Dreamcatcher Kicks Off 2023 World Tour On The US East Coast, Bringing Energy And Nostalgia To Fans

K-Pop — Dreamcatcher Recall

The seven-member K-Pop girl group hit the road this past week, starting a set of shows that intend on, among other things, telling fans they’re the Reason they keep going.

(NOTE: Want to see the REASON: MAKES 2023 World Tour (US leg) setlist? Click the link to check it out!)

If anything will mark Dreamcatcher’s impact on the K-pop industry, it will be the fact that they raised visibility to the value of touring, engaging with fans who normally wouldn’t be able to see them for on their native soil in South Korea. One of (if not the) most-traveled group in the industry, Dreamcatcher’s tours have spanned multiple continents, countries, and cities, and their now-veteran stage and concert presence has created one of the best show experiences that I’ve personally gotten into in my many years of seeing musical acts.

As such, it was no surprise that Dreamcatcher decided to tour early this year (though the choice of returning to North America was a surprise, as I’d expected the group to hit regions they hadn’t been to since before the pandemic). It was also not unexpected to see them kick their latest tour off with a ton of energy and a brand new setlist that I think highlighted the group’s discography extremely well. Without further ado, let’s jump into the news about that, and much more, from this past week!

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtpW9nR7iGk[/embed]

The official Dreamcatcher YouTube channel is still working its way through a bit more prior tour content, and this past week was no different. We got part 3 of SuA’s vlog about their trip to the region, and with it a bit more of SuA’s unique and somewhat chaotic editing style. There was food, fashion, and of course, seemingly boundless energy, and I’m starting to see that part of SuA’s style is to bring in other members of the group to participate, which is entirely typical of her. If Siyeon’s vlogs are like the vibe of enjoying a chill iced tea on a porch on a warm summer’s day, SuA’s are a jolt of strong coffee that wakes you up and keeps you going on a Monday morning at work, and that’s not a bad thing.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9A1eCgVliI[/embed]

The other video content drop, appropriately timed to coincide with the group’s first show on their new tour, was a highly-anticipated and speculated special clip of the group set to 2022 B-side “Fairytale”. Many fans, including myself, noticed the filming the group was doing during performances of this song on their latest EU tour, and speculated that we might see something out of the official channel eventually. It took a while, but we finally saw it pop up, and it was definitely worth watching.

We haven’t seen a clip like this one since 2018’s “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back”, and even though the fandom has grown exponentially since then the same energy and love for their fans and performing still manifests itself in this one. “Fairytale” has become my number one Dreamcatcher B-side, unseating long-time favorite “Lullaby”, and I think part of it is the lyrics and the vibe of the song. Given the words and the delivery, I feel like Dreamcatcher feels a sort of wonder and self-reflection at how fortunate they are to be as successful as they have been in such a harshly competitive industry, and that’s what the clip shows as well. It was just a really cool treat for fans to remember the previous tour, especially as they threw in the audience audio for that extra special “live” feeling.

[embed]https://twitter.com/hf_dreamcatcher/status/1630797188749197314[/embed]

But speaking of tours, three great shows on the US East Coast started things off for Dreamcatcher, beginning with a first-time trip for the group to Atlanta, Georgia. With rock-style fashion and a brand-new setlist, the group set out to entertain fans in the southeast US. As this was the first show, we got a peek at what the group’s performances had in store, and I’ve tallied the songs as well as the count on discography here:

REASON: MAKES 2023 World Tour (US leg) Setlist (subject to change):

