A Complete Dreamcatcher Preview, Handong Return Highlights, and a“High-Tension” Company

K-Pop — Dreamcatcher Recall

The last week of October of 2020 brings with it teasers for a return to full-strength Dreamcatcher to K-Pop.

With Dreamcatcher’s 2nd online concert now less than a week away, anticipation is growing among Dreamcatcher fans about not just another set of amazing songs (now with the “Lose Myself” tracklist added, not to mention a live band) but also the return of a full set with all seven members. After a year away, Handong slotting back in will no doubt be a welcome sight to see as it returns Dreamcatcher to full strength.

But Dreamcatcher couldn’t get away from this past week without giving us a little taste of what that might look like, and the Korea Music Drive-in Festival (KMDF 2020) was the perfect opportunity to do so. Dreamcatcher joined 30+ other artists in a socially-distanced drive-in concert event in Incheon, and even though they were only able to work with their two title tracks from this year (“Scream” and “BOCA”), they didn’t disappoint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60fmPeaSg_0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPSH-l0rWOY

From what we saw, Handong picked up parts that were held by JiU, Siyeon, Yoohyeon, and SuA, and even though the audio mix appears to still need a little work (no surprise there considering the turnaround time needed to submit it for the concert and Handong’s return) that meant you couldn’t help but hear Handong singing her lines live. Combine this with her new dark blue hair and matching outfit and it really felt natural — a good sign for both her confidence and the group’s presentation of the song.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Py9c6Z78g0[/embed]

Dreamcatcher Company was in full swing getting Handong back front and center with some individual content as well, both for Dreamcatcher as well as her solo work. This past week saw a new vlog where we saw her get free of her quarantine hotel room, pay a visit to the company (and also steal a “Dystopia: Tree of Language” copy for herself), record some songs with LEEZ, and of course, return to the dorm and her roommate Gahyeon.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl5EStWbnEo[/embed]

We also got to see Handong finally appear on “Catch the Little Dreamcatcher of Chinese”, Dreamcatcher’s Chinese language series. Since Dreamcatcher started this outreach to its Chinese fans on the Bilibili platform, the obvious benefit of having Dreamcatcher’s resident Chinese member on it hadn’t been realized due to her being apart from the group. Watching her not only appear for the first time on the show but also have Yoohyeon help her make up for not being able to participate in the “Between Dreamcatcher and Me” series was both wholesome and informational.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuI0DdVwZlk[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku7MPlzN6BE[/embed]

Finally, we got to see Handong leverage her newly-minted Chinese fanbase with two interviews she did for outlets prior to returning to Korea, both in relation to the promotion of her first solo single “First Light of Dawn”. Handong’s been seen at times as being a fashion and style-minded member of the group, so having her do video interviews in this vein was insightful — not to mention we got another little make-up participation from prior promotions for Dreamcatcher (the “What’s in my Bag” series from Dreamcatcher’s Notes). All in all, for Handong fans (and of course fans of full strength Dreamcatcher), it was definitely a good week.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVQuc5sam84[/embed]

Dreamcatcher wasn’t the only one offering a bit of hype for the upcoming online concert this past week, either. In a rare showing (and at SuA’s prodding), Dreamcatcher CEO Lee Joo Won, sporting a Motley Crue sweatshirt, popped into a recent V Live, thanking Insomnias, throwing up a couple of finger hearts and asking people to tune into the concert as the group has been working hard to prepare.

The seemingly casual relationship between Dreamcatcher and their CEO reflects an equally close relationship the group happens to have with their staff and backup dancers. It’s pretty obvious that Lee Joo Won has invested a lot in Dreamcatcher’s members, a reflection of his now years-old interview of keeping faith in the ex-MINX members, adding a couple more talents, and turning them into a group focused on touring and making their own sound.

So it should be no surprise that SuA commented that they were all considered to be “high-tension” (high energy) at their company parties, either. As someone who’s worked for smaller companies myself, the good ones tend to be more like families rather than actual businesses, and while work does get done, at the end of the day there’s a natural tendency towards personal relationships and closeness over strict business associations.

[embed]https://www.vlive.tv/video/215438[/embed]

If anything, the above recently subtitled Dreamcatcher’s Note: BOCA episode 6 on the V Live platform, where SuA puts a bunch of staff and dancers through fun lie detector tests, certainly showcases this personal closeness. Obviously, we can’t know more than what the company chooses to show us publicly, but from all indications, Dreamcatcher Company appears to continue to occupy a somewhat progressive space in the sometimes aggressively business-like, stringent policies that tend to be attributed to K-Pop companies.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIw15fAOa54[/embed]

Even though we were treated to SuA dolphin-laughing and being loud as per usual throughout that V Live I linked, we got reminded this past week that she does have the ability to present a softer side with a Dreamcatcher Special Clip of her covering “Every Moment of You” from the My Love From the Star OST. The series itself was a romantic fantasy show, with the premise centering around a centuries-old alien cynical about humans who ends up falling in love with an actress in the modern era, just before he has to depart back to his home planet. As such, the song as originally presented is an emotional rollercoaster, but that is clearly well within SuA’s wheelhouse, as she sings, tends to flowers, writes in her diary, and occasionally looks outside as if waiting for something, or someone. She even got a little direction from fellow member Siyeon.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbxzh078jr4[/embed]

After seeing previous special clips, mostly highlighting SuA’s choreography and Main Dancer talent (“Havana”, “Taki Taki”, and “Copycat”, in case you were curious), seeing a more vocal-focused clip was a nice treat and a reminder that her, like most of Dreamcatcher, are multi-level talents. I’d like to think she was thinking of either Insomnias or her fellow members when singing this song, and it shows.

Other things you may have missed this past week in Dreamcatcher news (courtesy of the /r/dreamcatcher subreddit) include:

• Dami telling fans to look forward to why she was wearing makeup during a recent V Live. A private video on the Dreamcatcher YouTube channel that was spotted after this was speculated to have been a Special Clip, but ended up being the aforementioned SuA cover, so we’re still curious about what Dami managed to cook up for Dreamcatcher fans.
• Yoohyeon discussing potential hair colors for a future Dreamcatcher comeback. Speaking in English, she talks about what she thought about other members’ hair color, and the chances of her going her iconic silver one more time. Bonus info — she’s done with tattoos, though as someone who wanted to stop at one tattoo and ended up with four, I’ll believe that when I see it.
• JiU inadvertently spoiling Handong’s appearance at KMDF with the group, making it the first seven-member appearance since her departure. For once, it wasn’t spoiler-prone Yoohyeon or Gahyeon who revealed something but leader JiU, who blabbed about Handong’s nervousness over appearing with the group for KMDF 2020 pretty much the day before. You can see SuA’s eyes shift to the staff as she says it, and, of course, roasting JiU mercilessly as she points out the chat box getting excited over a spoiler. Even leaders can mess up sometimes.

Obviously, next week’s recap is going to be overshadowed by the highly-anticipated Dystopia: Seven Spirits concert, so expect a separate writeup on that, as well as all the Dreamcatcher news from the week! See you then.