Nineteen Paid Acts, and Eight Free Ones Next Door

It ended yesterday. The KB Joy Olpark Festival, September 19~20, at the 88 Lawn in Seoul Olympic Park.

There Were Two Stages

The main one was the 88 Lawn. Ten acts on the 19th — ZICO, Simon Dominic, pH-1, lIlBOI, Woodie Gochild, CHUNG HA, Hong Isaac, Jung Seung-hwan, So Su-bin and g0nny. Nine on the 20th, with Epik High among them. Nineteen in all.

And a short walk away at the 88 Lake there was a separate waterside stage. Eight emerging acts across the two days — on the 19th, Guacamole, Band Giraffe, Wi Ji-su and Jang Han-eum.

The waterside stage was free. A one-day main ticket was 55,000 won, so anyone without one could still see eight acts. Carving the newcomer stage out and opening it for free isn't a common arrangement at a festival.

Epik High Brought a Song Released Three Days Earlier

Epik High, on the 20th, had released 'EPIKISM' at 6pm on September 17. A single track featuring Crush. Three members: Tablo, Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz.

I measured it in 0.25-second windows. Three minutes forty-seven.

The first 27 seconds have no bass at all. From 0:01 to 0:27.25, 20~150Hz stays between 1% and 13% of the total. What carries the section is 500~3000Hz, swinging between 20% and 78%.

The beat lands at 0:27.50. In a single window of 0.25 seconds the low-end share jumps from 1.0% to 57.8% and the level rises from −7.12dB to −5.95dB.

But it doesn't press on immediately. From 0:32.25 to 0:34.00 the low end is cut back to 0.4~1.2% for 1.75 seconds, then returns at 73.9% at 0:34.25.

The most solid passage runs from 1:08.50 to 1:28.50. Across those 20 seconds the level averages −6.38dB and moves within a 5.63dB span, from −9.79dB to −4.16dB. Widen it to the body from 1:04 to 2:00 and the low end takes 55.1% on average.

Thirteen Seconds Empty Out at 2:02

From 2:02.00 to 2:15.00 there's a thirteen-second bridge with no bass. The low end never crosses 11.0% and the mids average 59.6%. The level sinks to an average of −9.14dB, about 2.4dB below the body.

The bass comes back at 40.7% at 2:15.00 and is fully restored at 74.3% by 2:16.50.

Then there's a hard cut at 2:55.25. From −6.61dB, 32dB collapses to −38.76dB within a second, and it revives at −10.47dB at 2:56.50.

The ending is a fade. From −16.66dB at 3:39.25 to digital silence at 3:46.50 — a straight line falling about 11.1dB per second across 7.25 seconds.

If You Go Next Year

My bag's already packed. The thing worth noticing in this festival's layout is the waterside stage. Judge the ticket price against the main lineup alone and you miss eight acts entirely.

If you're going back to 'EPIKISM', just the eleven seconds from 0:25 to 0:36. The floor arriving in one window at 27.50, dropping out again for 1.75 seconds at 32.25, and returning at 34.25 — it's all in there.