This is a Korean Bucket List post. Check out the rest of my list here.
The day hyped up furiously for over 10 months FINALLY arrived this past weekend.
Without a doubt, Ultra Music Festival in Seoul was the item on my Korean Bucket List that I was most looking forward to this year. After Jess and Maddie regaled Mary and I with stories from Ultra 2013 over the course of this year (you can read about some of them here), we made a pact in the middle of September to attend together. We wasted no time purchasing our tickets during the early bird phase a few months ago, making our attendance official. Ultra 2014 was a go!
The weekend journey to Ultra started with a lot of transit. Steph and I opted for the cheaper six hour Korail train from Haeundae to Seoul that also stopped to pick up Mary and Nina from Gupo. Once we arrived at Seoul Station, it was a mad blur of grabbing a quick lunch, taking the subway to our hostel in Hongdae, learning our hostel hadn’t bothered to send an e-mail to inform us that they couldn’t accommodate us, and cabbing to a new hostel a few blocks away. Oy vey.
After 9 hours of stopping and going, we were finally settled. We checked our watches, and sure enough they read “Fun O’Clock”. We opened our respective bags of tricks, and out spilled cheap Korean beer, disposable cameras, glowsticks, and of course, face paint. Once we were appropriately donned in our best electronic music festival garb, we set off from Hongdae to the Seoul Olympic Stadium via cab. After some more stopping and going, (Ultra literally had five different check-points before entering the festival), we were finally in. Cue excitement!
Our first stop was the main stage for Blasterjaxx. The duo of Dutch DJs had already begun their set by the time the girls and I spilled into the stadium, and the energy of was truly electric. People of all nationalities were waving flags proudly and dancing joyfully in masks and face paint, and booty shorts and all-too-revealing tanks. The timing of our arrival at the stadium was pretty perfect, too – the sun was setting during Blasterjaxx’s set, changing a hazy day into a hazy night and our mental states with it.
Ultra had a variety of sponsors, including Carlsberg, Smirnoff, and Red Bull. Each of these three were serving up beverages, but it was clear that Red Bull had control of the market (read: Red Bull drink kiosks everywhere). The girls and I probably consumed about five Red Bulls each over the course of the evening. Steph grimly joked that she did not want to be that girl who drank too many energy drinks and passed out with heart palpitations, and she had a point. There was one point where I couldn’t tell if I was wired from the music and atmosphere or from the taurine in my veins.
Perhaps the best part of the entire night was M.I.A.’s set. My mind was immediately transported to my high school self, where I would cruise around good old Brockville blaring “Paper Planes”. Towards the middle of Mathangi’s set, she wondered aloud if she “could get some people onstage”. Immediately, members of the crowd began hopping the metal barriers, eager for a chance to dance with the Sri Lankan beauty. I managed to get myself over the barrier quickly, only to get my foot caught in between the metal bars and other scrambling concertgoers. Eventually, Steph and I found ourselves dancing at the front of the stage, awe-struck at the fact that we were actually there. I’ve been to a lot of concerts in my day, but this was easily my favourite live music memory. After the stage cleared, M.I.A. came back out to close with a few of her more popular songs, “Paper Planes” and “Bad Girls”. It was an amazing set that united swagger with its good friend, chaos.
Our last stop at Ultra Korea was the Main Stage to see Steve Angello, of Swedish House Mafia fame. By this point, I was completely blissed out. Despite a little bit of panic earlier when I lost (and found!) my alien registration card, and that fact that my back was aching from hoisting each of the girls on my shoulders (twice!), Ultra was closed out in a perfect fashion. Steve Angello’s set was filled with so much happiness and dancing. I felt so carefree and I think my mind was playing “Young, Wild and Free” on a subconscious loop. Towards the end of the night, Mary and I clasped hands and bounced up and down with maniacal grins on our faces, as if to say, “we made it and it was perfect!”
And it was. Perfect.
Millennial Abroad 