MAMAMOO performs at UBS Arena in in Elmont, New York on May 16, 2023. Photo: Dennis DeSilva. Photography access was not granted at the Oakland show.

OAKLAND —The Bay Area debut of K-pop quartet Mamamoo at Oakland Arena offered up plenty of bombast and confetti, but the Korean group shined brightest on its slower, softer songs where their voices didn’t have to compete against rattling bass or the sleek, synth- and guitar-laden production. It wasn’t a surprise—being that members Solar, Moonbyul, WheeIn and Hwasa have built a reputation as pure vocalists in K-pop—but rather a revelation.

The quartet took its recorded songs in varied new directions on stage, making most stand out by blending in elements that worked with Latin, Spanish or Middle Eastern embellishments, as well as American-sounding pop and theater music.

Mamamoo debuted in 2014 as part of the third generation of K-pop acts. They performed songs from throughout their catalog, with a focus on their most recent record, 2022’s Mic On. Appropriately, this tour is called “My Con,” and Oakland got the penultimate show.

Mamamoo performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland, Calif. on June 2, 2023. Roman Gokhman/STAFF.

Following a piped-in rendition of their own song “Wind Flower,” with thousands of fans raising their radish-shaped light sticks upward, the four made their entrance two by two, wearing black embroidered pants that looked like a bullfighter’s taleguilla. Mamamoo opened with celebratory scene setter “1,2,3 Eoi!” joined by a corps of dancers after the first couple of verses. Throughout the nearly two-and-a-half-hour performance, the dancers would come and disappear, sometimes multiple times per song.

The opener went right into the jazzy “Mr. Ambiguous.” With the combination of lyrics in English and the choreography, the song felt more like a Broadway number than modern K-pop. The dancers returned for an interlude that started off Spanish-sounding, with castanets, before turning more Middle Eastern and, finally, full-on EDM, which turned into “AYA,” with deep rumbling bass that fit the rapped lines by Moonbyul. Her deeper range and voice (think Awkwafina) added texture to each song on which she rapped. The Latin-tinged “ILLELLA,” which followed, was an early standout.

The four then encouraged attendees to start a wave with their light sticks before power ballad “Decalcomanie,” which was highlighted both by their belting out lyrics and Moonbyul’s rapping. The disco-inflected “HIP” ended in a crunchy, industrial breakdown. Any band or artist in any genre has to deal with creating a set list that doesn’t grow tiring, and Mamamoo accomplished the rare victory of having one with most songs standing apart from each other and memorable for different sonic reasons.

“Taller Than You” was preceded by a fun animated video segment (VCR) with a much stronger plot line than your typical in-show break. Possibly inspired by the “My Little Pony” TV show, it involved fairies wanting to go to a Mamamoo concert, with one holdout. The group later explained that Solar wrote the storyline for it herself. After the video the four returned to the stage in red jumpsuits and holding unsmiling masks of each others’ face to complete the skit. “Taller Than You” was a dramatic power pop number that ended in punk-like madness.

The show had expert pacing. Some of this had to do with there being just the four members (leading to fewer introductions and small talk), but there were fewer than typical video segments. When the four did stop to talk, it was always much more detailed than “We love Oakland!”

For the traditional-to-K-pop solo segments, Mamamoo again mixed it up, performing shortened versions of each-other’s songs instead. Highlights of three included Hwasa covering Moonbyul’s brooding “Eclipse” while wearing a black military-style uniform and Moonbyul belting out Hwasa’s “TWIT.” The best solo fit belonged to Wheein, who performed Solar’s “Honey” in an all-yellow outfit with a fluffy hat.

Mamamoo performs at Oakland Arena in Oakland, Calif. on June 2, 2023.

The four then came back together on a medley of their individual songs that blended bangers with sweet balladry and throwback ’70s grooves with Bollywood-like dance moves on the last song, “Maria.”

By this point in the show, it was obvious these four could really sing. The performance relied so little on over-the-top dance moves that weaker voices would have been difficult to hide. But then Mamamoo broke out the one-two punch of sweet ballads “Paint Me” and “Star Wind Flower Sun.” On the first, they stood motionless at the front of the stage, their strong voices sucking all of the air out of the room. The second was a slow-burner, which eventually became more powerful.

Mamamoo followed that up with another Latin-inspired tune, “Egotistic,” which had brass embellishments and banger “gogobebe.” They got frisky on “Starry Night,” which began a capella, with a couple of the members singing a few lines and sensually posing with each other before the beat kicked in and the song took off. That song transitioned seamlessly into dramatically building pop song “Wind Flower” to close out the main set.

The momentum stayed high in the encore, which included popular songs like “Yes I Am” and “Um Oh Ah Yeah.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.