Despite the scorching heat wave that has swept across the nation, thousands of music fanatics flocked to the Penta Park in Incheon to partake in one of the country’s time-honored summer traditions -- the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival.
This year’s three-day festivities kicked things up a notch with some big-time heavy hitters including the alternative punk icons Weezer, Panic! at the Disco, Two Door Cinema Club, Suede and Group Love.
The 11th annual festival kicked off Friday with the sounds of Korean rock band Nell and English rock band Suede, with leading man Brett Anderson electrifying fans with some of the band’s biggest hits including “Animal Nitrate,” “By the Sea,” “So Young” and “The Drowners.”
A scene from the last night of this year’s Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on Sunday at Penta Park in Incheon. (Yescom Entertainment)
Then Saturday’s lineup welcomed one of the festival’s most-anticipated and biggest acts, Weezer.
Debuting in Los Angeles in 1992, leading man Rivers Cuomo and his band has made a name for themselves as one of the most recognized pop punk bands in the world, having sold more than 17 million albums worldwide.
The band has been a regular at local rock festivals, electrifying stadiums with hits dating back to its first album -- still massive fan favorites -- including “Undone (The Sweater Song),” “Say It Ain’t So” and “Buddy Holly.”
Cuomo not only impressed fans with his music, but also had the crowd cheering, showing off some impressive Korean skills. During the band’s set, the lead singer even darted into the crowd to grab a Korean flag from a fan in the audience and wave it around.
Weezer headlines this year’s Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on Saturday at Penta Park in Incheon. (Yescom Entertainment)
As an encore performance Weezer covered the popular Korean folk rock song “Becoming Dust” by Kim Kwang-seok and had fans belting out the tune at the top of their lungs.
On the final night of the festivities, the energy of the thousands gathered at the park in no way dwindled as they welcomed Irish indie rock faces Two Door Cinema Club which performed its popular hits including “Undercover Martyn,” “Sun” and “Someday.”
Closing the mega festival was a band performing in Korea for the first time.
Famous for its high-soaring vocals, punk-rock style, front man Brendon Urie and his “Panic! at the Disco” band performed their first concert in Korea.
“This is amazing,” said Urie. “Someone in Panic! at the Disco is getting f-king fired, I can’t believe it took 11 years to get here.”
The rockers of Panic! did not disappoint eager local fans. They performed iconic tracks “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” “Miss Jackson” and “Emperor’s New Clothes.” Urie also ignited the crowed with his outrageous vocals, belting out his nostalgia-inducing covers of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Journey’s “Anyway You Want It” and AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long.”
By Julie Jackson (
juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)
