London has been doing well recently for live music: from B.A.P to Jambinai via Dead Buttons and more, there has been something for everyone. But the artist that I personally have been looking forward to seeing more than the rest is Neon Bunny (야광토끼) – whose debut album Seoulight made it into the list of LKL’s favourite albums of 2011.
Beyond Hallyu spotted her upcoming European tour (Poland and London) back in early April, but the London venue had not been fixed. In fact the tour promoters seem to have let her down, and Jason Verney of miniminimovie.com stepped in, arranging a venue and acting as middle man in making sure all the right equipment was going to be in place.
This gave Jason the privilege of hanging out with the band for the day after their gig – lucky fellow. LKL’s own privilege was buying them a round of beers before their set: they were looking thirsty, and it was the least I could do seeing as they had come all this way to entertain us, so I was delighted to extend some hospitality. I also lent Yujin a pen to sign the CDs she had brought with her to sell. I was distinctly chuffed when I got the following tweet the next day:
맥주천사님 ! Forgot to give you back ur pen ! Maybe i'll give you next time when i meet u again !
— Neon Bunny (@Beonnunny) June 4, 2016
맥주천사. Beer angel. That’s definitely the coolest thing I’ve ever been called, by one of the coolest bands I know. A word to file away for later use.
But back to the music.
There were plenty of familiar numbers from her album Seoulight and EP Happy Ending, and it was great to have a live band on stage: Im Yujin plus drums, bass, guitar and someone to man the Macbook. I was surprised that one or two members of the audience knew the words to all of them – something you expect with a mainstream commercial K-pop band, but maybe not with an indie group. And there were certainly others in the audience who knew Neon Bunny well and were thrilled to be able to experience her music live.
The bonus in the set was Neon Bunny’s recent single Forest of Skyscrapers, and the news that there will be a new full-length album released soon. Everything was finished far too quickly. It would have been nice to have had a few encores, but with five bands to pack into the evening no set could last much longer than 30 minutes. Shame. We all wanted more.
Neon Bunny, please come back to London again soon! You’re all such good company, and we love your music.
Neon Bunny played at The Good Ship, NW6, on 3 June 2016.