The weather’s finally heating up, and just in time, as the event we’ve been waiting weeks for is finally here – Seoul World DJ Festival is this weekend! For those new to the scene, World DJ Fest is an outdoor music festival on the Han River. It boasts four Stages with nearly 50 artists and DJs playing electronica, rock, and hip-hop music. And most importantly, it lasts from 2pm on Saturday until 6am Sunday morning, so you can party for 16 hours straight (if you’re so inclined… and physically capable). Yes, it goes without saying that this is one of the biggest party events in Korea. [Read more after the jump.]
But that’s not all we have in store this weekend — this Thursday marks the one year anniversary of the First Thursdays Afterwork parties, and this time it’s being hosted in one of my all-time favorite venues in Seoul. [Wow, lots of parties are turning one year old recently.] Oh, and Friday’s not half bad either.
I guess what I’m really trying to say is, Monday is going to be rough for all of us. You know, I think normal people use the weekend to catch up on sleep — we partiers spend the rest of the week trying to recover from the weekend. So I hope you’re well rested, and without further ado, let’s get started, shall we?
Thursday, May 6th
“First Thursdays Afterwork” @ Soulsome
It’s time for First Thursdays Afterwork again, and this month marks the party’s one year anniversary. If you haven’t been to one of these before, it’s a private, invite-only, professionally-oriented champagne party that happens on the first Thursday of every month. Great for meeting new people and networking, or just relaxing after work with your coworkers on a Thursday night. Turnout is usually 150-200 people.
This month they’re hosting the event at Soulsome in Cheongdam. This is one of the classiest, nicest venues you’ll ever set foot into — truly one of the top spots in Seoul. If you’ve never been before, this is the perfect time to check it out. So if you don’t have any plans on Thursday, impress your coworkers by inviting them to this event and drop by after work.
The party goes from 8:30pm – 1:00am. There is no cover, but as it is an invite-only event, you need to request an invitation at the Afterwork website. If you don’t fill out the form prior to the event, you won’t be on the guestlist.
Directions:
View SoulSome @ Cheongdam in a larger map
I’m not 100% I pinpointed the exact location on the map, but it’s on that first alley parallel to the main road. If you walk down that alley and look on your left, you shouldn’t miss it.
And now for the rest of our weekend…
Friday, April 23rd
Saturday, April 24th
SeoulGrid Top Pick:
Seoul World DJ Festival
Party Info:
Fri @ Eden: DJ Aya (“Le Local Series”)
DJ Aya is usually one of Club Answer’s resident DJs, but this week he’s playing in Club Eden. I think Eden’s “Le Local Series” is a great idea, because it features Seoul-native DJs without growing stale by offering the same resident DJs each week.
Aya is one of my favorite resident DJs. I can’t find a decent video clip online, but his style is mostly electro and nu-disco, and in general he just has a good sense of what kind of music to play to get the crowd pumped up. Eden usually plays minimalism, so I’m really excited to see how Eden’s crowd responds when hit with some in-your-face, danceable electro. I expect this will be a crazy night, and this is most likely where I’ll be on Friday night.
Fri @ Answer: Danny Krivit
Here’s a DJ from NYC with a unique blend of nu-jazz:
Definitely a talented DJ if it’s your style. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found myself here on Friday night either.
Club Answer: More Information & Directions
Fri @ Heaven: “Maximal Duo”
Resident DJs: Fin & Catalyst
If Eden’s usual style is minimalism, then I guess Heaven’s concept tonight would be “maximalism.” Fin and Catalyst are resident DJs at Heaven.
Club Heaven: More Information & Directions
[Top Pick] Seoul 4th World DJ Festival
The fact that this gets top pick goes without saying; this party is going to blow away anything else that is happening this weekend.
The video comes from last year’s World DJ Fest, and is the only professional-quality video I can find online. Keep in mind this footage is from the Jagermeister stage, which is actually the secondary stage — the main stage is even crazier.
So how busy does the main stage get? Well they say a picture speaks a thousand words, so I’ll make this easy. I present to you, a thousand words:
It’s big.
DJs & Artists:
There are four stages at this event: the main stage is getting all the big acts (mix of electronic, rock, and hip-hop), then there’s the Jager stage playing dedicated house music, a dedicated hip-hop stage, and the “Innertrip stage” mixing it up with some psytrance, drum-n-bass, tribal, and dubstep. Here are some of the bigger names:
Freemasons (UK):
The biggest artist coming in this weekend. They’ve had multiple singles hit the UK charts, and have remixed tracks by the likes of Moby, Eric Prydz, Beyonce, Shakira, Whitney Houston, Kylie Minogue, and the list goes on.
