Concert Producer Sean Agnew at Dennis Rodman North Korea Basketball Game

The man behind Union Transfer sure does get around.

Pretty much every detail to come out of the Dennis Rodman North Korea basketball game is weird. But we definitely weren’t expecting a Philly connection. Enter concert producer Sean Agnew, the man behind Philadelphia music venues Union Transfer and Boot & Saddle.

Agnew is an avid traveler and has spent a lot of time in Asia. One way or another, he wound up at the game, and he told CNN all about it:

When Kim Jong Un came into the stadium…and then it was about 15 minutes of applause, yelling, people jumping up and down screaming… no crying… Rodman played the whole first quarter, then sat away… and got dressed in a traditional Korean suit and then sat next to him, and they just smoked cigars and cigarettes the whole entire… not stopping for a second. But laughing, having a good time, pointing at things, talking… Before the game and during the game, there’s no applause. Just silence. And then the North Korean fans had a cheerleader that would literally be like, ‘OK. Applaud now… Stop.’

Full video below:

Coincidentally, I exchanged emails with Agnew on Thursday night in reference to Boot & Saddle, so let it not be said that the man is not a hard worker. I tried reaching him on Friday morning about his North Korea experience, but got an auto-response: “Hello. I am currently on a plane and unable to check messages… Thanks for your patience and Happy new year!”

Here’s a photo of Rodman that Agnew shared on Instagram on Friday morning:

A photo posted by Sean A (@fagnew) on

And here’s a photo of Agnew with North Korean children:

Ain't nobody fucking with my clique (of North Korean child performers)

A photo posted by Sean A (@fagnew) on