ARTICLE
Korean Act Epik High Turned Up the Heat at Skechers Sundown Festival 2015!
By Flora / 23 Nov 2015 (Monday)
It was a night of rocking-good music at the 2015 Skechers Sundown Festival, but it was the closing act, Korean hip-hop trio Epik High that took the icing on the cake.
In to its 7th year, the outdoor music concert aims to unite Asia through music by bringing in a range of cross-cultural music acts - from Kpop to hardcore-rock tunes. Over 9000 festival-goers turned up at the Marina Promenade to enjoy music from the nine acts, down from the 16 artists from 11 countries last year.
The festival opened with local artistes, Cheryl Loon, FARRAGO and Cashew Chemists, before Taiwan’s Ground Zero took the stage to warm the crowd with their slow and rich rock songs. Then, it was local act Caracal to rock the stage with their heavy post-hardcore sounds, before Indonesian band J-Rocks mellowing the crowd with their softer, melodious tunes. Lead vocalist Iman took the opportunity to pay tribute to the victims of terrorism before opening their act with ‘Meraih mimpi’.
Iman was referring to the recent Paris attacks where terrorists carried out a series of coordinated terrorist attacks, including a mass shooting at a rock concert that took the lives of 89 people.
At the start of the festival’s press conference, Samantha Chan, co-founder of Red Spade Entertainment shared a moving speech: “Doesn’t matter what race, religion or language we speak, we unite as one because music is our language and we value peace and love that music brings us. Guns and war do nothing for mankind and it is about time we make a stand for ourselves, for people all over the world.”
It was evident that majority of the crowd were waiting for Japan’s INKT and Korea’s Epik High. The 5-member band, INKT managed to hype up the crowd with their electronic performance, where most were seen on their feet - the first of the night - to sing along with the Japanese rock band.
The turning point of the night was when DJ Tukutz from Epik High emerged on stage to his turntable, opening the act with familiar introductory tunes to ‘Born Hater’. Fans could be seen dashing out fan-made support boards and merchandise, screaming for the trio - DJ Tukutz, Mithra Jin and Tablo.
Throughout the seven-hour concert, Epik High’s act was probably the only time I felt like I was in a true-blue rock music concert: more than 80% of the attendees were on their feet; screams and cheers could be heard throughout the 50-minute set; and the infectious energetic atmosphere could be felt. Though there were many who didn’t know the lyrics to the song, some were seen head-bobbing and waving their hands to the tunes, as compared to the other acts where they sat down, glued to the screens of their mobile phones.