Dreamcatcher UAU Finishes Up Promotions With An Eye Towards Global Fancon Stage

Debut promotions are always interesting no matter what, as there's a certain sense of excitement surrounding what groups or subunits or soloists choose to do for their first round of promotions. Part of the goal of these promotions is to set the mood or vibe of the act, to show people what or how things are intended to be marketed and/or shown to the public, either on stage or behind it.

Even with a group like Dreamcatcher, who we've come to be familiar with over the past eight years, any subunit or solo debut that followed would likely be filled with the challenge I outlined above plus another - ensuring something fresh and interesting. In this vein, being known can put up another hurdle even with fan support.

Thankfully, we haven't had to worry about this with UAU. Though fans have been shown what JiU, SuA, and Yoohyeon can offer us over the years, everything from the musical style to the presentation has been new and different, and, in the members' own words, closer to their own identities, a core theme around the "You Are You" name in general. These past two weeks have brought us lots of interesting and exciting news, so let's check out how things have gone!

"Attitude" was the name of the game for UAU's last week of music show promotions, and the second title track appropriately gave Dreamcatcher a chance to show off their swagger on the stage. It was really cool to see the difference in choreography here - while "2 Months" was an energetic song that required a bit of pop to the dancing, "Attitude" was all about slower, deliberate movement that radiated confidence. As I've said a lot, I'm in K-Pop because of the whole package - music, visual, choreography, and judge songs accordingly, and just as with "2 Months", the stock of "Attitude" rose for me watching it be performed live multiple times.

And though the timing of things meant that UAU came up just a bit short when it came to music show wins, UAU did secure an accolade for themselves with the fan voted MBC Show Champion "Stage Champion" award, snagging trophies for both "2 Months" and for "Attitude". The international fan focus of Dreamcatcher lived on in UAU with these votes as all fans both global and domestic were able to unite efforts to pick up these awards.

The variety front also gave fans a chance to see "Attitude" on display in the performance "Mencert" series as well as with a band behind it for "It's Live". These are some of my favorite parts of promotions, as repeat performances can get a fresh look when on other places. It's Live in particular has been a great way for Dreamcatcher these past 4 years to show a fun rock band-like atmosphere for their songs, which has always been welcome.

Yet a bunch of the heavy lifting content-wise continued to come from the official Dreamcatcher YouTube channel. We've been seeing this shift to more homegrown content across the board in K-Pop, especially for groups that don't get opportunities to be invited on well-known, large variety channels, so to see UAU mark this shift as well was encouraging.

That said, I don't think anyone was expecting a three-part, 105 minute-plus documentary about the album to drop, which was a pleasant and welcome surprise for long-form content consumers like me. I might be acting like that "old man yelling at cloud" meme for a second, but the rise of so much short video and the importance of dealing with the attention economy it creates has created lots of challenges for content creators like me. I'm well aware that the written word, especially long-form, isn't as consumable or desirable these days, so to see UAU and DCC put out such a huge bit of content is such a cool thing to see, even as they also do their own standard short-form content to maximize exposure.

I highly suggest fans set aside the time to watch these. We haven't seen something like this since the 2022 Wonderwall collaboration for "Apocalypse: Save Us" and this time it's free for everyone to view. Watching UAU shed a bit more of the stage and character persona for more of the "realness" of the artist/personal side of themselves was worth it alone, but seeing the meticulous process of recording and producing was even better.

Oftentimes (and even as recently as this album) I see criticisms go down about music production that are understandable from a fan perspective but often don't get that A)artist input is important to a certain degree and B)it takes a lot of time and deliberate action. Assuming the producer speaking is Ollounder, one of their long-time partners in music creation, you can see the rapport needed between him and UAU to do what they intended, and a comfort level that suggests a long-time collaboration. That's insightful and interesting and just cool to see - but of course one of the fun highlights of part 3 was seeing cameos of other Dreamcatcher members, out to support UAU's debut in any way they can (with Handong even flying out from China to do so). It's a reminder that this group's focus on subunit and solo stuff doesn't mean the group as a whole will never do anything again - not when they've kept in this close contact. The future seems bright.

That future, by the way, includes UAU's summer plans to take their show on the road, which kicked off with their first Fan Concert in Taipei, Taiwan. The subunit performed all their songs, a couple of covers both old and new, all of their solos, and had some fun talking time with fans. This July and August, we'll be seeing them in both Latin America and North America as well (I've managed to snag tickets for the Chicago stop so you can expect to see the usual concert report from me).

A move like this is smart to me, especially as the subunit understands the potential for lower population due to it being only part of Dreamcatcher and has chosen smaller venues accordingly. The priority right now is showing off what UAU can do and how distinct and different their sound is with their first foray into new music apart from the main group's. There's a significant desire to support UAU in their endeavors as their success potentially translates into more resources for a larger group comeback as schedules allow. There's also the simple reason that people know and appreciate what JiU, SuA, and Yoohyeon have been doing as part of Dreamcatcher these past eight years, and want to see them succeed and feel validated doing something new with UAU.

We're going to see a lot more from UAU (and perhaps the rest of Dreamcatcher) upcoming this summer, so there will be a lot to look forward to for the group's activities, anchored by more pictures like the above over the next "2 Months". I hope you have the right "Attitude" in continuing to support the group, without too much "Sacrifice" and wish everyone "Good Luck" in doing so.

With that ham-fisted punny attempt aside, be sure to subscribe below (or tell your fellow Dreamcatcher and UAU fans to do so) so you can keep up with all the latest this summer and beyond - so for all that and more, I'll see you here next time!