JUSTICE Era Activities End For Dreamcatcher In Mid-August, With Tours And Travel On The Horizon

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All good things must end eventually, and "JUSTICE" era promotions and activities for Dreamcatcher, though relatively short, were filled with many fun moments. The lighter, smaller time investment in fansign activities meant that August has been a bit easier on the group, and even through a couple of small sick days from a couple of members, things went relatively smoothly. But as always, fewer schedules didn't mean there wasn't content to be consumed and talked about by Dreamcatcher fans. Let's take a look at what mid-August had to offer us!

As previously mentioned, the last of Dreamcatcher's "JUSTICE" era activities have mostly been a combination of offline and video call fansigns, with the usual array of fancams and media of performances, fun props and consumes, and individual snapshots. With a shorter music show promotion schedule this time around, seeing all these fansigns meant we got lots of different styles from the group, along with several "2 Rings" performances that we may not have been able to see normally on shows. I've also noticed, anecdotally, that more first-timers have gotten a chance to have video calls with Dreamcatcher through fansign events. Video call fansigns allow for an expansion of interaction from the group to their fanbase globally, and it was nice to see so many fans excited to finally get to talk to Dreamcatcher.

Delayed variety content continued to drop for Dreamcatcher this past week, with hello82 dropping in the 2nd episode of their "Secret Duet" series, where two K-Pop idols perform a song together while also not knowing who their partner is. For episode 2, we saw Main Dancer SuA team up with H1-KEY's Main Vocal Hwiseo for a rendition of David Guetta and Sia's "Titanium", and their rendition was nothing short of an amazing vocal display. I highly recommend you check it out.

For SuA, I feel like videos like this, as well as her partial substitution during this era for Main Vocal Siyeon (who's currently on hiatus) are likely a bigger deal for her than is apparent. For people who don't know, SuA went through an issue in 2018 with her voice, in which she was found to have nodules on her vocal cords. This affected her voice and throat to the point where she had to be careful with it when singing, and as a result, had to work pretty hard to bring back her vocal power. Videos like this showcase the fruits of all that labor.

The interaction between SuA and Hwiseo is great (there's a particularly funny moment when SuA asks how old Hwiseo is - don't worry SuA, I've been there) and Dreamcatcher fans should definitely check out H1-KEY's work. Hwiseo, along with her fellow H1-KEY member Riina, impressed me a lot when they appeared on Queendom Puzzle, and their songs, such as "Rose Blossom" and most recent release "Let It Burn", have a rock edge to them that make them likely to be enjoyed by Dreamcatcher fans.

The official YouTube channel wasn't about to be left behind this week for content, and maknae (youngest member) Gahyun didn't disappoint with a 21-minute video of her making "trendy" food, specifically frozen greek yogurt ice cream with chocolate and a "decapo" drink, related to battle royale game Fortnite and recently popularized in South Korea on YouTube and Tiktok.

I've watched plenty of food-making content over the years from K-Pop artists and they never stop being entertaining. There were a couple of missteps from Gahyun but lots of effort and energy into making things she hadn't before, which is probably why when the yogurt bars were offered to her fellow Dreamcatcher members at the end of the video, they tried very hard not to criticize how they tasted, with comedic results. Regardless, it's always fun to get Dreamcatcher solo member content and hopefully, we'll see more bold adventures from Gahyun in the future.

Behind-the-scenes promotions content continued as well, with part 3 of "JUSTICE" era Dreamcatcher's Notes. Even though I've gone through over 7 years of these types of videos, there's always something new for me to laugh about, like JiU forgetting her wallet and Handong generously offering to pay (but only after JiU calls her "unnie" (older sister) SuA helping cut a dessert for Gahyeon, and more. There's of course a Siyeon-sized space missing from this era, but hopefully she's continuing to rest well and that the other members of Dreamcatcher are carrying on as best as they can in her absence.

With Dreamcatcher's most recent release era behind them, eyes turned to future plans, already taking shape in the form of tours through Latin America and the US and a scattered slate of festival dates in Europe. For those attending the US tour, the group and long-time partner MyMusicTaste appear to be trying something new in the form of limited quantity 1:1 snapshots with the Dreamcatcher member of choice for purchasers. Sales opened for these (and the expected Meet & Greet event including Hi-Touch, Group Photo, and exclusive merchandise) on the 16th, to great fanfare but also with a bit of website instability, which resulted in the MyMusicTaste site being temporarily unable to serve content. As of this writing, one stop (Los Angeles) has sold out of 1:1 snapshot tickets, with several others running out of tickets for Dreamcatcher Leader JiU and Lead Vocal Yoohyeon.

There's been some discussion among the fandom about the inclusion of equal benefit opportunities for all regions because of this new 1:1 snapshot offering. My personal opinion might be a bit biased by my time working and planning events, but I think folks would do well to remember that there are a lot of moving parts to these, such as:

• Local venue logistics such as rental time, space, and staff capacity
• Structure of sales offerings (Latin America and Southeast Asia stops are offering/have offered packaged/tiered purchases as opposed to separating them)
• Promoter partners handling different parts of the event
• Business case, estimated return on investment, revenue splits, and internal metrics

...any of which could play a factor in what to include in a tour.

This isn't to dismiss concerns from Dreamcatcher fans, and to be clear I advocate for equal benefit opportunities for all and more importantly, for dedicated communications personnel to help alleviate issues. I just tend to not rush to conclusions about what goes into deciding who gets first crack at something new for tour attendees. My hope is that 1:1 Snapshot benefits sell well, and that like the now-standard Hi-Touch and Group Photo, they'll be offered by default in the future.

Last but not least, we know Dreamcatcher's September and November will be filled with travel, and this past week we found out that for at least early October, we'll see Dreamcatcher continue hitting up places in Europe. Adding to Istanbul and Frankfurt, Dreamcatcher will hit up Budapest in Hungary for the 2024 Mokkoji Concert.

This isn't the first time that Dreamcatcher has been involved with the partially government-sponsored event - they participated in the 2021 version - so it's nice to see that there's continued confidence in Dreamcatcher representing South Korea's K-Pop industry in other places. Budapest also offers an opportunity for yet another city to be checked off of Dreamcatcher's list, continuing the argument that they're one of the most traveled K-Pop girl groups. Those travels and more will continue to be reported by me, so for all that, and more, I'll see you here next Sunday!

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