SAN FRANCISCO — K-pop quintet (G)I-dle opened its second North American tour at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Friday, blasting a sold-out room with pop bangers but also showing the ladies’ dramatic chops with their choreographed dance routines and between-performance video segments.

The I Am Free-ty World Tour show was arranged as a festival, with Miyeon, Minnie, Soyeon, Yuqi and Shuhua taking the audience on a tour of the grounds and onto the stages. It wasn’t terribly important to the show, but it kept a through line that the group repeatedly mentioned. Bill Graham was set up in an all-seated configuration. At the front of the stage was a wide screen with blocky lit-up display resembling an 8-bit video game cityscape. It was continued on a larger screen at the back of the stage.

As the screens turned neon and the cityscape became tropical, the wide screen rose to reveal the group already on stage. (G)I-dle, a Cube Entertainment act active since 2018, is considered one of the biggest K-pop groups not on the genre’s biggest labels. Unlike many of their peers, they’re directly involved in writing and producing their songs.

Minnie and Yuqi got to show off their musicianship again. Though her hands were completely hidden behind a keyboard covered with vines and flowers, the former appeared to play during the solo segment on “DAHLIA.” Her eyes were closed in concentration, even after the backing track joined in.

Yuqi, who followed a couple of songs later, nearly stole the show with one of her own songs, “Could It Be.” She played a pretty melody on a sparkly silver guitar that would have fit on Taylor Swift’s stage, sweetly singing along as she taught the audience the parts they were to sing. Many in the crowd appeared to know the words already, even though the song was unreleased. After she began the song in earnest, a backing track turned a folk song into a power ballad. Another verse after that, she set the guitar down so she could dance.

The two songs stood out in a set full of pop bangers like “DUMDi DUMDi,” “LATATA,” “Queencard” and “Allergy.” The latter was an overtly ’80s jam, with a jubilee of pastel colors straight out of “Saved By the Bell” flashing behind the group and its dancers.

“This song is very famous, and popular,” Yuqi said by way of introduction to “All Night.” “And best part: I wrote it!”

The song sounded like something that Paula Abdul would have made that same decade.

The sugary “Never Stop Me” at times recalled Gayle’s “abcdefu,” with the ladies hopping around and dancing in a circle.

“I’m 25 now… I need some water!” Minnie said afterward, stopping to catch her breath.

Other songs focused in on Soyeon’s rough, rapid-fire rapping, such as “$$$,” her own song “Psycho” (which came during the solo segment) and “MY BAG.” Many in the room screamed the lyrics right back at her.

Nearly every moment (G)I-dle was on stage, the five had their smiles turned all the way up to 11. Minnie pointed out it was the group’s second time in San Francisco in two years.

The solo segment also included Miyeon’s “Drive” (still a banger, but her sweet, slower vocals gave it a ballad-like quality) and Shuhua’s take on Britney Spears’ “Boys” (with waves of rolling bass that washed over the room before the song turned into an R&B jam with her sensually gyrating on the stage floor).

“If we were all the same, we wouldn’t be (G)I-dle,” Minnie later said.

Things got even more interesting with the next show segment. Following a video that looked like a Netflix scroll through some imaginary films starring the five members—from a fairytale romance to an assassin thriller—the stage turned blood red and a scene straight out of “Moulin Rouge” was projected onto the screens, the big heart arch and all. That was all a setup for “Nxde,” a song that switched back and forth between pop banger and slinky jazz number. The accompanying performance, which included the bright shades of red turning to black and white, showed the group clearly appreciates film and other visual arts.

The following song, “Lucid,” retained the theater vibe and the red lighting. Then (G)I-dle performed “Put It Straight” in front of a stormy, cloudy and swirling background—acting out the lyrics as much as singing them. The latter song featured a metal, machine-gun percussion that came alive on the rapped verse.

(G)I-dle kept the dance moving through to the very end with songs like “I’m THE TREND,” “I Do” and “Oh my god.” By the end, it seemed the five still had energy to spare.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Gavin Legaspi at Instagram.com/batang.gabino.