Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車) at the Asian Pop Festival 2026

Sunset Rollercoaster was the last band on the main stage, and the last show of the festival that we saw. After a long day of dodging the harsh sun and occassionally retreating to our picnic spot way off behind the food trucks, we were grateful to have found a little plot in front of the stage to have some dinner and enjoy the chill vibes of Sunset Rollercoaster.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Not only was it sudown, but there was a massive blue moon setting behind the stage. It really could not have been more atmospheric. After a long weekend with lots of emotional ups and downs for us, it was the perfect mood to close out the festival on.

We saw Sunset Rollercoaster and Hyukoh at Pentaport the year before doing their superband collaboration material, which was really cool. This was our first time seeing them on their own. They did do a few of the collab songs since they are so popular here, but most of the set was their own stuff.

The band has such a great vibe about them. Of course, their music is super chill and smooth, but the band itself has a really laid-back, unpretentious atmosphere that I have always liked. The singer in particular always comes across as very genuine, and does not appear to fluff it up in any way. It feels like they love to make and play their music and that they are stoked to be there playing it with everyone.

They are not a very showy band. They don’t do weird stunts or contrived audience participation bits, nor do they pander to the audience or troll for praise. In spite of more-or-less just getting up there and playing the songs, their music has such a powerful effect that washes over the crowd. I would relate it to being out in the water at some beach. Whether you are swimming, floating, surfing, or whatever else, you are in the water and its movement dominates everything even when it is not the focus.

I felt weirdly sentimental watching them play, and that feeling keeps coming up when I listen to them even after the festival has ended. The festival was kind of an emotional rollercoaster for us, and it felt like Sunset Rollercoaster gave us a nice soft landing. Their songs felt like impressionistic gestures of emotions we needed to be reminded of; feelings whose effects were medicinal for us in some way. I’m not even sure what most of their songs are about, but the sincerity of the emotion they express was so potent in their performance.

Watching them play, I kept thinking that it would be great to see them at the Seoul Jazz Festival; perhaps at the Spring Garden ampitheatre by the water, at sundown. Just an idea…