Klive - a holographic concert experience!

My most recent adventure as a K-Performance Supporter, thanks to the great folks at the KTO, was to the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park to see Klive.

What's Klive, you ask?  Well, on first perusal of the website, it looks like a K-Pop concert hall.  For my friends and family stateside, K-Pop is THE style of popular music in South Korea - a mix of pop, electronic, hip-hop, dance, and rock, often with both Korean and English lyrics.

Upon further investigation, I realized that Klive was more - a hologram experience, with digitized versions of the live performances in a special concert hall. While this didn't sound as exciting, my motto in Korea when faced with something new has been "why not?", so off I went on the subway with a willing friend in tow.

We had time before the 8 pm concert, so we explored the new Dongdaemun History and Culture Park area for a bit. The building is amazing and made me think of a spaceship. Inside are various exhibits and shopping opportunities.

Outside, there are also spaces dedicated to displaying the ruins and artifacts found when the previously existing stadium was removed to build this complex.

As time grew closer, we crossed the street to the Lotte Fitin shopping mall, where Klive is housed.

To reach the event, we traveled up a dedicated elevator to the 9th floor and the fun began.

There are numerous displays throughout the floor for fun, pre-show moments. We visited the art gallery on the upper level and saw these interesting pieces:

There's a cool "Secret Window" area, where videos on the screens are only visible through special camera lenses.

Of course, there were K-Pop photo ops! Here are two of my favorites:

One unexpected thing we found was the floor's balcony, where we were afforded this awesome view:

As time came for the show to start, we noticed what we thought was an animatronic figure up on the balcony - but no, he was one of the talented dancers who started the show.  They came back at various points throughout the hologram performances, adding a great, live "pop and lock" touch to the evening.

As we entered the theater, there were kiosks for us to take our picture, which later showed up at varying times during the show. Here is a LOVELY gem from before the show started...be kind...

Once the show started, pictures were not allowed of course, but they honestly would not have done the show any justice. When I had read "hologram concert", I had visions of 2 dimensional, grainy images. So not the case! This reminded me more of what the Star Trek: Voyager series tried for with their Holo-decks - lacking only in the being able to physically touch and interact with the characters.

The images were VERY good and it really did look like a real person or group. There were times when the recorded performers spoke to the Klive audience, our pictures were used with them, and the live dancers were incorporated with the elaborate graphics to make it seem "live". All spoken Korean dialogue was captioned on side screens in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

The show consists of music by Big Bang, 2NE1, and Psy - (click on their names to watch a music video sample from each). More acts will be added as time goes by. My friend and I discussed whether this would work well back in the states or not - I suggested that it would probably do well as a show at a theme park.  Here in Korea, it is fun and can stand on its own.


For those living locally, this is a fun experience and easy to get to:

Dates/Hours:
Closed Mondays; Shows everyday at 2 pm, 4 pm, 6 pm, and 8 pm
The show lasts for about 60 minutes, with no intermission.

Tickets:
Tickets can be reserved online or at the Ticket booth at Lotte Fitin, Level 9.
Adults = 33, 000 KW; Children/Teens = 16,000 KW

Website: http://www.klive.co.kr (in Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese)

Phone: 02-2265-0810, 080-539-8888

Address: 9th Floor, Lotte Fitin shopping center, Dongdaemun

Directions:
By subway, Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station (Lines 2, 4, and 5) exits 11 and 12 (connected by underground path)

Lotus Lantern Festival

It was a rainy day this past Sunday, but we managed to enjoy some time at the Yeon Deung Hoe Lotus Lantern Festival. 

We took a quick 2-stop ride on the subway and walked to the Jogyesa Temple to see the beautiful lanterns hung in the courtyard and larger ones displayed from the previous night's parade.

I had registered us online to create lotus lantern's through a free program for foreigners
and we had a few hours of paper twisting and gluing fun.

We had to make 80+ individual petals and more than a dozen green leaves...time consuming, but relaxing, as it's intended.

Yes, even Michael had fun, though he doesn't look it here!

Afterwards, we had two lovely lanterns and got to visit the rest of the street festival, complete with ceremonies, motto making, crafts, informational booths - you name it!

Visit by POTUS

As you probably heard, this was a busy weekend here in Yongsan, as President Obama stopped by the Korean peninsula for a visit. The 8th Army Band was able to play for the event on post and Rob held the baton for a few pre-speech tunes:

Whatever your personal feelings for the President, it's not every day that the band gets to play for him, so it was pretty cool. And he acknowledged the band right about here:

You can view the entire speech at this link, and can hear the band playing "Hail to the Chief" as he enters.

Gwanghwamun Square and Gyeongbokgung Palace

It was a beautiful, clear day in Korea - what to do, what to do?  We decided it was about time to get out and explore a bit more, so we jumped on the subway and headed towards City Hall. It was Easter weekend, so we couldn't resist a picture with this critter on a subway bench:

Heading out of exit 4 at City Hall Station, this is what we saw:

This time of year, there are lanterns hung all over the city, as the Lotus Lantern Festival and Buddha's birthday are coming up. Due to the recent and tragic ferry boat incident, which has the entire nation in a state of mourning, many of the festivals have been canceled or postponed - but there were still some lanterns to be seen on our walk.

Next we passed the start of the scenic Cheonggyecheon Stream, a reclaimed waterway designated for walking and often decorated throughout the various seasons.

<--  large sculpture at the start



one of the fountains
          -->

As we made our way towards the palace, we walked along Gwanghwamun square,
a central island that leads up to the palace.

Here we saw numerous fountains and statues, including this memorial
for Admiral Yi Sun Shin and a replica of the "Turtle ship".

Next was King Sejong the Great, the most respected king of the Joseon Dynasty and creator of Hangeul, Korea's alphabet, as well as various scientific instruments.

                                  


















Lastly, was this beautiful over-sized lantern, meant to resemble a stone pagoda, installed to celebrate Buddha's birthday - read more here.  The wind was pretty decent this day, so each of the pictured bells were chiming away and the sound was lovely.

This brought us to the entrance of Gyeongbokgung Palace,
where the guards stand much in the fashion of those in the UK at Buckingham Palace.
We had to have our photo op, of course.

Say "Kimchi"!













Inside the complex, there were numerous structures, all with beautiful woodwork and colors.

On the grounds, there is also the National Folk Museum of Korea, which has lovely galleries, outdoor attractions, and a Children's Museum....this made for a VERY full day (and tired feet), but we had a ton of fun.  Here are some pictures from that last part of our day - enjoy!