OAKLAND — K-pop sextet P1Harmony celebrated the lunar new year with a packed house at Paramount Theatre Sunday. The up-and-comers, who just formed in 2020, dazzled without the high drama of an arena production, which only helped to funnel attention to their impressive singing, rapping and choreography.

The group—Keeho, Theo, Jiung, Intak, Soul and Jongseob—were clearly up for the challenge. Without fancy moving props or stage design, the six appeared to give their all, sweating profusely just a few songs into the fast-paced set. The show included a few fun covers—Beyonce or Michael Jackson, anyone?—and above average physical exertion.

The current P1Harmony tour, dubbed “P1ustage H: P1ONEER,” just kicked off in L.A. on Friday and so Oakland was the second show of a 12-city route. It’s the group’s second North American tour. They were in the States in 2022, though they skipped the Bay Area then, Keeho pointed out. They were in great spirits, even peppering in an a cappella line from James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good).”

“Every time I do this it feels like a dream,” Keeho said early in the two-hour-long performance. “We’re so happy we got to kick off the new year so quickly with you guys.”

The show included songs from all five of the group’s EPs (three in the Disharmony series, 2020 to 2022; and two in the Harmony series, both last year). They kicked things off with dramatic banger “Look At Me Now.” Fans nearly drowned out the group until the emphatic rapped lines toward the end.

The audience again overpowered everything other than the backing bass and percussion tracks on “Back Down.” This song first showed the group’s angular choreography and emphatic delivery. It certainly wouldn’t be the last time. The third song of the night was “Scared,” on which P1Harmony showed well-performed masculine choreo over grinding modern rock guitar parts and emphatic rapping.

After catching their breaths, the group slowed the pace for one of just a couple of times for “Me Too,” an ’80s-type ballad with woodsy synths, which they performed while three large screens behind them showed images of old-school black and white composition notebooks. By the end, fans were swinging their lightsticks side to side.

That only lasted for a few minutes before P1Harmony ratcheted up the tension with club anthem “Doom Du Doom,” “End It,” with Beastie-Boys-like rapping and powerful singalongs over screeching guitars, and “Black Hole,” on which the choreography included the members breakdancing and, for a second, going airborne with high-flying kicks.

The group then split up into several units, singing either solo or in groups. These were mostly delivered in the form of brief blasts, which helped keep the pace up even during slower moments, which never surpassed one minute.

First, Theo performed a sleek and sexy cover of South Korean R&B singer Dean’s “21,” singing alongside falsetto backing tracks. Soul went next with a cover of another Korean artist: Joonil Jung. This piano ballad had Soul sitting on a chair in the corner of the stage.

If anyone in the room didn’t recognize either of those tunes, they certainly recognized Keeho singing a one-minute version of Beyonce’s “Deja Vu” before being joined by Jiung and Soul for a full rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Love Never Felt So Good,” on which they demonstrated their humorous side with some very Jackson-esque dance moves.

Rappers Intak and Jongseob then closed out this segment spitting grimy bars while wearing soft, white oversized coats and muzzles on collars around their necks. Would they dare actually put the muzzles over their faces? Why yes! Yes they would.

P1Harmony performed similar bangers “Siren” and “Mirror Mirror,” one going right into another without missing a beat. The energy in the room went up another notch for hyperactive thumper “Follow Me,” with more fun dancing and streamers blasting over the audience.

Between these and the skittering, poppy “BFF,” the group squeezed in pillowy soft-rock ballad “Gotta Get Back,” on which they collaborated with Pink Sweat$ (who was not in Oakland). The six sat on the stage floor, having fun with some cheesy hand choreography recalling the Backstreet Boys.

Another highlight was “Nemonade,” on which they sang in descending vocal scales. The end of the show included “Secret Sauce,” which they said they had not performed before this tour—with one member bouncing off and then rolling over another’s back, as well as “Do It Like This” and “Speaker.”

So yes, P1H showed they could do plenty with less at its Oakland concert. But by the look of things, they won’t be playing clubs in the U.S. for much longer.

“We’re gonna come back … hopefully in a bigger venue,” Keeho promised.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter. Follow photographer Steve Carlson at Instagram.com/SteveCarlsonSF and Twitter.com/SteveCarlsonSF.