See Dermot Kennedy live in Seoul on August 18, 2026, at Myunghwa Live Hall, where his "The Weight of the Woods" era meets favorites such as "Outnumbered" and "Better Days". Plan your ticket purchase and get ready for a concert shaped by raw vocals, acoustic passages and crowd-sized choruses
Dermot Kennedy in Seoul: a more intimate encounter with The Weight of the Woods tour
Dermot Kennedy performs at Myunghwa Live Hall in Seoul on August 18, 2026, at 20:00. For the Irish singer-songwriter, this is not just another stop on the schedule of "The Weight of the Woods" tour, but his first standalone concert in South Korea. He returns to the country after performing at the Hyundai Card Da Vinci Motel festival in 2022, making this date a special opportunity for the Seoul audience to see him for the first time in a full concert format under his own name.
Kennedy's concert identity is built on a powerful, raspy vocal, lyrics that move between intimate confession and huge collective choruses, and arrangements that combine folk, pop and rock. His most recognizable songs, including "Outnumbered", "Power Over Me" and "Better Days", have built an audience that responds equally strongly to quiet, acoustic moments and to songs that grow into mass sing-alongs inside the venue.
Tickets for this event are currently on sale.
The album defining the current stage of his career
"The Weight of the Woods", released on April 3, 2026, is Kennedy's third studio album. The release contains 14 songs and runs for around 50 minutes, while sonically moving toward a more organic, stripped-back approach. Vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, percussion and choral parts are placed in the foreground, alongside elements of traditional Irish instrumentation. This is important context for the Seoul concert because the current tour is not designed merely as a retrospective of earlier hits, but as a presentation of new material in a format strongly focused on live performance.
Songs such as "Funeral", "Refuge", "Honest", "Sycamore", "Turnstile" and the title track "The Weight of the Woods" demonstrate the album's range. Kennedy addresses love, loss, faith, home and a sense of belonging without abandoning the melodic directness for which he has become known. Gabe Simon's production relies on the warmth of live instruments, while part of the material draws direct inspiration from the Irish landscape and Kennedy's relationship with the place he comes from.
Immediately after its release, the album reached number one on the UK albums chart. This made Kennedy the first Irish solo artist to reach number one in the United Kingdom with each of his first three studio albums, following "Without Fear" in 2019 and "Sonder" in 2022. The current tour therefore presents both the new album and a catalogue that the audience already knows well.
What previous performances reveal about the concert approach
Reviews of performances on the current tour show that Kennedy does not treat the new album as a brief addition to old hits. At the London concert at The O2 in June, a large part of the programme was devoted to songs from "The Weight of the Woods", alongside returns to older favourites such as "Lost", "An Evening I Will Not Forget", "All My Friends", "After Rain", "Better Days" and "Power Over Me". The performance combined a full band, choral sections and more stripped-back moments in which the voice and the song remained at the centre.
However, it is important to distinguish what has been seen on previous tour dates from what has been confirmed for Seoul. There is no reason to assume that the song order, number of musicians, additional stage, choir or production details will be completely identical at Myunghwa Live Hall. That is precisely why it makes more sense to build expectations around Kennedy's general concert pattern: powerful vocals, sudden shifts in dynamics, acoustic passages and choruses that open outward toward the audience.
In Seoul, the context will be different because of the venue itself. Myunghwa Live Hall is a much more compact space than the large arenas and stadiums where he performed during the European leg of the tour, which could make the combination of quiet verses and vocal climaxes feel more immediate.
Why Seoul is an important stop on the tour
The Seoul date falls within a run of Asian concerts in August. According to Kennedy's currently published schedule, he performs at Summer Sonic Tokyo on August 14, at Summer Sonic Osaka on August 15, followed by Seoul, then Manila on August 21 and Jakarta on August 23. Seoul is therefore part of a compact Asian leg, but it stands apart because it is his first standalone performance in South Korea.
For long-time fans, that detail carries particular weight. A standalone date allows for a different focus than the 2022 festival performance, while the current album provides a clear framework for the relationship between new songs and established favourites.
The concert could be particularly appealing to three groups of listeners:
- listeners who have followed Kennedy since "Without Fear" and want to hear how the older songs have developed within his current concert sound
- audiences who discovered him through "Outnumbered", "Power Over Me", "Better Days" or the collaboration "Paradise" with MEDUZA
- fans of contemporary singer-songwriter music looking for a blend of folk, pop, rock dynamics and emotionally charged vocals
Myunghwa Live Hall: a venue created for closer contact with the performer
Myunghwa Live Hall is located at 30, Beodeunaru-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. The venue has a capacity of around 1,500 visitors and is arranged across three audience levels. The configuration can be adapted to the event, including a standing floor area and assigned seating. For a concert such as Kennedy's, this is an important characteristic: the venue is large enough to accommodate a full concert production but noticeably smaller than the arenas already visited by the current tour.
The venue is equipped with professional lighting, sound, video and stage systems. The central part of the audience area is located at floor level, while the upper levels provide different viewing angles toward the stage. Because the exact configuration for this concert depends on the event setup, it is not useful to promise a particular view or arrangement in advance. Visitors should check the sector designation and type of place stated on their own ticket.