• Chase Me (Nightmare, 2017)
• YOU AND I (Escape the Era, 2018)
• What (Alone in the City, 2019)
• Scream (Dystopia: The Tree of Language, 2020)
• The Curse of the Spider (Raid of Dream, 2019)
• Diamond (The End of Nightmare, 2019)
• And There Was No One Left (The End of Nightmare, 2019)
• Polaris (Raid of Dream, 2019)
• Emotion (Nightmare, 2017)
• Wind Blows (Dystopia: Road to Utopia, 2021)
• Some Love (Apocalypse: Follow Us, 2022)
• Fairytale (Apocalypse: Follow Us, 2022)
• Sahara (Dystopia: The Tree of Language, 2020)
• VISION (Apocalypse: Follow Us, 2022)
• BOCA (Dystopia: Lose Myself, 2020)
• Silent Night (Raid of Dream, 2019)
• Mayday (Escape The Era, 2018)
• New Days (Dystopia: Road to Utopia, 2021)
• Full Moon (1st Fan Song, 2018
• Over The Sky (2nd Fan Song, 2019)
• REASON (3rd Fan Song, 2023)

Count:

• 2017 Nightmare (2) — Total: 2
• 2018: Escape the Era (2), Alone in the City (1), Full Moon (1) — Total: 4
• 2019: The End of Nightmare (2), Raid of Dream (3), Over the Sky (1) — Total: 6
• 2020: Dystopia: The Tree of Language (2), Dystopia: Lose Myself (1) — Total: 3
• 2021: Dystopia: Road to Utopia (2) — Total: 2
• 2022: Apocalypse: Follow Us (3) — Total: 3
• 2023: REASON (1) — Total: 1
• TOTAL SONGS: 21

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBWmaeuZP8I[/embed]

The result of this setlist was, I think, a well-balanced mix of older and newer Dreamcatcher songs, which were great for older and newer fans alike. If 2022’s tours were all about the return from the pandemic and more recent tunes that hadn’t had a chance to be performed, 2023 (at least for this leg) appears to be all about taking a trip down memory lane, while dropping in new music at the same time. I know that there have been fans, for example, that have been clamoring for “Alone in the City” title track “What” for a long time, and they will get their wish on this tour.

[embed]https://twitter.com/hf_dreamcatcher/status/1631522525359513601[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9Ra1IqYTwo[/embed]

Some of the early ballads and b-sides are great choices as well, as they haven’t been performed in nearly five years and also have the bonus of carrying some of the stage interaction of that time — “Polaris”, for example, brings back the very easy choreography JiU has the audience go through to help with the chorus, now augmented with official lightsticks. Other nuggets, like 2017’s “Emotion”, are welcome throwbacks to more humble beginnings for Dreamcatcher tours.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V7G3xpo3X8[/embed]

Of course, no Dreamcatcher tour is complete without some funny moments in the “ment” interludes, and while there’s some variance (the Atlanta show had a “Love Shake” contest, Washington D.C. had a “cute” battle featuring “Kawaikute Gomen” from the Confession Executive Committee franchise, and New York featured a “Somnia” screaming contest) the entertainment value was still pretty high. Dreamcatcher has always been great at popping the audience with their mix of humorous shenanigans, fanservice, and talent during these segments, so it’ll be interesting to see how they evolve over the course of the rest of the tour.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILAX3WOIRlE[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG8jwVYbQxs[/embed][embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3a8E8INDPs[/embed]

Obviously with all of this old-school and well-practiced performance came the more recent discography that has dictated Dreamcatcher’s 2022 (as well as their 2023). and the group delivered with “Apocalypse: Follow Us” discography performed for the first time on North American shores, and the audience expected, at some point, for newest fan song and most recent release “REASON” to be performed at some point in the set. What they got, however, was a real treat, as the entirety of the Encore portion of the setlist was every fan song they’ve ever done, from 2018’s “Full Moon”, onto 2019’s “Over The Sky”, and finally, 2023’s “REASON”. In three songs, Dreamcatcher encapsulated not only what they were theming the tour on but also who they feel is one of the most important parts of their success, the fans. Fan songs are made with these kinds of heartfelt sentiments in mind, and closing the shows with all of them is sure to be great for all the stops.

[embed]https://twitter.com/hf_dreamcatcher/status/1632229211502157825[/embed]

Dreamcatcher is off to a great start with their latest tour through the US, and next week, you can expect a full show write-up from me as I’ll be attending one of the shows from the tour. Feel free to look forward to that extensive breakdown from the live event, along with what I hope will be decent pictures, and until then, be sure to check out all the tour media from the group!