DJ Dancing Photography

I didn't have the right equipment to properly photograph Seoul World DJ Festival - I would have needed a wider aperture lens of 1.2 L to properly take photos in the dim and ever-changing DJ concert light, and I would have needed a telephoto zoom lens to have properly taken photos of the DJs, who were irritatingly far back from the front of the stage - but I did take a lot of photos, over 1300 of them, so I guaranteed myself, by the depth of volume, that at least some of my low-light shots would come out reasonably sharp. 152 to be exact. :)

Towa Tei was fantastic. I was half-worried that he was simply going to play his songs while just standing there. He played Luv Connection full, without any cuts, and it sounded incredibly lonely booming out of the massive concert speakers. I know he is a great music writer and producer, but I went to the Festival to seem him DJ. He didn't disappoint. His turntable transitions far exceeded any of the previous DJs I have seen live, watched on TV, or on YouTube. He had complete control of what he meant to do even in the most complex of transitiosn, showcased for everyone to see using his elevated - *note, elevated for a reason* - turntable and sticker-cratered Apple computer.

He even did the I-am-an-intellectual-musician/I-am-better-than-you thing before he started turn tabling. Some advice, Towa, next time you do 'it', do 'it' toward the crowd with the photographer standing in the security pit. It will have a much sharper affect on the crowd than standing with your back to them.

The YouTube video below is actually not a good representation of his performance, because after the woo-hoo song he ran into troubles, turning to his assistant as if he was missing something on his computer. Where is it? -or- Go get it, please. But it is still a good taste . . . of what you missed.


Other DJs
The horridly boring Ricky Stone just wouldn't get off the stage fast enough, but perhaps that was by design. The crowd politely woo-hooed when he lifted his arms in tough-guy, pep-rally style revs, but they too were thinking the same thing as me... get off the stage.. between pep-revs they were really quiet. At best I would rate his beats and breaks average, average as in why-couldn't-they-find-anyone-else to precede Towa Tei?

Daishi Dance was solid, well-worked music that impressed me, but I wouldn't go out and buy their CD or anything.

I was pleasantly surprised when Dynamic Duo showed up to play their signature tunes early in the afternoon. I wasn't expecting to see Towa and DD at the same show. I also enjoyed a trans-rock artist I don't know the name of who played after Dynamic Duo. He/she was somewhere between David Bowie and Marilyn Manson and was definitely a great performer singing in front of some good beats.

Finally, Beejay of the Aftermoon crew played and DJed a well-thought-out transcendental riff on Mars colonization which really, really impressed me, enough so that I think I will go out and try and buy a cd of his/theirs.