Dreamcatcher says “Bon Voyage” to “BONVOYAGE” Music Shows, Continues Work
Two weeks of “BONVOYAGE” performances last went by like it was no time at all as the seven-member K-Pop group moves forward with remaining schedules for the era.
That certainly doesn’t mean the group hasn’t been busy, or that they don’t have more to go in front of them during this era, however. True to how they always seem to be, Dreamcatcher continued onward with more schedules and appearances, while the company continued its consistent drip of content to keep fans engaged. Let’s take a look at everything that happened this past week as “BONVOYAGE” promotions closed out.
Inkigayo on June 4th was Dreamcatcher’s last stop on their music promotions for “BONVOYAGE”, and as always, they delivered on their performance. It’s been nice to see a bunch of variance in stage outfits this era, from school or sailor uniforms, to a more casual apocalyptic-style mishmash of clothes to biker or racer gear to all denim, to all suits, to what we got here, which was a nice mix of comfortable and stylish looks. Long gone are the days of a single outfit colored differently for each performance, but I’m not complaining too much, as it seems some personal touches get placed by the group when putting their fashion together with their stylists. This input has created a unique fashion style for each member, and it really works for them.
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Inkigayo also gave Dreamcatcher a last opportunity for a dance challenge or two and they certainly saved the best for last, with Handong teaming up with friends Yuqi and Shuhua for a dance challenge exchange for “BONVOYAGE” and (G)-IDLE b-side “Allergy”. I enjoy both songs quite a bit, and Yuqi in particular is my favorite member of IDLE, but it was also fun to see that this wasn’t just a normal dance challenge but a bit of clowning around and fun as well. You can kind of see the friendships come out in these challenges as a result and I ended up laughing quite a bit at Handong, Yuqi, and Shuhua’s antics for both challenges.
We also got to take a trip back in time a bit, as KBS finally put out their Open Concert with Dreamcatcher (among other artists) featured on it on June 4th. I say this because the group’s performances of 2021’s “BEcause” and 2022’s “VISION” were pre-recorded way back in April, prior to any real news of “BONVOYAGE” and the 8th mini album release date being a thing. Still, it’s better late than never for Dreamcatcher content, and finally seeing them return to KBS Open Concert stage after being absent for some time (the last appearance appeared to be in 2019) was nice to watch.
Some residual content from Dreamcatcher’s variety appearances continued to make their way onto the web this past week, including, among other things, a dual helping from MBC YouTube channel ALL THE K-POP, another behind-the-scenes set of clips from JiU and Yoohyeon’s photoshoot in Thailand with CeCi Korea, and a nice set of Dreamcatcher travel/commute fancam-style shots from Music Bank. Seeing the group get a full set of music show content (performance + encore + fancam) due to their win was nice, as was re-living in full Dreamcatcher trying to fudge their way through their most difficult Random Play Dance challenge yet on Weekly Idol. Even if formal promotions are essentially over, the avalanche of content means that we’ll likely be seeing a few videos here and there from various non-Dreamcatcher Company channels for a while yet.
From the official YouTube channel, Dreamcatcher kept cranking out the behind-the-scenes content, with both MV Making videos dropping in the same week. I really do feel, after watching it, that this was one of Dreamcatcher’s most ambitious music videos yet. They had a large set with many settings that they filmed in, used actual wire work for one of SuA’s scenes, had JiU lay down on glass on water, and had Yoohyeon on an actual horse. Finding out about all these things being done, plus each member talking about them was pretty interesting, and everyone seemed excited to do new and different things. While we were a little short on lore or story explanations (that creature that SuA called a cell, for example) it was still intriguing to hear about the little details. Clearly, “BONVOYAGE” MV was meant to be a visual experience as well as an emotional one with everything that was going on, and it was nice to find out a little bit more about that.
https://weverse.io/dreamcatcher/live/3-121194418
On the Weverse front, it was nice to see Yoohyeon drop in to chat with fans, especially after midnight following a busy day of fansign work. A funny Pie story (Yoohyeon got bitten by Pie when she tried to take plastic away from her but everyone took Pie’s side), some notes about favorite songs, and some talk about her new hairstyle were all highlights, and Yoohyeon’s chill late night vibe was nice to see.
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But it wasn’t just prior content that showed up this past week — Dreamcatcher remains busy with plenty more to show for “BONVOYAGE” era. Whether it was sending a message to Brazilian fans, working with a new partner in well-known English-language K-Pop news site Soompi to answers some questions, or making a new radio appearance on SBS Power FM’s Ten Radio, Dreamcatcher has clearly kept busy. New appearances are always fun things, and they show that the group continues to pull appeal outside of the places that you by now expect to work with them (such as TongTong Culture, Esquire Korea, and Weekly Idol/MBC) and while these are still small steps, they are steps nonetheless. I was especially happy to see some lesser known songs get some love in the Soompi song relay as well as hear JiU, SuA, and Gahyeon relate stories about the current era on Ten Radio, such as what they want to do in the future (what exactly is “thirty-sexy”, anyway, SuA?). There was also an opportunity on that same radio show for the members to heap some praise on each other (Gahyeon being both proud but embarrassed to be pointed out as a top student in her pre-idol past was especially nice). All in all this past week did prove that things aren’t quite over yet for the group’s promotional plans.
As if the above didn’t make that obvious, Dreamcatcher is still meeting their fans through remaining fansign schedules, which will likely make up the bulk of their front-facing appearances these next couple weeks (aside from next week’s trip to Japan for Dream Concert, of course). One of the best parts of these is seeing the various fancams come out of such appearances. Offline fansigns in South Korea are a mix of live performance, fun little comedy moments (oftentimes with props or costumes), and of course heartfelt interactions with the fans who’ve won the spots. Since most fans can’t be at these, fancams like the above from fansite Eternal Dreams are a lifeline to seeing the group outside of official media, and I encourage people to look them up if you ever want to see more Dreamcatcher interactions, content, and sometimes, some informally funny moments that turn into interesting pictures and video.
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Those moments, it seems, are about to be experienced by more than just fans able to be in South Korea and those who’ve been fortunate enough to see them the last year or so on tour. A Philippines-based promoter announced this past week that Dreamcatcher would be coming to the country to perform in late August, in what seems to be, for now, a one-off performance. Despite this, speculation has been fueled about the possibility that the next region to experience a Dreamcatcher tour would be Southeast Asia, who haven’t seen the group travel to them since 2019. Time will tell if this pans out, but for me personally, seeing a concert be arranged in a SEA country means that there is potentially fire where there was only smoke before. At minimum, it shows the company and the members’ interest in returning to the region for performances — and I truly hope that Asian fans do get to have the opportunity that I’ve had the fortune to have twice in two years to see them live with their current discography. We’ll just have to see.
Until then, (and of course, until next week at this time), you can always count on the latest here. Once we’re truly done with “BONVOYAGE” era I hope readers can look forward to my usual retrospective about the comeback, as there’s plenty to say on that front. That said, we still have plenty of Dreamcatcher content to enjoy, so I’ll see you here in 7 days for more reports and updates!
