Do you remember the Baebong Rock Festival on May 20, 2015? The weather was pretty hot, even though it was late spring. Baebongtang was hotter, as well, because the students of the University of Seoul (UOS) heating it up as Close-up, the 2015 student council, provided a venue for the Interdepartmental Band Collaborative (UOSIBC). UOS students were able to enjoy a rock concert without going anywhere off-campus. And now, UOSIBC is planning to hold a fundraising performance this semester. They are currently rehearsing and perfecting their performances for the UOS. The UOS Times followed them and discovered a bit of what are they doing. Come with us! It’s time to rock!

The fundraising concert was originally designed by Byeongshin gatjiman Meosisseo, or “BM” for short, a group of rock musicians from the College of Natural Science, whose name translates in English. We are awesome though we look like an idiot.” Their name may have sounded funny, but they were up to something serious: they hoped to go far beyond a mere rock festival by contributing to the local community, and they also intended to promote the cultural life of UOS students. Bands from other departments showed interest in BM’s ideas and suggested a joint performance. BM accepted it, and that was the beginning of the concert. They started making specific plans with the 50th Student Council, Empathy Plus (Gonggam Deohagi). The whole concept looked explosive, and all profits were to be donated. To continue in the same spirit, a third fundraising performance will be held in 2015, too.

 There are three main purposes for this show. The first is to help develop cultural content at the UOS. This was the original goal when BM first came up with the idea, and UOSIBC provided a fundraising source to make the festival more meaningful. To draw more students’ attention, this year’s rock-fest will be held during make-up week.

Second is to improve opportunities for UOS bands, especially those from smaller departments and colleges. For these bands, it is hard to practice and perform because of the shortage of space and the lack of support. Some of these clubs do manage to perform, but concerts are expensive. BM and U-CLAC - the band of the Dept. of Chinese Language and Culture- spent 70,000 won per band member for recent performances). With these constraints, there is no good opportunity to show off the talents of their colleges. With Student Council support, UOSIBC is expecting more active participation.

Last but not the least, charity is the most important reason. All profit from the performance will be donated to a local orphanage. Thus, this concert is one of UOSIBC’s ways to contribute to the welfare of social minorities. The event will have even more meaning to the people being helped because of the participation of the bands, the Student Council, and the faculty.

In a decision taken during summer vacation, UOSIBC set the date for the third fundraising performance to be November 17. Bark, the band of the College of Business Administration, is directing the concert, with tasks assigned to nine bands, including themselves. From negotiating for a venue to making posters and other promotional materials, all bands are working hard. Bark made a project proposal, submitted it to Close-up and school authorities, and received a positive response for their support. Meanwhile, U-CLAC and JaParty, the band of the department of Computer Science, reserved Birch Hall, while Panpyrin, the band of the Department of Industrial and Visual Design, designed posters, with additional duties assigned to other bands.

Sang-yeop Lee
syl0616@uos.ac.kr