K-Music Festival 2021 Opening Performance: ADG7

“A most astonishing show musically and immensely entertaining- Ak Dan Gwang Chil [ADG7] from South Korea. WOW!!!” (Bob Boilen, NPR Music)

• ADG7 (Ak Dan Gwang Chil) made their critically acclaimed world debut in 2019 at WOMEX and GlobalFEST. With the explosions of a pop rock cabaret and the grooves of funk, the group draw on the sacred shamanic and secular ritual music and folk song of the Hwanghaedo region in western North Korea. Their powerful and engaging performances immerse audiences into a spiritual experience with grooves to make you move.
  
  
• Band Members:
  Kim Yak Dae (Daeguem / bamboo flute)
  Grace Park (Ajaeng / zither)
  Weon Meondongmaru (Gayaguem / 12 stringed zither)
  Lee Man Wol (Saenghwang / free reed mouth organ)
  Chun Gung Dal, Sunwoo Barabarabarabam (Percussions)
  Hong Ok, Myeong Wol, Yoo Wol (Vocals)
  Chun Jaehyun (Director)
  Bae Sanghee (Producer)
  Jung Saerom (Sound Engineer)
  

“The nine-member ensemble presents itself not as earnest traditionalists, but as a giddy show band with all the trappings of K-pop — choreographed singers, candy-coloured costumes and bouncy, upbeat, often swinging songs that link the concision of folk tunes to the catchy repetition of pop, with brash cymbals for drive and flute and zither lines for instrumental hooks.” (New York Times)

“There's a flowering folk-roots revival in South Korea - but no band combines virtuosity, charisma, and pure energy like Ak Dan Gwang Chil” (WFMU)