This night was nearly the grand finale to being out here touring. The Korean adventure had educated me quickly on the nature of place so removed from the UK. I had only just begun to understand how things worked and I was due to fly home. My final night was back in Seoul and sharing the billing was Nick Aka GT Arp who had worked to make wonderful things happen to allow me to come and perform. I had played 8 shows in 8 days and this was the penultimate leg.
I was asked for an interview which I happily accepted. You can listen to it here:
http://www.seoulitup.com/2013/12/english-touring-musician-stuart-oconnor.html
The Staff at Freebird were awesome and friendly. I had spent the day in Seoul baby sitting my equipment and taking my time over coffee whilst alone. So to be socialising with others was refreshing.
There were quite a few other bands on the billing. But playing last gave me time to read the vibe of the room.
Footage of this show was recorded by an audience member and uploaded to Youtube and can be seen here:
Song: As Stubborn as a Sandfly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN_HJ9RO4T0
Around about the middle of the set 2 drunk Korean businessman came into the venue and were loudly shouting at each other during a quiet song. I asked then to respect the atmosphere of the concert from the stage but out made little difference. Later the venue staff and the audience began to more bluntly demand that they shut up or leave. This caused nearly a physical fight as one audience member begun to usher them out the door. The older and drunker of the two men in suits began shouting abuse at the venue staff. Eventually they did depart but it caused 10 mins of the set to be put on hold until the situation was resolved. What really warmed my heart was how apologetic the Korean audience were and supportive they were to ensure the concert was not disturbed any further by these alcohol fuelled morons. I assured them the same thing happens in the UK from time to time and it is a world wide epidemic of cultural ignorance. Still to this day even at concerts of hugely popular bands such as Radiohead and Wilco I have seem the performers stop to request people not to talk over the more mellow or acoustic numbers. It amazes me how some folks cannot be aware of the situation.
Before Your Very Eyes (Atoms for Peace Cover Version)
3 Tunes from the set were taken from 3 different albums released as a part of the Go Forth Bright Scenic project which came out in 2012.
Songs from the Scenic album are often unrepresented in a live capacity due to the nature of the recordings being difficult to recreate in a live setting. Even with the use of loop stations available.
The rest of the tunes were from my first 3 albums and one cover of current obsessions ‘Atoms for Peace’.
I have 1 more show of the 8 show tour left lined up before I begin the return flight to blighty.
Stuart O'Connor 