Heemoon Lee & OBANGSINGWA, London, November 23

This year’s K-Music Festival concluded with a joyous and sparkling finale, in partnership with the EFG London Jazz Festival. Korean sorikkun (folk singer) Heemoon Lee gave a much-lauded performance in 2018 with SsingSsing and this time he’s showcasing a new genre- and gender-bending outfit, OBANGSINGWA (aka OBSG).

Lee certainly knows how to make an entrance: clad entirely in scarlet red, his long jet-black hair crowned with a fabulous, feathered headdress, he greeted the largely Korean and highly enthusiastic audience with “Hello London, it’s been a while! No more bad energy, only good vibes!” And that’s exactly what we got for the next 75 minutes as Lee and his excellent five-piece band showcased vamped-up versions of min’yō (regional Korean folk songs) from their latest album SPANGLE. It felt like a rollercoaster ride of a gig, as they hurtled through the setlist and a myriad of styles from pop and rock to disco and a smattering of reggae, with a couple of slower min’yō folk ballads like ‘Let Go, Won’t Let Go’ that really showed off Lee’s expansive voice. There was a brief let-up in the tempo when Lee left the stage for a costume change (switching from scarlet to all black), allowing the bass player to introduce the band and declare Lee as “the King of traditional K-pop.” By the end, the entire audience was up and dancing, transforming the Purcell Room into a hugely entertaining disco party.