Adding fuel to the thriving electronica music craze in Korea, international electronic dance music phenom Zedd kick-started this year’s Hyundai Card “5 Nights” concert series with his solo performance at the AX-Korea stadium Friday night.
Dance music fan or not, it would be hard to come across a music lover who has never once listened to a Zedd collaboration. Since his U.S. debut in 2012, the young artist has become one of the music world’s most popular mainstream DJs.
A visual concert if there ever was one, the 26-year-old Russian-German DJ and music producer electrified concertgoers with his use of psychedelic video projections, tantalizing lasers and pyrotechnics that synced beautifully with his internationally raved-about beats.
DJ Zedd spins at his solo concert in Seoul at the AX-Korea stadium Friday as part of the Hyundai Card “5 Nights” live concert series. (Hyundai Card)
Performing around 40 tracks, Zedd did not skip a beat doling out all his fan favorites -- from his No. 1 Billboard dance hit “Spectrum,” all the way to his remixes of the Skrillex, Diplo and Justin Bieber original “Where Are U Now.”
He also paid tribute to fellow EDM icon David Guetta, playing snippets of “Bad” with the adrenaline-spiked crowd euphorically shouting out, “Why does it feel so good, so good to be bad?”
However, it was Zedd’s spinning of the DJ’s recent single “Beautiful Now” and his break-out hit “Clarity,” which landed the artist his first Grammy, that ignited the crowd’s roars to yet another decibel level.
Fist-pumping the night away, the show was a nonstop succession of blood-pulsing beats and left audiences with little doubt as to why the young DJ -- who was selected as MTV’s “Artist to Watch” in 2003 -- has made a name for himself as one of the top producers in the EDM scene, having created remixes for an all-star range of musical artists, including Lady Gaga, Skrillex, Bieber, the Black Eyed Peas and Diddy.
Up next for in the “5 Nights” lineup is fun. Leading man Nate Ruess will be performing Jan. 17. More popularly known as the front man of Fueled By Ramen’s breakthrough indie band fun., the singer-songwriter made the jump to solo last year, releasing “Grand Romantic.”
Later in the cards for the Hyundai Card series is former America idol contestant Adam Lambert on Jan. 19, English singer-songwriter James Bay on Jan. 27 and English Indie rock band the 1975, who will be closing out the series on Jan. 28.
All the performances will be held at the AX-Korea stadium in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Ticket prices for shows individually are listed at 110,000 won ($91), or 330,000 won for a five-night pass. For more information, call 02-332-3277.
By Julie Jackson (
juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)
