Wiretap in My EarOr 내귀에 도청장치 in Korean.

I’d been meaning to write about this band for months, but never got around to it until now.

I first stumbled across Wiretap at Pentaport 2007. They performed late Friday afternoon (day one) on the second stage. I had never heard of them and probably still wouldn’t know who they are were it not for a little luck. I ran into one of my former hagwon students and her friend and they were big fans of the band. They insisted that I watch the show with them and the rest was history.

The four members of Wiretap performed while wrapped in faux-bloody bandages. That alone was worth seeing. But the band had more than a visual gimmick. They had a good sound and a loyal group of enthusiastic fans, which made for a great show and a fun time. And vocalist Lee Hyuk (이혁) - whose stage presence evokes the spirit of Ziggy Stardust - can carry a tune. Here is a very brief excerpt of their performance at Pentaport 2007:

I decided that I wanted to see Wiretap perform again and finally had the chance last December at the Hero Rock Festival. They didn’t disappoint - except for the fact that the guitarist ripped off Slash’s hat. That wasn’t good. But forgivable. I put together some snippets of their performance. Note that I recorded the show using my digital camera with its little digital camera microphone, so the sound is not as good as it could be.

Here’s hoping that Wiretap in My Ear plays again at Pentaport 2008 - and this time gets a slot on the main stage.