Dreamcatcher Wraps Up K-Pop Germany 2024, With Budapest In Their Sights

Sometimes you have to take a step back and look at the schedule of a K-Pop group like Dreamcatcher in order to truly appreciate the fact that a busy schedule that involves a lot of international travel is one that isn't easy to maintain with the energy that the group does. A whirlwind overseas September took them to both Europe and Latin America, and the long flight times from Seoul to those places isn't a short affair. Between jet lag, the general wear and tear of travel and flight, and having to perform at a high level, Dreamcatcher has always impressed me with their endurance, even as a group built to tour as part of their primary means of income. The result is a girl group that is one of the most traveled in recent K-Pop memory and certainly within their own "generation" of artists.

This past week was no exception, as Dreamcatcher finished up the last of K-Pop Germany 2024 and flew home to prepare for this weekend's Mokkoji Korea, sponsored in part by the Korean government and taking place for the first time in Budapest, Hungary - another destination the group can check off their list. Let's take a look at that and all the other happenings of the week as we enter October!

Dreamcatcher's Day 2 for KCON Germany 2024 had their main event be the M Countdown stage, where they added to their history of KCON memories with a Special Stage cover of boy group SEVENTEEN's "Rock With You". Like with their KCON:TACT performance of 2PM's "My House", Dreamcatcher put their own spin on this well-known title track, giving it a bit of rock instrumentation and displaying the strength of their vocals while doing so. The dash of choreography for the original song that they threw in for the end was just the cherry on top.

Aside from that, Dreamcatcher pulled out two reliable and well-received title tracks for the rest of the stage, with latest release "JUSTICE" opening things up and the concert participation version of "BONVOYAGE" as the closer. The latter was an especially nice treat as Dreamcatcher fans who've attended this year's tour stops were familiar with this version that paused to allow the fans to chant "BON VOYAGE" before the last chorus, but non-fans were likely not. It showcased the group's audience interaction focus and specialization towards live performance, and of course had some nice unique wrinkles, like Siyeon adding a couple singing ad libs. It really felt like this went over with the crowd really well, so hopefully Dreamcatcher gained a few more fans from their strong 2-day KCON Germany 2024 appearance.

Dreamcatcher Weverse LIVE - 이시연 - SIYEON

이시연 생일 - SIYEON

Weverse Dreamcatcher

Speaking of Siyeon, the way the travel and dates worked out meant that she wasn't going to be home for her birthday, and as such, a surprise livestream on Weverse celebrating Dreamcatcher's Main Vocalist turning a year older broadcasted from Germany. Siyeon chatted with fans about being happy to be on stage again, about how her break was refreshing, how she appreciated fans, and more. After fans' worries about her being away, even if it was brief, seeing Siyeon be able to do a livsetream on her own with the help of staff was reassuring and a throwback to the chill Siyeon chat streams of recent years.

Yet this did not stop fans back in South Korea from assembling a late birthday fancafe for Siyeon anyway, and later in the week she managed to stop by to meet fans and appreciate the decorating effort that partially centered around her "alien" quirkiness.

Early October was also momentous not just for Siyeon's birthday but also for the formal release/ship date for the reprint of "Nightmare" and "Fall Asleep in the Mirror", the first two releases from Dreamcatcher that have become highly desired (and priced) collector's items. While these 2024 versions do have some subtle differences (small dimension differences, 2024 naming and branding, and Gahyun's new romanized name spelling on the photocards), reports from those who've already received them say that these have the original 2017 style and feel to them. Hardcore collectors will continue to look for the first edition copies, but as I said when the news was announced, this will give more casual fans a chance to own more of the group's early discography, which isn't a bad thing.

We saw a bit more variety content this past week as DIVE Studios released another short with Dreamcatcher, this time playing a relay game where they had to quickly come up with non-sensical answers to questions. Predictably, this had its fair share of chaos and unhinged answers, mostly from Handong (InSomnia is her favorite dessert? Her last person she talked to on the phone is wanting to go home?) along with SuA somehow being bad at the game by giving the most sensible answers. It's nice to see some of this delayed content from JUSTICE era, and hopefully we'll see a full video with DIVE sometime soon.

The official Dreamcatcher YouTube channel continued to follow along behind the group's travels with the first Dreamcatcher's Note about the Latin American tour. Maybe they were unconsciously recalling the Troublemaking they caused last time they were in Latin America, but there was a fun extended exchange between JiU and Handong that talked about times they lied along with a light roasting of Gahyun for her recent yogurt ice cream experiment. Though the group talked a bit about it being a long flight to the region, none of that seemed to show on the stage as they provided yet another great experience for Latin American fans, reflected in the many fancams that I've posted in here in a previous report. It definitely makes me excited for their return to the USA in November.

Finally, Budapest was the next destination for Dreamcatcher for the group's 2nd Mokkoji Korea appearance, off to perform at another festival alongside boy group AB6IX and soloist (and one-time Yoohyeon collaborator) Sunmi. As with last week, the timing of publishing means that this article goes up before they hit the stage, but you can be sure that I'll be reporting on that and more in next week's summary of Dreamcatcher activities. See you then!

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