Through the magic of music and livestreaming, revelers here were granted front row access -- so to speak -- to Tomorrowland, a world-renowned electronic music festival.
“Unite With Tomorrowland” landed in Korea on Saturday at Munhak Stadium in the country’s gateway city of Incheon. The event is held simultaneously in different locations around the world, with fans also enjoying performances of top-class DJs at the Tomorrowland festival in Belgium.
Local DJs kicked things off. Glory was the opening act at the main stage, followed by Garenz and Bagagee Viphex13 to pump things up.
Justin Oh followed, heating up the crowd with hits like “Jekyll & Hide.”
“Make some noise for yourselves!” Oh shouted, exclaiming at the energy emanating from fans.
For the next three hours, it was time for the Far East Movement and Knife Party -- among the most popular DJS in Korea -- to pump up the crowd. The estimated crowd of 20,000 were nearly all on their feet, jumping and screaming to deafening beats.
Fans cheer at the Unite \\ith Tomorrowland Korea music festival held at Incheon, Korea on Saturday. (Unite With Tomorrowland)
Fan favorites like “Freal Luv” -- originally with Marshmello featuring Tinashe and Chanyeol from EXO -- were performed to the delight of fans.
Capping things off at the Incheon live stage was Ferry Corsten, a Dutchman credited as a pioneer in trance music and one of the most recognized DJs in the music world. Corsten was making a repeat performance, as he recently performed during the first weekend of Tomorrowland 2017.
“The vibe over here is amazing, I expect a good crowd,” Corsten said before taking the stage.
“A lot has happened in Asia in terms of music. EDM has become really big, trance used to be really big but it’s taken a step aside. Worldwide, trance is making a big comeback. I start to see the signs of that in Asia. And I’m really excited to see what’s going on in Korea.”
As in Belgium, a majority of his set was from his recent album “Blueprint.” Corsten sent the crowd into a psychedelic cosmic journey, with space opera-themed tracks like “Blueprint,” “Edge of The Sky” and “Venera,” which he said was among his favorite songs.
Then it was off to Europe, to the Tomorrowland mainstage.
KSHMR, who already entertained Korean fans at the Ultra Korea festival last month, kicked off the livestream performance across continents.
Getting things started with “Mandala ft. Mitika,” the DJ commanded the crowd with his presence, capturing the crowd across the world as music fans in Belgium, Dubai, Germany, Israel, Lebanon, Malta and Incheon tirelessly partied on.
By the time Armin Van Buuren took the stage, daylight had started to creep over the horizon. But this mattered little for the wild crowd who just refused to let up.
Then finally, it was time for the ravers to go home, but not without a little something from Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Alesso.
Alesso, also a repeat performer from Ultra Korea, wrapped up the music festival with a performance that likely left a mark in a country crazy for music, dancing and excitement.
By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)