Performance at Songnae

During the next to last weekend I was supposed to be in Korea, I get informed that during my last weekend there, Durihana was set to perform at a church in Songnae, about an hour away from Seoul. This was going to be a benefit for the refugees and the efforts to bring North Koreans from China to South Korea. Obviously, seeing how Durihana was one of the biggest posts for this, we had to be there. There was going to be a choir, accompanied by piano, violin, drums, guitar, and, of course (where I fit in), bass. So for that week, I spent my afternoons with the group rehearsing. We worked hardcore on this, performing a medley of four songs, three of which being Korean translations of English Songs (Once Again, Jesus Loves Me, and Lord I Lift Your Name on High). In fact, it was during a evening practice session between myself, Gwangjin, and Nahrie that we were able to get Gwangjin's story.

Come the Saturday of the performance, we led people in worship, then came the actual concert. CTS (The largest Christian TV station in Korea) was there to record, so this was going to be broadcast throughout the nation. By now, I don't really get nervous going on stage. Other people seemed nervous, but for me, it's not a problem. I've come a long way.

In fact, I was quite confident. I had been given a lot of compliments leading up to this on my bass parts, and I was feeling really good. Yoonmi came to watch, and I was excited to play. But hey, what's God without a sense of humor?

We get called up on stage, and I'm one of the first out the stage door to the stage, because I'm on the opposite side of the stage from the door. And I'm not paying attention, and all of a sudden I feel a "thwack," and my eye is stinging. I have just hit my head on a microphone stand on stage in front of around 1,000 people at this church. Moreover, like I mentioned before, CTS was there, so this was probably seen by I don't know how many in Korea, plus any Korean overseas that has DirecTV could've been watching too. No joke.

Hello humble pie, boy you taste good.

But, aside from being embarrassed, things went well. I have video from the crowd, but I cannot show it, because of the fact that several people on this video cannot have their faces shown in the media, because of family that still lives in the DPRK.

There were more acts, such as Myung-joo (more on her later) and Sul playing a guitar duet, and a girl that plays violin solos while doing choreographed dances, and it was good, but Yoonmi and I left early. It was supposed to be the last weekend we had together in Korea this year, so we wanted some time together.

If that was all of it, there wouldn't be anything left to write about, and I wouldn't have written the previous entry, but obviously, there's more to come.