The size of the venue could be one of the greatest advantages of this date. Kennedy is an artist whose songs often begin very sparingly, with voice, piano or guitar, before expanding into a full arrangement. In a venue of approximately 1,500 places, these dynamic changes can feel more direct than in a stadium, particularly in songs where the audience joins in on the chorus.
It is worth securing tickets in good time.
How to get to Myunghwa Live Hall
The venue is located in Yeongdeungpo-gu, west of Seoul's central districts and close to the Yeouido business district. For most visitors, public transport is a more practical choice than a car because the venue states that the parking area inside the building cannot be used by event visitors.
The most useful options for getting there are:
- Yeongdeungpo Market Station on Line 5 - from Exit 3, it takes approximately 13 to 14 minutes to walk to the venue
- Singil Station on Lines 1 and 5 - the walk to the venue takes approximately 15 minutes
- local bus Yeongdeungpo 03 - the stop by Korea Workers' Compensation & Welfare Service, Southern Branch is located very close to the venue
- Yeongdeungpo Traditional Market Rotary bus stop - it is around an 8-minute walk away and connects several city bus routes
If you are arriving by car or taxi, it is useful to plan your return in advance. Nearby parking facilities are an option for drivers, but availability may vary during the evening.
Brief context for visitors travelling to Seoul
Yeongdeungpo-gu also includes Yeouido, one of the city's important business and transport districts. Visitors who want to combine the concert with a shorter stay in this part of Seoul can spend time before the performance around Yeouido Park or the Hangang. Yeouido Park is located near the river and is connected to Lines 5 and 9 via Yeouido Station, while Yeouido Hangang Park has direct access from Line 5 via Yeouinaru Station.
For travellers unfamiliar with Seoul, it is important to leave enough time for transfers and walking. Myunghwa Live Hall is not immediately next to a subway exit, so the walking portion of the journey should be included in the arrival plan.
Which songs have the greatest sing-along potential
Although the exact set list for Seoul should not be assumed in advance, Kennedy's catalogue has several clear anchors. "Outnumbered" remains one of his key songs and the single that brought him a major international breakthrough. "Power Over Me" combines his recognizable vocal with more rhythmic, powerful production, while "Better Days" has a chorus built for a large audience. "All My Friends", "After Rain" and "An Evening I Will Not Forget" belong to the older part of the catalogue that regularly returns in his concert identity.
The new album changes the balance of that repertoire. "Funeral" brings a more open, almost anthemic energy, while "Refuge" and the title track are closer to the kind of stripped-back emotionality for which Kennedy has long been known. "Turnstile" introduces a more pronounced Irish instrumental character, while "Honest" and "Sycamore" further connect the album with themes of home, identity and personal vulnerability.
Concerts from the tour so far suggest that "The Weight of the Woods" has a central role, while the older songs connect the current phase with the earlier part of his career. Visitors who have not yet listened to the album may find it useful to become familiar with several of the new songs before the concert.
Practical things worth checking before setting out
The concert is scheduled for 20:00, but the door-opening time is not stated in the sources used for this guide. The same applies to any possible support act, guest, performance duration and the exact audience configuration for this date. These details should not be assumed based on other concerts on the tour.
Before leaving, it is useful to check:
- the permitted entry time for the venue and any possible gathering time for standing sections
- the exact sector or entrance stated on the ticket
- rules regarding bags, cameras and items that may be brought inside
- the last practical metro or bus connection to your accommodation after the concert
- the weather forecast for the walking section between the station and the venue
Myunghwa Live Hall has space for lockers and other supporting facilities, but the use of individual services may depend on the rules of the specific event. For international visitors, it is useful to keep the venue's address saved in a Korean map display as well, particularly for taxis or navigation in the immediate area.
A concert for an audience that wants to hear both power and quiet
The most interesting part of Kennedy's performance is not simply the volume of his vocal, but the way the songs move from an almost private tone into a shared concert moment. On the current tour, that contrast is further emphasized by "The Weight of the Woods", an album that deliberately moves away from overly polished studio production and returns to more natural textures of voice, piano, guitar, choir and traditional instruments.
Myunghwa Live Hall is an interesting choice for this type of material. Instead of a vast stadium distance, Seoul gets a space where the relationship between performer and audience is physically closer. That does not mean that the production will be small, but that the emotional details of the songs could carry greater weight. For long-time fans, an additional reason is the fact that Kennedy is returning to South Korea after approximately four years, this time with a full standalone concert and a new album that has defined his 2026.
Sources:
- Newsis - date, time, venue, return to South Korea and the fact that this is his first standalone concert in the country
- Dermot Kennedy - current tour schedule and Asian stops around the Seoul date
- Official Charts - the result achieved by the album "The Weight of the Woods" and the historical fact of three consecutive studio albums reaching number one
- Apple Music - release date, number of songs, duration and musical context of the album "The Weight of the Woods"
- Rolling Stone - work on the album, collaboration with Gabe Simon and elements of Irish instrumental sound
- The Upcoming - description of the London performance on the current tour and the relationship of the new material to the older catalogue
- Myunghwa Live Hall - capacity, venue layout, address, technical equipment, public transport and parking information
- Visit Seoul - brief context for Yeouido Park and Yeouido Hangang Park