Lee, Han-Chul and Run, Run, Runaways

September 11th, 2009
20:00 @Busan Culture Center


This was fourth time for me to see Lee, Han-Chul playing. I saw him twice in rock festivals and once in his own concert on March, last year. In the previous gigs, most of the songs he played were from two albums of Bulldog Mansion(his previous band) or from his recent solo project. He prepared a lot, however, for this concert because it has been 15th years since he debuted as a musician. The set list consists of songs from his various music projects and even the songs he made for other musicians. So it was a really nice chance to enjoy all his musical history.


I've got a set list!

The gig was divided into 2 phases. In the first phase, he played songs that I mentioned before. The concept of the second phase was 'World Tour'. He made his recent album, The Record of the Moment, after he traveled around the world. Many songs in that album are written about his experience and feeling he had in other countries and he wanted to share his with ours.(There are some songs in his album which has got the title from the names of cities such as Tokyo, Sevilla, Milano, Havana) Audiences really enjoyed his music and the atmosphere. After he finished, he played 3 more songs for encore.


Lee, Han-Chul is one of my favourite Korean musician. He made a debut when he won MBC College Pop Music Contest in 1994. I didn't know him before I saw him appear in the famous situation comedy in 1998. At that time, I just thought that he was a funny guy. After that, I heard some of his music through radio or TV and became interested.


He has a rather complex musical history. After he made a debut, he made a solo album. Some years later, he met a guy from Busan, whose name is Jang, Ki-young, and made a musical collaboration called Zipper. Their song 'The girl whom I love...' was a big hit and he became more famous.

'Zipper - The Girl Whom I Love'

After that, he has gone through a lot of musical projects such as Bulldog Mansion, High School Sensation, 주식회사(A Stock Company), and so on. Now he's playing with his own band 'Run, Run, Runaways'.

'Bulldog Mansion - El Disco Amor'

'Lee, Han-Chul - Super Star'

But few weeks ago, it was announced that Bulldog Mansion will reunited temporary only for the Grand Mint Festival 2009.


He uses various things to make his music. It is a mixture of Rock and Roll, Pop, Funk, Ska, and etc. I think he loves Latin culture a lot. (He speaks a lot of Spanish on the stage. Though, I don't know whether it is spoken correctly or not.) He is a good melody maker and also good at making nice rhythm. While he was singing in the gig, he said that he want to survive for long as a musician. That's is what I hope, too. Because he does not play in the main stream, it is rather hard to live a life of musician. I want him to keep making good music and making people happy.

'Lee, Han-Chul featuring Park, Sae-Byul - Now, It's a Season of Love'