … Kinda (April 26, 2026)
I didn’t realize how much I love K-Pop music until I watched K-Pop Demon Hunters (see related blog post). Yes, when gangnam style first arrived on the scene, I learned the crazy dance moves and joined the herd of dances out there on the dance floor. But, that was different. The Netflix movie (K-Pop Demon Hunters) was essentially a musical with K-Pop music. I didn’t just love the movie, I loved the original songs.
Violet and I take a selfie in front of the main banner artwork
So, when our Airbnb host asked if there was anything in particular she could help us with when we agreed to rent her home, I asked if she knew of any K-Pop concerts during the time of our stay. No, sadly, the most famous K-Pop artists weren’t performing, but there was a full K-Pop music festival if we were interested. To which I replied, “ABSOLUTELY! THANK YOU!!!”
Now the first yellow flag was the name. “Awesome Music Festival” in that if the word “awesome” is in the title, it usually isn’t (at least in my experience). But, who knows? Perhaps there’s more to the story. Both Will and Violet were willng to check it out with me. The only trouble this morning was that Will’s knee was bothering him and he had to bail.
Violet and I went on ahead and gave Will his ticket in case he could join us later. It was, after all, a 9 hour show.
The K-Pop artist YuJu performing.
It turns out that there were several names of extremely successful K-Pop artists playing at this venue. It just wasn’t a “focused” K-Pop concert which meant there was everything from light rock to heavy metal in addition to K-Pop artists.
More importantly, just because you like one particular artist or group, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll enjoy the artists playing today. We knew the risks and rolled the dice. If nothing else, it would be an experience to be part of a Korean music festival.
Two side-by-side stages allowed the concert to flow nicely
The Far East Asian Tigers sounded a lot like a Korean version of Green Day. The music felt familiar even if I’d never heard it before. I like Green Day, but like I said I was coming for the K-Pop, and less K-Rock. It wasn’t bad at all … just not what I was anticipating coming to the concert. What was incredibly fun to watch were all the fans rushing the standing room only area in front of the stage. They were a big hit.
One thing I was pleasantly surprised to see was a “tag wall” (see below). When I was the Chief Marketing Officer of Seismicom back in the early 2000s, my good friend and colleague, Vince Belizario, ran our sponsorship division and landed a giant opportunity with a Samsung title sponsorship of the Vans’s Warped Tour. One of the main attractions he and our event team (led by Jeffrey Miller) came up with was a giant tag wall.
That is, a branded wall where professional street artists “began” what would become a massive communal mural where concert fans would contribute to it throughout the day. It was a huge hit and on behalf of Samsung we created a fan giveaway so that each day was a new piece of art fans contributed to and one fan took home at the end of the day. It was part of a beautifully crafted sponsorship activation program where the very art created by fans became a central attraction to engaging with Samsung during the concert.
Seems what started some 25 years ago continues around the world to this day …
Awesome Music Festival Tag Wall … and yes, we added to it
I loved seeing this (and adding to it). It scratches the universal itch of “I was there!” and “I matter.” By drawing on the wall (with the markers provided) there is something unique created by the fans, for the fans as part of the day’s event experience. Well done!
The food here was great. Violet went for a cheese burger that was about half cheese and half burger. I enjoyed some shrimp and then we both topped it off with ice-cream to cool us down on a hot day here in Seoul, South Korea.
I only have 3 more days with Violet. She flys home to New York on Wednesday, April 29th. I’ve really enjoyed my time with her. We’ve had many deep and powerful one-on-one conversations together. Will and I will miss her when she’s gone. For now, we’re enjoying out time together for what remains.
And on the book front …
Really enjoyed listening to Oprah’s book “What Happened to you?”
I don’t always post about the books I’m reading and listening to, but this one is too good not to plug. If you haven’t read (or listened to) Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry’s book What Happened to You? I highly recommend it.
This book follows the personal stories from both Dr. Perry’s psychological practice and Oprah’s shows as a means to illuminate relevant research around childhood trauma. I had heard of post-traumatic growth before, but this time I learned about post-traumatic wisdom and why so many well-intentioned caregivers regularly misdiagnose and unintentionally re-traumatize children. Really informative while told in a powerful storytelling way.
It’s an 8 hour listen on audible (or 4 hours when you listen at 2x speed) and the stories are so compelling, you won’t want to stop. Other books I’ve finally gotten around to reading on this trip (and also recommend) include:
The Body Keeps the Score (a MUST read if you’re a coach). This is a classing book about how to, among many other things, regulate your nervous system and the many, many forms of therapy (not just talk therapy) available to us all.
The Untethered Soul is another classic I’ve been recommended to read ever since I became a coach. Having finished it, I completely understand why. This is about letting go of the illusions and delusions we trap ourselves in inside our minds. Brilliant book.
Living Untethered is the follow-up book from the same author. I loved the first one so much, I ripped through this second one. I suspect I’ll be listening to these over and over again to remind me of how to live a completely present existence free of illusion.
Finding Your Purpose part of my traveling around the world was to consider “what’s next for me?” If you haven’t examined your purpose statement in awhile (or never created one), this is like having a personal guide walk you through how to find your purpose by doing a few simple exercises. Don’t “listen” to this one, actively do the work for the best results.
Staring at the Sun having had another close friend (and this time, my minister) die suddenly and unexpectedly (see related blog post), I wanted to do some deeper work on death and life’s impermanence. This book was central in my processing the death of a loved one and allowing death to be my master teacher so that I may truly live. Right here. Right now.
What’s Our Problem given all the political craziness that continues to deepen at home as well as the polarization of our nation, I found objective peace and non-partisan answers I was looking for from this book. I didn’t want or seek confirmation bias. There’s plenty of that available online. I wanted to understand the root cause of our problem at home and this truly is “A Self-Help Book for Societies” as the subtitle claims.
Yes, I’ve had a lot of time on subways, busses, trains, planes and automobiles. When I’m not reading physical books, I’m listening to them on Audible. I curate the wisdom nuggets I seek and I pass on what I find to be helpful on my journey towards self-actualization. Feel free to share your favorites with me. I still have two months to go on my trip around the word. There’s plenty of time to read more.