Freemasons feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)
Their style is funky / disco / dance house.
Check out more on Freemasons MySpace.
Vandalism (Australia):
Vandalism dropped this sick track in late February that has been tearing its way through the club scene:
Vandalism – Throw your hands up
I’m really excited to see these guys play. This style of electro when played live tends to make the crowd go utterly wild.
Check out more on Vandalism MySpace
Dirty Disco Youth (Germany)
This dude’s being hailed as a wunderkind of hard electro. At the age of 19, his remixes are already being dropped by the likes of The Bloody Beetroots, Benni Benassi, Boys Noize, Fukkk Offf, and Streetlife DJs.
Bloody Beetroots – Rombo (Dirty Disco Youth Remix)
Definitely an up-and-coming star of the electro-house scene. This should be a sick set.
Check out more on Dirty Disco Youth MySpace
Other DJs:
Some other big names are Fantastic Plastic Machine and Masanori Morita of Studio Apartment, both from Japan.
My only gripe with this festival is that the name is definitely a misnomer. It calls itself “World DJ Festival,” yet 80% of the artists are Korean-born. There’s nothing wrong with that it itself, as a lot of Korean DJs and musicians are amazingly talented, but I feel the festival should celebrate this fact rather than trying to represent something it’s not.
Regardless, if you’re involved in the Seoul scene, you should recognize enough of these names to know that there’s going to be a sick lineup with a lot of good music. Click below for a list of all the DJs / artists and what stages they’re playing on:
Cost:
Cover is W55,000.
I found a limited food / drink menu online that included the following:
- Water — W1,000
- Beer (Miller, 300ml) — W3,000
- Cocktail — W5,000
- Kimbap — W2,000
- Hotdog, sausage, or tteokbokki — W3,000
- Kebab — W4,000
- Curry lunchbox — W5,000
- pizza (1 slice) + coke — W5,000
I’m not sure if that will be the extent of the food and drink selection, but you can at least count on that much.
Directions:
This one’s difficult, as the directions on their website aren’t very good. I tried to pinpoint the location on google maps to the best of my ability. So I’m not 100% sure of this, but it’s definitely in the right vicinity.
View Seoul World DJ Festival (Approximate Location) in a larger map
I’d recommend just taking the subway to Mapo-gu Office Station, coming out exit 7, and heading in a general south-west direction until you find it. I’m assuming it should be hard to miss.
For more information, check out the following pages:
So, this is another one of those “I can’t imagine why you’d miss this” sort of events. But just in case it’s not your cup of tea for whatever reason, here’s everything else that’s happening Saturday:
Sat @ Answer: Jack Beats
No Answer, nooo!! Why do you have to bring in an awesome DJ on the same night as World DJ Fest? Whyyy?!
This guy has dropped some genre-defining electro tracks and remixes. Check out more on Jack Beats MySpace. If I weren’t going to World DJ Fest, I would definitely see this show. But alas, it’s just unfortunate timing.
Club Answer: More Information & Directions
Sat @ Heaven: “DJ is Rock Star”
Guest DJ: DJ Koo (Korea)
DJ Koo (Koo Jun-Yup) is a celebrity DJ, formerly of the KPop group Clon from the late 90s. These days he owns the self-named Koo Bar in Apgujeong, at which he also DJs. Check out more of his current music on DJ Koo’s MySpace.
Club Heaven: More Information & Directions
Closing Comments:
How’s that for a power-packed weekend? If you’re not exhausted by Sunday afternoon, then you’re probably doing something wrong. Weather forecast is predicting a beautiful day on Saturday, so come out and enjoy the sun! Drinking beers outside on a sunny spring day, listening to good music… Reminds me of my college days.
Yes, I reminisce, but to be honest my average night out in Seoul in crazier than my wildest nights in college. Hey, who says you need to stop having fun as soon as you enter the professional world? Party hard clubbers, and be sure to check back next week. Hopefully I’ll run into some of you on the Han Gang. Cheers!
- James
Attn: Promoters: Want to make sure your party gets included in a weekly update? Send an email to parties@seoulgrid.com with the information and flyer. We’ll check it out, and if it meets our standards we’ll include it. Thanks!
