Seoul Olympic Stadium to host world's best DJs

Published on 2012/04/10 | Source

Four of the world's best DJs are slated to spin beats in Seoul as part of a world-famous festival in August.

Household names in electronic music such as Skrillex, Steve Aoki, Tiesto and Carl Cox have confirmed that they will headline the inaugural Seoul edition of the Ultra Music Festival (UMF), with the first two spinning on Aug. 3 and the other two on the following night.

UMF is one of the world's largest outdoors festivals specializing in electronic and dance music. It started 14 years ago in Miami and has graced Ibiza, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo and Warsaw before Korea's capital city.

"With the strongest EDM (electronic dance music) artists ever assembled in one place in Asia, UMF Korea is expected to be the biggest electronic dance music event ever in the history of the continent and the country", said the organizers in a statement Monday.

Just last month, the event in Florida attracted more than 200,000 people with an ear pleasing line-up of Tiesto, Kraftwerk, Justice, Avicii, David Guetta, Armin van Buren, Skrillex and more. Even Madonna made a surprise appearance in Miami.

On the choice of Seoul, the organizers said: "Korea has an incredibly strong electronic dance music scene. "Hallyu", or the Korean wave, sweeping across the globe and its capital city of Seoul being the cultural center of all of Asia were all reasons why UMF headquarters decided to host its first ever festival in Asia at the culturally symbolic Olympic Stadium in Seoul".

Skrillex is a 20-something US electronic music producer who has taken the industry by storm, winning countless awards since his 2010 DJ debut. He is considered one of the most innovative musicians of his generation.

Steve Aoki is a Miami-born EDM veteran with numerous hit remixes crediting his portfolio. In Korea, he is known for remixing the Girls' Generation hit "Mr. Taxi".

Dutchman Tiesto is an institution in the electro genre, constantly ranked at the top of the charts around the world and has performed in Seoul's clubs before. He had the rare honor of spinning at the opening ceremony of the Olympics, in Athens in 2004.

Carl Cox is a British DJ who grabbed the first No. 1 spot on the DJ Magazine's annual Top 100 Poll.

In the same poll, Tiesto won three consecutive years from 2002 to 2004.

The Korean organizers New Venture Entertainment said that other acts for the August Seoul shows will be revealed shortly.

Tickets for the two nights cost 180,000 won and will go on sale on April 19. There is an early bird discount. Visit www.umfkorea.com for more information and future official announcements.

By Kwaak Je-yup

jay@koreatimes.co.kr