Dreamcatcher Kicks Off Europe Leg Of 2024 Tour, Bringing Barcelona Joy

If there's something that Dreamcatcher seems to enjoy in their K-Pop careers, it's touring. I've said this before, but even though the group was envisioned as a touring group, you probably have to get some sort of fulfillment out of it to do as much of it as they've done over the years. Touring is a grind, filled with frequent travel, multiple countries and cities, and schedules that can be downright exhausting even under the best of rest time between shows.

Yet Dreamcatcher seems to relish the chance to bring their unique brand of music to fans around the world and to perform live in front of them. I can't recall another K-Pop group in their generation of artists that have traveled as much as they have - certainly not any groups under the "Big 4" K-Pop companies - and it's clear they love doing it.

Not even twenty-four hours ago, Dreamcatcher notched the first show of their 2024 Europe tour under their belt in Barcelona, Spain, and most of this past week was spent with preparations for that, and a bit of extra content. Let's take a look!

Dreamcatcher was in the Philippines twice this year - once for their one-off "Under The Moonlight" concert, and again for the Asia Artist Awards, an annual marathon-length ceremony filled with tons of talent. Dreamcatcher had the privilege of being able to perform for their peers and their audience for this show, presenting a unique dual-song performance stage that featured some of them on the artist section of the floor.

I was curious about their Note for this awards show, as Dreamcatcher also managed to take home one of the "Best Choice" awards, and they didn't disappoint when the video was posted early last week. For a group like Dreamcatcher, who built their sustainability in a non-standard way, every accolade matters, and winning awards, like many things in their careers, has come a bit late. To see SuA, JiU, and Yoohyeon talk about their feelings and thankfulness was great, and heartening, but there were also the usual backstage shenanigans, which I encourage you to check out.

Dreamcatcher Weverse LIVE - 유토니 - YOOHYE

유럽투어 D-1 - YOOHYEON

Weverse Dreamcatcher

Most of the group's focus was, not surprisingly, focused more on the future, and far from being content to rest on their AAA award laurels, much of Dreamcatcher's communication over paid platform Fromm talked about their anticipation for their trip through Europe. Yoohyeon, ever the fan-conscious, decided to drop in on Weverse for a bit under an hour to talk about that and more. She talked languages, a couple of things she wanted to do once she got back (will we see another gaming livestream in the future, perhaps?), and a close call where she lost her passport but got it back due to it being turned in. That last one would have obviously put her travel in jeopardy, but thankfully, in true Dreamcatcher fashion, things eventually worked out for the best.

The group headed out towards Barcelona, Spain for their first stop on the Europe tour, as always with airport fashion ranging from stylish and chic to the practical and comfy. Personally, for any long flight, I'm in the "practical and comfy" camp, so seeing Siyeon with a giant sweatshirt and jeans that you can easily sleep in made me nod in agreement as I watched the airport video.

The last time that Dreamcatcher was in Spain, prior to their Primavera Sound performance in 2022, was in Madrid way back in 2018, so for them to come back to their first solo concert in 6 years, armed with a ton more music to perform, had to have been great for the group. We're still seeing fancams pop up but the audience in Spain was filled with enthusiasm, plenty of singing along to Dreamcatcher songs, and Dreamcatcher themselves, who opted for combinations of fashionable dresses and rock-style dark colors. They also showed up with newer versions of songs, some of which flowed into each other. "OOTD" and "Black or White" were two such connected songs.

Looking at the 22-song setlist, it appears that songs pretty much matched January's Seoul concert (which technically kicked off the Luck Inside 7 Doors tour):

• OOTD (Outro Remix) (VillainS, 2023)
• Black or White (Dystopia: The Tree of Language, 2020)
• YOU AND I (Escape the Era, 2018)
• DEMIAN (Apocalypse: From Us, 2023)
• Propose (Apocalypse: From Us, 2023)
• Rising (VillainS, 2023)
• To. You (Apocalypse: From Us, 2023)
• Scream (Dystopia: The Tree of Language, 2020)
• Fairytale (Apocalypse: Follow Us, 2022)
• The Curse of the Spider (Metal Remix) (Raid of Dream, 2019)
• Diamond (The End of Nightmare, 2019)
• Shatter (VillainS, 2023)
• Wake Up (Prequel, 2017)
• Deja Vu (1st Verse Acapella Remix) (Raid of Dream, 2019)
• Lullaby (Rock Remix) (Fall Asleep in the Mirror, 2017)
• Mayday (Escape the Era, 2018)
• Silent Night (Raid of Dream, 2019)
• BOCA (Dystopia: Lose Myself, 2020)
• New Days (Dystopia: Road to Utopia, 2021)
• BONVOYAGE (Outro Remix) (Apocalypse: From Us, 2023)
• We Are Young (VillainS, 2023)
• REASON (REASON, 2023)

But that didn't mean that Barcelona didn't get anything unique. As is the case with many Dreamcatcher tours, the group adapted and made some attempts to speak in the local language, much to the delight of fans.

And of course there were funny moments in most of the ments, including the desire to perform something intense choreography-wise like "DEMIAN" into their old age. I have a feeling they'd probably be just as good even if SuA really did have to make a "slower" dancing version for them.

Of particular note during these performances was Siyeon, wearing a (stylishly modified) eyepatch. She would later confirm over Fromm that she was fighting off just a bit of eye pain due to keratitis but was already steadily improving. None of that, of course, seemed to dull or diminish her performances at all. Frankly, I can't imagine having to do Dreamcatcher's signature aggressive choreography with two eyes (never mind one) so while I know idols train for these kinds of situations, it was still impressive for Siyeon to perform as if she had both eyes to see out of.

There were, of course, great moments during Barcelona's show that we've seen in other places, but still hit just as hard with their hype, such as 2019's "Silent Night", now a mainstay of Dreamcatcher concert performances with its high audience participation and hype as well as Dreamcatcher's constantly creative ways of repeating the final beat drop to allow for more jumping around and waving of lightsticks. Since they started doing it last year, I've never gotten tired of seeing audiences react to it, and Spain didn't disappoint.

I was also anticipating how global audiences would respond to some of the Dreamcatcher songs in the setlist that received a slight bit of a new coat of paint, such as "Deja Vu" and it's acapella/piano first verse, or "Lullaby" rock ballad version. The reaction was, perhaps predictably, great, and for both old and new fans alike I'm sure was a delight.

There's been a lot of dialogue online about where Dreamcatcher tours and how Dreamcatcher Company and MyMusicTaste, in likely conjunction with the group's wishes, pick where to go. Regardless of opinions, I think it seems pretty clear the group wants to perform for as many fans in as many places as they can book, and the proof is in tweets like the above, from first-timers who've never seen them live before. That kind of live concert experience is something you can't simulate through a YouTube video or phone screen, and giving that to them is something that I believe the group and company honestly want to do.

That said, I'm not sure that "record with a Nintendo 3DS" is one of those experiences. Different strokes and all that, I guess.

Anyway, we're going to see a lot more next week as Dreamcatcher heads into the first big portion of their Europe tour in 2024, and of course, you can bet on reports from me about everything going on as the group continues to travel in February. So for all that, and more, I'll see you next Sunday!

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