We have been going to the Asian Pop Festival (APF) since it started in 2024. I was pleasantly surprised the first time around, and have been hopeful that it could mature into a really great festival. It is held at the Paradise City Resort near the Incheon Airport, which seemed weird at first, but there are certain perks about its location that make the festival somewhat unique. There is the main stage out on a big lawn, and off to the side is a large indoor all-standing venue called the City Stage. Then there are two other venues that are actually fancy night clubs within the resort. Going between all these different venues to see different kinds of bands makes for a uniquely charming festival atmosphere; not to mentional all the curious architecture and artworks you have to pass through to get around.

There were lots of great moments this year, and also some issues, but overall we had a good time and remain optimistic about the future of the festival.

The Bands

Living under a rock as I do, the Asian Pop Festival has been a great way to discover new bands from around Asia and even Korean bands I don’t know much about. This time around, though, the scheduling was pretty tight and we had our hearts set on seeing a few bands in particular. Fitting it all in was a challenge, and in the turmoil we actually managed to miss one of the bands we had wanted to see: Idiotape. We have seen them every year at APF, and actually seeing them the first year inspired me to start learning drums! I don’t even know how we lost track of time like that. Probably something to do with what we were drinking…

This year, I was really stoked to see Deerhoof appear in the lineup. I had first discovered them way back in the day on MySpace but had not kept up on them. Getting reacquainted with them in anticipation of the festival was inspiring in itself, but their actual show was magical. They were the highlight of the whole festival for me. I was completely blown away by their performance, especially Greg Saunier on drums. I felt like I was reunited with kindred spirits watching them play together. They have the kind of magic with each other that every band wants to have; that I certainly want to have again! Check out my review of their show for more thorough praise of the band and their exceptional performance.

Some of the other bands we saw are (follow links for dedicated posts about the shows):

• 봉제인간 (Bongjeingan)
• 이날치 (Leenalchi)
• 추다혜차지스 (Chudahye Chagis)
• Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車)
• 키라라 (Kirara)
• mudd the student
• 김창완 밴드 (Kimchangwan Band)
• Kid Fresino
• 파란노을 (Paran Noeul), but had to leave after 15 minutes because of sound issues
• 우희준 (Woo Huijun)
• Confined White
• and many more in passing…

Problems & Peeves

Sound

Every year we have been to APF, there have been pretty awkward sound issues, and this time around it was the worst. We had to leave 파란노을 after 15 minutes because of sound problems, and the only show we went to see on the Chroma Stage this year, 나잠 수 & 문선, couldn’t even get started because of similar sound problems. That must have been really frustrating for them, they seemed peeved. But the sound issues didn’t end there. During Quruli’s set the stage’s power went out completely, and it seems like this happened during 김민규(Kim Mingyu)’s set also, although I couldn’t see exactly what was going on. On top of all that, most of the venues were poorly mixed. The vocals for most bands were completely drowned out by the other instruments. I noticed that some bands were better at doing sound checks than others, and their mix was noticeably better. Even so, it is disappointing that the engineers can’t facilitate a better sound check for all the bands, especially since two of the venues are fancy live clubs with legit equipment.

Vendors

Last year, I was so pleasantly surprised that Magpie was the beer vendor at the festival. Even just to have any Korean microbrew there would be cool, but to have my favorite one was a dream come true. This year, however, not only was the beer vendor Carlsberg, they weren’t even serving draught beer! They were selling glass bottles that you would take to a designated area to open and pour yourself. This was also true of the “highball tent” that was selling canned Jim Beam highballs in cans to be transferred to plastic cups. Not only is it annoying that they would replace draught beer and mixed drinks with pre-packaged versions while also charging the same price, but the amount of waste this generated is just stupid. This was a huge red flag for me, and if I am being honest, made me feel slightly concerned about the direction the festival could be heading.

In the main stage area, next to the beer vendor, was the only other official vendor apart from the food trucks off to the side. It was some stupid e-cig company that was constantly harrassing everyone as they walked by, saying that they were selling cartridges for ₩100. What a stupid choice of vendor for an all ages festival, but also, are we just cool with vedors completely killing the vibe like this? Just pushing their e-cig bullshit on everyone as they pass by multiple times a day? Creepy dudes just lowkey flirting with every girl that walks by? I am seriously starting to doubt the judgement of whoever is organizing this festival. I really hope that this is not the case next year, because it was such a vibe-killing disappointment.

Security

For some reason, there is a lot of security at APF. It feels disproportionate to the number of people there. What I dislike most, though, is the attitude the security have. They are all these tough guys who go around surveilling everyone like prison guards. It’s honestly, pretty gross. Is there really a need for some tough guy to be patrolling the picnic area? It’s one thing to keep on eye on things, and another to just be prowling around. They have no tact, also. A number of times I saw them telling parents not to put their kids on their shoulders, which is a legitimate concern, but even so, you can communicate this without killing the joy that they are obviously sharing in that moment. I don’t know if these guys work for the resort, but they act like club bouncers—as if they are just looking for unruly clubgoers to eject for bad behavior. Pretty dumb.

Layout

It seems like they are still trying to figure out how to best use the outdoor space. The layout changes every year. I think that it has gotten better each time, but there is still a bunch of space that could be used better. This time around, more and more people brought out picnic gear. There was more designated picnic space than before, but most of it was way off to the side behind a bunch of tents and food trucks. It seems like more picnic space could be afforded if they relocated the vedors and activity booths.

It would also be nice if they plotted out the picnic area ahead of time so that people would be dissuaded from putting down mats in every inch of exposed ground. It’s weird to come back to your spot to find it colonized by other mats.

This is a more general problem with festivals like this, but the whole concept of the picnic area has been kind of dilluted. Most people are just using the picnic area to have a place to set their stuff and sit down for a while. Some people would just leave a single backpack in the narrow walkways between picnic mats, which is so trusting, but also a bit obnoxious too. Would it be worth differentiating a “picnic” area from a general “ground seating” area? It would be nice if there was priority given to people with families or people who were really packing in some meals. There are plenty of places to sit and cool off around the resort, and they could somehow accommodate more picnic spaces even outside the main stage for those who just need a place to put their stuff. They already have tons of chairs and tables set up within the main area, which are pretty much pointless because they take up so much space and get claimed by the first few people to get to them.

Given the way security is at this festival, though, I don’t see them being able to do much about any of this without really crushing the vibe. Still worth brainstorming about, I think.