The Korea Herald

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Five nights, five bands, one rock-filled week

By Korea Herald

Published : Nov. 30, 2014 - 20:43

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For the 17th edition of Hyundai Card’s ongoing Culture Project series, the New Year will be kicking off with a bang with “5 Nights,” a week of live music starting Jan. 12.

Avenged Sevenfold, Bastille, Starsailor, Rudimental and Asgeir will be making their way to Korea to electrify Seoul in the large-scale music festival featuring five solo concerts over five days. 
Rudimental (Rudimental Facebook) Rudimental (Rudimental Facebook)

American rock band Avenged Sevenfold will kick off the festival. Formed in the late ’90s, the band released its official debut album, “Sounding the Seventh Trumpet,” in 2001, when the bandmates were still in high school. The band’s next two albums ― “Waking the Fallen” and “City of Evil” ― helped put the group on the map, beating out Chris Brown, Rihanna and James Blunt for MTV’s “Best New Artist” award in 2006. 
Avenged Sevenfold (Avenged Sevenfold Facebook) Avenged Sevenfold (Avenged Sevenfold Facebook)

Last year Avenged Sevenfold released the album, “Hail to the King,” topping the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart, as well as taking the No. 1 spot on a number of international charts.

Days two and three of the festival will feature English bands Bastille and Starsailor, respectively. Still new to the rock scene, the members of pop-rock band Bastille debuted with their single “Overjoyed” in 2012. The following year Bastille unveiled its first album, “Bad Blood,” and found itself on the top of the U.K. Albums Chart for the first time. The band was nominated for four Brit Awards this year and ended up taking home the trophy for British Breakthrough Act.

Brit-pop band Starsailor is returning to Korea after performing as one of the headlining acts at last year’s Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival. The group has four studio albums to its credit: “Love Is Here,” “Silence Is Easy,” “On the Outside” and its latest, “All the Plans,” released in 2009. After releasing their fourth album, the bandmates went on hiatus for nearly four years before deciding to reunite earlier this year.

The final two days of the “5 Nights” music fest will end with performances by Rudimental and Iceland native Asgeir. Newcomer rock quartet Rudimental is making waves in the rock scene after the release of its 2012 single “Feel the Love,” featuring John Newman, and landing the group at the top of the U.K. singles chart.

Rudimental’s one and only album, “Home,” made a surprising debut at the No. 1 spot in the U.K. and earned the members four Brit Awards nominations, including one win for best British single in 2014.

The 22-year-old Icelandic folk singer-songwriter Asgeir will be closing out the five-day rock fest. He topped his homeland’s music charts with the release of his platinum-selling debut album “Dyro i dauoapogn” in 2012. Asgeir released his first English-spoken album, “In the Silence,” a reprise of his original Icelandic album, earlier this year.

“5 Nights” will be held from Jan. 12-17 at the Jamsil Sports Complex Culture Dome Stage. Concertgoers can purchase one-day tickets or a five-day pass, with one-day passes listed at 88,000 won and a week pass priced at 198,000 won. For more information, call (02) 3141-3488 or visit www.interpark.com.

By Julie Jackson (juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)