Hongdae, the very heart of the Korean indie music scene, is home to a number of small theaters for young aspiring artists. And on one of its narrowly meandering streets, just two flights down from the noise and confusion filling up a typical Hongdae evening, hid the most special “garden” one is ever to find. “Two Weeks of Garden”, starring none other than singer-songwriter Car the Garden, hosted eight concerts between November 2 and 14 at Gureum Arae Small Theater.

The first night of the two long weeks started with the artist nonchalantly walking past the front-row seats to climb up the stage and start tuning his guitar. What was most noticeable right off the bat and hence most memorable about the night was that Car the Garden took full advantage of the small size of the venue. No more than a single guitarist other than himself was necessary for every song on the setlist to fill up the theater completely, while such minimal organization also created a casual atmosphere for the 90-or-so audience. 

Putting aside the audience-performer proximity, all the other aspects that distinguish a live concert from a recorded performance were also there. As all songs, despite having ranged greatly in genre from hip-hop to ballad, had to be rearranged for at most two guitars at a time, their versions became exclusive to the audience that were present. For the shows that were held before the release of his newest single, “Nowhere to Hide”, on November 7, he performed parts of the unveiled song in an acoustic version. And while progressing from his older songs to his newest and most loved ones in a roughly chronological order, the audience could take a glimpse at the path he has walked over the years in his musical career.

It is also not hard to mention the appropriate mix of humor in the way Car the Garden speaks, and the totally different depth of emotions he conveys only through singing, especially because the gap between the two personas is what the artist is widely loved for. Taking from his own words, he jokingly asked for the audience to leave reviews on how “overwhelmed” they were by his performance. But we were soon to find that in all seriousness, he was indeed capable of flooding the stage with a certain surge of emotions indescribable through spoken words. In particular, the series of songs from his biographical album C, coupled with the personal background stories told between stages, delivered the audience to the space, time, and state of mind he wrote them in. As Car the Garden himself admits that he has grown as a person from the point in which the album was released, the collection was an invitation to a reminiscence, a bit like in the way the ghost of Jacob Marley takes Scrooge to selected scenes from his past in A Christmas Carol.

However, it was clear from the artist’s reaction to the open chatroom, which all audiences were asked to join in advance through a QR code, that he was unaware of the full contents of the show outside his setlist. The audience would have expected for the chatroom to function as a live comment box while it was projected on the screen, but Car the Garden’s initial confusion with regards to the purpose of the chatroom (and the poor internet connection due to the depth in which the venue was located) delayed the part of the program.

Though there were such minor distractions, they weren’t enough to undermine the sincerity conveyed through just a voice and two guitars. All in all, it has been a breathtaking experience to witness a hall full of complete strangers being cast under the same spell that stopped time for two hours in just that one small theater under a Hongdae street. And as the artist likes to put it, he has surely succeeded in “overwhelming” the audience solely with music.