PYONGYANG (CelebrityAccess) — Slovenian avant-garde industrial group Laibach made history on Wednesday when they were the first western pop group to perform in North Korea.
Laibach, who describe themselves as "a music and cross-media group" performed at the Ponghwa Theatre, where they played a number of songs, from from The Sound of Music, including Edelweiss, Do-Re-Mi and The Hills Are Alive.
Morten Traavik, who organized the tour suggested that the choice of Sound of Music might not be as odd as it seems. The play, despite its anti-authoritarian subtext, "is very well known in North Korea" Traavik told the BBC.
The band played other, more contemporary material, including hits from Europe (Final Countdown,) The Beatles (Across the Universe,) and Austrian arena rock band Opus (Life is Life.)
"They[the audience] seemed to really enjoy it," Simon Cockerell, general manager of the Beijing-based North Korean travel agent Koryo Tours told the BBC. "It wasn't an audience pulling faces of distrust or confusion.
"Everyone sat in their seats the whole time and there wasn't really any clapping along or singing along, but then that's the norm at concerts here anyway." – Staff Writers
