Dreamcatcher Ties A Bow On "JUSTICE" Era Promotions, Looking Forward To Future Tours And Activities

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Comeback time for favorite K-Pop groups is always exciting because it seems like there's something to see every day from a media standpoint. In this vein, Dreamcatcher's promotions seem a bit less busy this time around, and I'd like to think this is in part because of upcoming travel to Taiwan for their encore concert and perhaps due to the extenuating circumstances of promoting without Main Vocal Siyeon, who's taking a break to focus on her health. Yet I believe that does not mean that no less effort has been put forth for "JUSTICE" era. We had plenty to see this past week when it came to Dreamcatcher, so let's take a look and see what the group had in store for us as they wrapped up their latest comeback era!

Fansigns began in earnest last week and continued into this week, and if you've ever been curious about what happens at one of these offline events, you can check out the full video above. Some photo opportunities, performances of at least the title track and the actual fansign with the group are all highlights, and even though there is almost always an accompanying video call fansign for global fans, these offline events are frequently the source of many bits of fun Dreamcatcher media. The group has clocked in six fansign events so far and is scheduled to do another even through early August, which will keep them and the lucky fans who won them through album purchase lottery quite busy.

The "JUSTICE" music video itself has reached an impressive 21.6 million views from release until now, and while normally I wouldn't count this as particularly newsworthy, the fact that the video appears to have reached nearly the amount of views from last era's "OOTD" in only 11 days is pretty impressive, even with the common practice of buying YouTube ads to encourage more views from people. I like to think that this is a testament to, among other things, how easy it is to jam to "JUSTICE". Its simple, easy-to-follow chorus and hard-charging rock aggression serve to showcase Dreamcatcher as a true "alternative option in K-Pop", especially in the face of so many other cool releases following the "fresh/fun/beach" theme of the summer season. I hope people keep giving it watches - I certainly have.

We also began getting some of the usual promotional content from the group, first in the form of the "JUSTICE" Dance Video. We knew about the complexity of this choreography from last week's Dance Practice Video but seeing it in full cinematic spectacle as intended was great to see. The live concert experience of this track is sure to be great when we see it moving forward in Taiwan, Europe, Latin America, and the US.

There was a bit of different content on the channel as well, though why it was different varied. We've seen the usual fanchant guide video for "JUSTICE", but I hadn't realized the members took an active role in writing them, which is why the fanchant writing video featuring Yoohyeon and Dami was quite neat. A lot of thought seems to go into how to encourage audience participation and seeing that play out (along with some funny moments, as is usually the case with Dreamcatcher content) was nice to see for "JUSTICE".

Member reactions to the "JUSTICE" MV had a different wrinkle due in part to the different things that the production team tried with the group (from JiU's rope-breaking scene to Gahyeon's umbrella/arrows clip). But there was also the emotional response from SuA at seeing Siyeon on the screen, knowing that they would be promoting without her. We also now know that SuA, along with Handong, has had to carry Siyeon's vocal parts throughout promotions, so for her this appeared to be extra significant for her. It does just goes to show that SuA, like much of the fandom, misses Siyeon quite a bit, and that she and everyone else hope for her return after taking the time to rest.

We also got to see the first part of the MV Making Film and 2nd part of the Jacket Making film, both providing insight into what went into the production and album-making process this time around. Hearing about how JiU decided to finally cut her hair short after seven years, watching Siyeon work really hard on her parts perhaps knowing that she might need a break soon, and seeing all the different cool concepts from the album come to life were all highlights. I'd like to think that the idea is that heroes of justice come in all different forms, and seeing many of those come to life, whether they were Western, Dark Gothic, or in simple uniform black and white colors, was fun to watch come together. It's also an interesting bit of insight to see that these things seem to have been filmed or taken in May, given Gahyeon's comment about potentially having a difficult time keeping things a secret for two months. A testament to the fact that these schedules are planned far in advance to necessitate not rushing through everything that needs to get done.

