Dreamcatcher UAU Rolls Through "GENE" Promotions With New Appearances And Fresh Energy

Even though my K-Pop fandom is a bit more casual these days, I'll always look forward to promotion periods for groups I follow. The outfits, appearances, meetings with fans, and, more importantly, the culmination of work for all the artists is something I'll always be glad about.

Things have been interesting when it has come to Dreamcatcher UAU's first comeback after debut, to say the least. There's been a bunch of discourse about promotions and abbreviated schedules and the like (more on that after all the news), but one thing that can't be denied is that there were months of work put into UAU's sophomore offering, with more songs on the album and more of an energetic style that I think fits them pretty well. Additionally, we saw a couple new things that popped up during this promotion period that seemed to add a bit more variety to the usual expected items, and to me, that's never really a bad thing.

Here's what UAU's been up to these past couple weeks since their 2nd mini-album's been out!

Though music show appearances were limited, in part because of difficulty securing music show slots and because of several cancellations, UAU made the most of what they had, appearing on most music shows at least once over the span of the last couple of weeks. Not surprisingly, UAU's live vocals were on display, made more impressive by the fact that "GENE" seems to have far more aggressive choreography to match its higher energy style than their debut album. The fashion also seemed to point to "Wild West on the beach", which to me seemed appropriate to go with the song's free-wheeling, confident style.

The subunit didn't take home a music show win trophy this time around, but fan voting for Stage Champion for Show Champion once again put them on top, giving them at least one accolade to remember promotions by. These seem like small things on the surface, but I do think every little bit helps when it comes to fans showing their support for the group, no matter how much you participate.

Fanmeetings and fansigns were (and still will be, if the next couple weeks are any indication) plentiful for "GENE" and it's always fun to see what pictures and video fans come away with for these appearances. Once again the Wild West aesthetic came into play, so there were quite a few stereotypical Western movie tropes acted out and posed for fans. Leaning into appropriate photo time poses, especially with fan-provided props, has always been a time-honored tradition for K-Pop performances, but it was still funny to see standoffs at high noon mixed with completely unrelated props, as in the photo time video above.

Yet what stood out for me during the last couple weeks were some of the new bits of content and items that came out as a result of "GENE" promotions. Some might have been expected, such as a Performance and Moving Cam videos for B-Side "Tuesday", but others, such as having a longer MV Reaction video with pauses and explanations about insights from the shooting and taking advantage of a member's YouTube channel with SuA's behind-the-scenes vlog about the "GENE" MV were twists on familiar formulae that were more enjoyable to watch as a result. And yet others were completely new, like a twenty-plus minute ASMR video that at one point turned into telling funny stories about SuA.

But yet other activities seemed to be completely different and new entirely. JiU headed off to China for a fanmeeting for a day with fans, and while the scheduling seemed to cause some fans to scratch their heads and ask questions about doing this in the midst of album promotions, the result appeared to be fairly successful, as the event was well-attended and provided unique opportunity for JiU to interact with a few lucky fans in fun ways. The Chinese fandom has been among some of Dreamcatcher's most dedicated over the years (and not just because of Chinese-born member Handong), so it was nice to see them come out to see and meet up with Dreamcatcher's leader.

One other new and different appearance was seeing Yoohyeon on Ladies' Code Ashley and MOMOLAND Nancy's new variety show Banana Salon, which appears to focus on multi-cultural topics and idols from or who've spent time in other countries. It's also a mostly English-spoken language show, which makes Yoohyeon, by far the best English speaker on Dreamcatcher or UAU, an obvious choice to appear.

Casual talking shows like this are great to me, mostly because we hear stories and interesting insights from idols that aren't just the same types of questions. Hearing Yoohyeon talk a bit more about her road to becoming an idol (via Sunmi, which allowed her to be successful fan again this promotion cycle), her thoughts on fandom and love, and some fun moments like showing new idol Linh how to do an ending fairy pose made this great to watch, and to see how confident Yoohyeon has become speaking in another language entirely. It reminded me a lot of the Eric Nam interview from a few years ago, one of my favorites for everything we learned, in part because it was such a laid-back environment. Since Ashley is associated with the same outlet Eric comes from, it's not a surprise that I liked this almost as much - and of course it's always good to see new idol/ex-idol interactions in front of the camera as well, all while learning a bit about the new album.

The schedule appears to have a couple more appearances and a bunch of fansigns, but music show promotions, at least for "GENE", appear to have concluded as of this writing. The abbreviation of music show appearances (not necessarily due to slots, as a couple were cancelled), and the appearance of a scale-back from certain standard promotion content like a fan showcase, has resulted in worry and concern from some fans, who have been speculating about the state of affairs with a company who now has three acts (UAU, ChRocktikal, and indie boy rock band TheSsyndrome) to juggle instead of just one larger act in Dreamcatcher. I've probably seen all manner of theories, speculations (sometimes extreme ones based on impressions from thin info), and the like, especially as physical sales (currently at 16k, far behind debut's 54k+ at this same point last year) and views are reduced. I've also seen the fandom turn accountability and criticism on the company, other fans, and even themselves for perhaps not feeling the same level of support for UAU or the other Dreamcatcher member initiatives.

While I see why people do this (especially in an industry that markets itself to connecting with and knowing more about its artists), I think in the end, this has limited value to keep poring over in endless circles with limited information by design, as K-Pop companies are notoriously tight-lipped about inner workings. This is especially true when you realize that as fans, we have limits to the agency we can provide, and that doing our best and within our means has always been the way to go.

I feel like some Dreamcatcher fans need to take a step back and be more present and in the moment instead of worrying or speculating or wanting to be right about any number of possible futures for the group and its members. Though we've seen less this time around, there's been quite a bit to enjoy, listen to, and experience, which is stolen away when people borrow despair from only possible futures to make themselves feel worse in the present.

Until we hear otherwise, it does seem UAU, as well as the rest of Dreamcatcher, are doing what they want and love to do as artists in entertainment. No matter where that leads, whether it's continuing onward on a smaller scale with an eventual reunion or if they end up riding into the sunset after things close up shop, why not enjoy and support what Dreamcatcher is doing to the extent that you want to? The endless fretting and even bad feeling over what isn't or what could be keeps us focused on a possible future rather than a certain and more current present. You'll be more content and at peace with that attitude, I'm sure.

As for me, I know I'll be continuing to follow along regardless of what happens, and to put up whatever news comes our way about the group, so for all that and more, I'll see you here next time!