Pop till you drop: South Korean boy band Big Bang performs at the nine-hour SoundFest concert at Phu Tho Stadium in District 11. — File Photo

HCM CITY — A nine-hour music festival in HCM City on Saturday featuring more than a dozen Vietnamese and foreign singers and music bands attracted an audience of more than 20,000.

The most eagerly awaited was Big Bang, a five-member band from South Korea whose appeal is pan-Asian.

The band, made up of G-Dragon, T.O.P, Taeyang, Daesung, and Seungri, sang Korean hits like Tonight, Hands up, Bad Boy, Fantastic Baby, Lies and Last Farewell, all of which are popular in Viet Nam.

The band, which debuted in 2006, last year won the inaugural Best Worldwide Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Belfast, Britain.

"Big Bang has good singers and a talented composer," said fan Tran Phuong, said, adding most of its hits were composed by the leader, G-Dragon.

The concert, titled SoundFest, also featured other international music stars like Taio Cruz of the UK, Tata Young of Thailand, and Kimberly Caldwell of the US.

Taio Cruz, a singer, songwriter and record producer, sang 10 of his hits, including Break Your Heart, Higher, and Dynamite.

Local stars Phuong Vy, Pham Anh Khoa, Thanh Bui, and rock bands MicroWay and Buc Tuong also performed at the concert at the Phu Tho Stadium in District 11.

The organisers, Coca Cola and Samsung, hoped the concert would help young Vietnamese link up with music trends around the world.

They also launched a Happy Recycling campaign to clean the stadium and collect empty bottles when the concert ended.

"The campaign aims to call for reducing waste among the community as well as raise young people's awareness of environment protection," the organisers said. — VNS