On the variety end of things we picked up quite a bit of media from Dreamcatcher. After not getting a chance to do one last comeback due to music show cancellations, Dreamcatcher picked up the Relay Dance ball and ran with it with yet another fun rendition of the choreography for "JUSTICE". Integrating the complex footwork of the song into a relay dance was likely a challenging prospect, but the end result of frequent background dancing moments and seamless transitions from one member to the other made it worth it in the end.

We also saw Dreamcatcher appear on Thailand's Hallyu K Star for a fun Q&A segment talking about the concept of "VirtuouS", its presence as an opposite to the last album "VillainS", and a nice acknowledgment that fans in Thailand have been waiting for a long time to see Dreamcatcher live. The realities of concert planning, sponsorship, and other factors all contribute but it is my hope that fans in Thailand will get to see Dreamcatcher live at some point in the future.

Last but not least was MBC's it's Live, who brought back Dreamcatcher to perform "JUSTICE" live with a band. This was highly anticipated by many fans, not the least of which was because this was likely recorded before Siyeon's decision to take a break (and thus included all of Dreamcatcher). But it was also hypeworthy just to hear what a live band would do with a song that seemed to be made for one to be backing it. It didn't disappoint, as the live drums, guitar, bass, and keyboard created as close to a live concert version that we may get with Dreamcatcher for this song, for now.

The vocals were, as always, on point, and even though fans know that there is still a bit of post-production cleanup, I get the feeling that not much of that needs to happen with Dreamcatcher, who showcased why they were built to tour and perform live. We heard it before in 1theK's DanceEAR, but though the rest of Dreamcatcher have done their best to fill the vacancy, there is no substitute for the power and expression of Siyeon's vocals, who filled out this live version of JUSTICE with seemingly effortless stability. Between this and the iconic shot of Dreamcatcher headbanging to that last set of great vocals from her, Siyeon got a lot of love this appearance.

Speaking Siyeon, even though she's away at the moment her presence is still being felt even in OST releases. Last week, as previously reported, Siyeon's song from the OST for "Red Swan", "Runaway" was released. This was quite a bit different from many of Siyeon's prior forays into OST-land, featuring a heavily electronic song with a fast beat that featured Siyeon's vocals floating across the top of it. Yet it was nice to see yet another notch in the OST belt for Dreamcatcher's Main Vocal, and I hope people support it by checking out the song above.

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that aside from the main performances for "JUSTICE" (which I'll get to in a second), that there are also some great alternative fancams from the usual ones out there. Music Bank's "K-Choreo Tower Cam" and M Countdown's "Meltin'" fancams provide different/higher quality perspectives on Dreamcatcher performances, and "JUSTICE" era is no different in this regard. The tower cam is perfect to see a different vantage for how complex choreography can be while the Meltin' fancams provide a good close up of the selected member's own performance. And while not a visual update, Music Bank's English Lyrics video gives global fans a video with subtitles over the top for easy following with the performance. Definitely worth checking out.

Yet for all this, music shows will always be one of the core elements that groups promote their new songs, and Dreamcatcher did just that with a slate of five performances throughout the week, all with different and distinct styling. I've been more impressed this comeback just for the fact that the degree of difficulty for live performance was up between more complex choreography and the demands for every member of Dreamcatcher to show off their vocal stability and power. It's easy to see why the group is considered to be one of the best live experience for its fans given all of these performances.

That live experience appears to be bound for Frankfurt, Germany this September, as Dreamcatcher added to their already-busy month traveling to Türkiye and then Latin America. It's been a minute since we saw Dreamcatcher in a KCon lineup, but they're no strangers to Germany and they join a solid lineup that is sure to draw current and potential fans of the group. With such a wild month coming up soon, it's no surprise that Dreamcatcher will likely take August to work any remaining promotional obligations but also get ready for a ton of live performances that are sure to light up the stage, so while music show promotions are now wrapped up for "JUSTICE", there's quite a bit for fans to look forward to. You can, of course, always rely on me to report on the latest Dreamcatcher news, so for all that, and more, I'll see you here next Sunday!

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