Musicians gradually return to in-person concerts

As South Korea prepares to “live with” COVID-19, the music industry is readying itself to bring back live in-person concerts.

While large music festivals have been canceled or switched to online formats, some individual artists are already returning to physical stages.

From Oct. 29-31, K-pop artist Kwon Jin-ah will hold a solo concert series titled “The Way for Us.”

According to her agency Antenna Music, “The Way for Us,” named after her latest EP released in February, will mark the artist’s second solo concert series.

She will see fans eye-to-eye for the first time in two years, with the last offline events being her first series, “Shape of Me” in 2019.

Singer-songwriter Jukjae will go on a nationwide tour for the first time since his debut in 2014. The concerts will start on Nov. 19 at Yes24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul, before heading to Gwangju, Busan and Daegu.

Artist Paul Kim, who last toured in 2019, returns with “Bruising.”

The tour will begin with two concerts, Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, at Olympic Hall in Songpa-gu, southern Seoul.

The artist is scheduled to perform in nine cities, including Busan, Jeonju in North Jeolla Province, Daegu, Gwangju, Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province, Ulsan and Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province, his agency Neuron Music said in early October.

Paul Kim recently returned with the new single album “After Summer.”

A number of indie bands -- Okdal, Broccoli You Too, Soran and Daybreak -- have also announced in-person concerts in late October and early November.

In compliance with social distancing measures, audience members of all offline concerts are required to sanitize their hands, wear masks, avoid singing along and must not bring food to the concert venues.

Some seats are to remain vacant, allowing only for groups of two to sit together.

As health authorities plan to ease the distancing measures for a gradual return to normal life, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Friday that multiuse facilities, including cafes, restaurants, cinemas and concert halls, will be allowed to stay open until midnight from Monday through the end of the month.

By Lee Si-jin (sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)