[HanCinema's Event Coverage] Jambinai Rocks the Pirineos Sur Festival

On July 27th as the sun went down along with the temperature, the audience gathered in Sallent de Gállego in front of the Mercados del Mundo stage at the Pirineos Sur Fest for what was the last concert of the day. Pirineos Sur is a renowned music and multicultural fest that has been taking place in the province of Huesca, Northern Spain for the past 25 years, and photographer Luis Lorente and I had the chance to be there.

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Jambinai was introduced to the audience as the first South Korean band to ever play at the festival and the majority of the audience did not know what to expect since they knew nothing about the band, or about Korean music in general. Moreover, during a conversation with the festival's director, Luis Lles, he confessed that he was quite expectant of the audience's reaction because his decision to book Jambinai was kind of a gamble. Jambinai's music style differs greatly of the style of bands usually booked at that particular venue. Nevertheless, he said he had seen them perform a couple of years back at another music fest and he was quite smitten by their performance, which is why he grabbed the opportunity to book them for the 2016 Pirineos Sur.

Not long after the South Korean band took the stage, the cold mountain air turned eerie and mystical with the first chords of Jambinai's Deus Benedicat Tibi played by drums and the taepyeongso (wind instrument from the oboe family) spread through the small Spanish village. By the end of the song that had turned strongly electronic and heavy metal, the band had manage to warm the hearts of the public.

The strong heavy metal sound continued with Wardrobe, and the audience grew more excited as Ilwoo's wordless yelling accompanied the trance inducing melody. By Time of Extinction, the band's powerful musical message agains the world unjustices was palpable.

The audience, which ranged from age two to over seventy, quietly listened to Jambinai, soaking in the details of every melody and cheering wildly at the end of the each song. The band played nine songs in total including the encore; a balanced mix of songs from their two albums. Lee Ilwoo announced that Connection would be the last song of the night because they wished to create a connection between the band and the audience. The song started with the gentle sound of the piri (Korean bamboo flute), then the bass, Eunyoung's geomungo (Korean zither), and lastly the rest of the instruments. Bomi's haegeum (two-stringed fiddle) repeated the same chords as the song started slowly but surely to pick up the pace without losing its gentle feel, reminding us again that this band has traditional roots.

After taking a selfie with the audience, Jambinai returned for a one song encore, Grace Kelly, which is a powerful song from their first album that starts with heavy guitar riffs that develop until its finale.

The crowd's response was unanimous after the impactful show. Jambinai was certainly strange yet captivating, and numerous people lined up in front of the shop to buy the band's CDs and merchandising. This was my first time seeing Jambinai live, but I am most certainly looking forward to their next Europe visit.

Below you can find a clip from their second song of the night, Wardrobe, at Pirineos Sur:

(Photography courtesy of Luis Lorente.)

Written by: Patricia Alcay AKA zgzgirl

Bio: zgzgirl is a crazy blogger, foodie and traveler who loves korean dramas. For the past 5 years, she has been blogging about Korean dramas and movies in Spanish and not long ago started telling the world about her adventures ins Japan and Korea on her personal blogs.