Soaking it all up, and getting soaked, at Psy's 'Summer Swag'

What’s a Psy "Summer Swag" concert like? It’s the superstar doing a whole lot of dancing, running and pointing as he screams “Jump!” to a ballistic crowd, while water cannons blast over megahits like “Champion” (2002), “Gangnam Style” (2012) and “That That” (2022) on a hot summer day.

In other words, it’s a four-hour fest of straight dopamine where the weak don’t survive, but man, do those electric beats keep you going.

At his concert in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi, on Saturday, the first stop of this year’s edition, I could see the festivities start all the way down at Seoul Station, as streams of people dolled up in blue — the official dress code — hopped on the subway and buses heading to the venue. Many wore Crocs and sandals and donned waterproof bags for the monsoon-like event. Outside Uijeongbu Sports Complex, concertgoers of all ages with blue handkerchiefs tied around their heads drank coffee at cafes — “You need the caffeine,” I heard one person say — posed for photos on the street and buzzed with anticipation.

Park Da-hye, 33, who said she has been coming to "Summer Swag" every year since 2021, sees dressing up as part of the fun. This year, she went for a “mischievous” look.

As for the clear goggles perched on her head, she said, “I’m not really going to use them. They’re just for style."

Those goggles must have come in handy at some point, though. The concert started with a bang, literally, as Psy shot up onto the stage in his signature entrance amid bursts of stage effects, and from then on, I could barely stop to think, or sometimes even open my eyes, as the music blasted and water poured down over the crowd. Fair warning to newcomers: Imagine a sudden downpour — and multiply it. Even with a raincoat on, you will get wet.

Psy, armed with a long list of hits from his 26-year career, delivered crowd-pleasers including “Entertainer” (2006), “Gentleman” (2013) and “I Luv It" (2017). Then came the so-called encore, which follows the official set but, as longtime "Summer Swag" concertgoers know, is very much part of the show. It included a medley of festival favorites by other artists, from So Chan-whee’s “Tears” (2000) to Wonder Girls’ “Nobody" (2008).

Throughout the night, Psy showed off his signature charisma and front man forte, keeping the audience at full throttle as he sweated, bopped, jumped, swayed and “Gangnam Style”-d across the stage under bursts of fireworks, lasers and water.

Joining him as guests, another fixture of "Summer Swag," were singer Sung Si-kyung, a longtime collaborator of Psy’s, and Hwasa, a member of girl group Mamamoo who is signed to Psy’s agency, P Nation. The two served as brief breathers between Psy’s high-energy sets, with Sung joining Psy for “Passionate Goodbye” (2012) before singing ballads including “Every Moment of You” (2014) and “On the Street” (2006). Hwasa, despite injuring her knee onstage, pushed through and finished her set with “Good Goodbye" (2025).

Getting drenched and jumping around on a hot day may sound like a playground for the young. As one friend told me, the popular Summer Swag ritual of bringing water guns and spraying them at strangers “feels like a socially acceptable way to flirt.”

There were, indeed, plenty of couples in the crowd, including Park Beom-young, 31, who followed his girlfriend, Lee Hwa-jin, 26, to the concert even though he “doesn’t usually go to this kind of thing.”

Ha Yoon-joo, who is in her 30s and came with a friend, could also see the romantic potential. “It’s a good place to meet people and have fun," she said. “People do ganggangsullae [traditional Korean circle dance] in the back."

Kang Seo-jun, a 21-year-old college student who is no stranger to festivals, came because he thought Psy’s concerts “are just on a completely different level.”

But there were also plenty of families, with parents bringing their teenage children, or, in some cases, adult children bringing their older parents. I swapped face tattoos and photo poses with a gaggle of friends in their 50s and talked with a woman in her 60s who had come with her two sisters.

Experiencing "Summer Swag" for the first time, I could see why the annual event has become virtually synonymous with summer in Korea, drawing fans across age groups since 2011. The singer is set to hold 14 performances in nine cities this year.

With its upbeat, crowd-pleasing music leaving you with barely a moment to catch your breath, it is, as Ha put it, a once-in-a-lifetime chance to “legally get soaked and cool off.”

Saturday's concert ended a little before 10 p.m., which might be considered a little early for "Summer Swag" shows. But it went out with a blast: a second rendition of “It’s Art” (2010) with Psy repeating the chorus, turning parts of it into a singalong and others into bursts of water-soaked frenzy as he ran across the stage.

Or, as Psy put it, using an expletive: “That was one hell of an ‘It’s Art.’ I'll remember this one.”

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]

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