OAKLAND — It would be reductive to call Stray Kids the hot new K-pop group on the block.

For one thing, they’ve released nine EPs and two full albums since 2017. Their latest, March EP Oddinary, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (the third K-pop act to do so, after BTS and SuperM. For another, “K-pop” fits the eight-member Stray Kids more in aesthetic and mass appeal than in sound. If anything, call their sound KDM, or sometimes K-rock, or most often, K-hop. The group, which proudly writes and produces most of its own songs—also an oddity in K-pop—has concocted a blend of electronic bangers and fiery bars. That’s what was on display at the penultimate date of their “Maniac” tour at Oakland Arena; their first arena tour in the U.S.

The near-capacity crowd drank up every move and sat on every word by Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N., most of whose English flowed so naturally that they didn’t need the customary translator until the second half of the show. The group was fired up from the moment it took the stage at 8 p.m.—the advertised start time was 7:30 p.m., and it wasn’t clear whether there was a delay due to a police investigation into a threat made. The show took place without incident—delivering banger after fiery banger, including six of the seven songs from Oddinary.

The pace slowed only for the customary-in-K-pop video segments, chats and a couple of ballads toward the end, including a cover of Justin Bieber’s “Hold On” that the members seemed to pull out of thin air. It came during a rotating segment where different songs are sprinkled into into the set, but this one hasn’t been played before—at least not recently.

The production was top-notch. The main stage was connected to a secondary stage by a short ramp. There was a large curved video board behind the stage and a round lighting rig above that looked like a smaller version of the arena’s roof. As Stray Kids opened with “MANIAC,” this structure unfurled and descended from the rafters, spinning and sparkling like a giant celestial eye.

Stray Kids sure do love spider aesthetics. Their initial outfits included silvery spiderweb-like jewelry hanging over black shirts. Then at the outset of “VENOM,” they began the song from a bunched-up position, waving their arms around as if they were one single arachnid. At some point, giant inflatable robotic-looking spider legs appeared.

During the next song, “Red Lights,” all eight were made to look like they were connected to an evil overlord by ropes, web. The performance recalled NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” video, but more menacing, like the barbed-wire bars Stray Kids dropped on many of their songs, with bits of sweeter melodic singing thrown in.

Where other K-pop groups include videos of themselves hanging out on couches and talking about favorite foods, or generically speechifying about fan appreciation, Stray Kids limited the unnecessary banter, and their video bits were less VH1 “Behind the Music” and more sci-fi suspense sequences. When they did speak, Bang Chan (who did much of the speaking) and his group mates rarely needed translation, which helped keep momentum going.

The group quickly blasted through uptempo jams like “Easy,” “ALL IN” and “District 9,” which stood out from one another but all featured bombastic rap breaks and unique electronica. “Back Door” featured some R&B leanings but still devolved into something much noisier and rambunctious. The group doesn’t call its sound KDM or K-hop; instead opting for “noisy,” or Noeasy, (the title of its 2021 LP).

“Stray kids, assemble!” they declared before they were lifted off the stage by pedestals.

The rock influences began to show more on songs like “Lonely St.,” which could pass for emo-influenced indie rock.

Starting with “Thunderous,” the show began to focus more on the band’s Asian cultures. This song included martial-arts-inspired dancing, Asian imagery, red streamers and more moving set pieces made to resemble a temple.

A live band—drummer, guitarist, bassist and keyboardist—appeared on stage behind the Stray Kids for “DOMINO,” “God’s Menu” (it was fun watching the musicians head-banging along to this one) and others. “CHEESE” was humorous,  with its name shouted repeatedly: “Parmesan! Cheese!” The group then combined “YAYAYA” and “ROCK” into one heavy modern rocker with a guitar solo straight out of the ’80s and some fun dance moves. Bang Chan then talked about how the group used to perform the two while busking.

At this point, the group broke up into two quartets and took turns performing some short snippets and the aforementioned Bieber cover. Han performed a freestyle rap, making a point of running to the band to go over strategy beforehand. Changbin also had a chance to shine, as did Bang Chan, Lee Know, Seungmin and I.N., who performed “Waiting for Us.” At that point, it was the first pop-rock ballad of the night.

Following “Muddy Water,” which Stray Kids explained “tells the world to get ready for the new generation and wash out the muddy water,” came “Scars,” another unique show highlight. The song combined ’80s soft rock balladry, intense rapping and EDM (just try to picture that). One of the few unnecessary breaks came next, followed by one of Stray Kids’ early hits, “Hellevator,” and “Victory Song,” which included some thrash metal elements like screeching guitars.

With the concert coming to an end, the band returned to perform four more songs including new tune “Star Lost.”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.