K-Pop’s Dreamcatcher Fires Up Summer 2022 Activities With Rocking Primavera Sound Appearance

K-Pop — Dreamcatcher Recall

Dreamcatcher made the most of their Primavera Sound Barcelona appearance with a setlist that impressed and delighted fans and non-fans alike.

(NOTE: Skip to the setlist if you wish)

When Dreamcatcher was announced as part of the lineup for Primavera Sound Barcelona over a year ago as the first K-Pop artist to perform there, many fans saw it as a highly appropriate acquisition. The well-known festival, established in 2001, has had a long history of rock-based acts that have had people flock to its multi-stage setup and blend of popular and independent music for a while. As such, picking up Dreamcatcher, with their discography of rock/pop tracks, seemed like a natural fit. And for Dreamcatcher and Dreamcatcher Company, this was a chance to not only represent themselves, but also the K-Pop industry, which in recent years has seen more and more prevalence outside of South Korea. It was a win-win all around, and the fans (and general attendees) were clearly the biggest beneficiaries.

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The context around inviting Dreamcatcher was revealed in a radio interview with the event’s director, Gabi Ruiz. In short, they’d wanted a K-Pop act for a while and Dreamcatcher fit the mold from a genre, following, and affordability standpoint. It certainly helped that there was someone in the office of the event’s organizers that had children that loved Dreamcatcher, allowing them to put forth the group’s name for consideration and eventual securing. I used to work a bit in the concert organizing and planning space, and oftentimes, it’s just a matter of who someone knows might be a good fit to have a name float to the top of the list (thanks Ivon from Primavera Sound staff for the vote of confidence from you and your children for Dreamcatcher).

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Dreamcatcher would perform at the Tous stage, located on the left side of the festival grounds and overlooking part of a body of water. A decent-sized stage with a lot of space to maneuver, raised so that everyone could see the group, seemed like a good logistical choice for a group bringing something brand new to the event.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29fMWAHjMxc[/embed]

Dreamcatcher would head out a couple of days beforehand to get to Barcelona and settle in, though not without a minor hiccup along the way. Storms in Munich, one of the legs of the group’s journey, would ground most planes, meaning that Dreamcatcher and their staff were unable to travel any further. But Primavera Sound’s organizers came to the rescue, ensuring their first K-Pop artist would arrive in time by helping charter a private jet for them to fly on in order to get to Spain. In my experience, uncontrollable circumstances that mess with guest/artist schedules for flights do tend to happen from time to time, so it was great to see both Dreamcatcher Company and Primavera Sound on top of things to ensure that the group was able to get to the event in a timely (though delayed) manner. And of course, as JiU posted in the above picture, the group was delighted to fly in style.

Speaking of style, Dreamcatcher’s stage look for their performance was a great choice on both the members’ and the stylists’ parts. The group decided to forgo uniform stage outfits as they’ve periodically tended to do for some of their concerts, instead opting for individual looks based upon a unifying theme that was very clearly “summer rock festival wear”. One of the last times we saw them do this was at last year’s Dream Concert (which Dreamcatcher is also slated to return to in a few weeks), and the decision to go with something similar had an immediate impact on their stage presence. Clad in what appeared to be some custom-designed Dreamcatcher-related rock-style t-shirts and looking like they’d fit in at any rock show, the group entered the stage to a large audience crowd and raucous cheers.

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Of course, it also helped that Dreamcatcher fans were ridiculously enthusiastic to see the group. Primavera Sound staff managed to catch a few of them as they rushed to get a good vantage point at the Tous stage. True to form, K-Pop fandom showed off just how dedicated they were to see the genre represented at such a storied festival and to see the group perform whatever they chose to select from their five-year discography. The setlist, as it turns out, ended up being a brilliant, B-side focused selection of some of the group’s more rock-based hits, an excellent decision for the group’s first foray into an event like Primavera Sound.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOj14xOq5RY[/embed]

The list of choices ended up being:

• Chase Me (Nightmare, 2017)
• PIRI (The End of Nightmare, 2019)
• Break the Wall (Dystopia: Lose Myself, 2020)
• Sahara (Dystopia: The Tree of Language, 2020)
• Silent Night (Raid of Dream, 2019)
• BOCA (Dystopia: Lose Myself, 2020)
• MAISON (Apocalypse: Save Us, 2022)
• Tension (ENG. version) (Dystopia: The Tree of Language, 2020)
• Wake Up (Prelude, 2017)
• Mayday (Escape the Era, 2018)
• Scream (Dystopia: The Tree of Language, 2020)
• Airplane (Summer Holiday, 2021)
• Skit: The Seven Doors (outro) (Apocalypse: Save Us, 2022)

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbIoaDxdOp8[/embed]

The choice of songs truly reflects a number of things that make Dreamcatcher’s discography one of the most interesting in K-Pop, as well as show off that their core is, and likely always will be, in the rock/pop genre. Classic songs such as 2017’s “Wake Up” and 2018’s “Mayday” mixed with more recent hits as 2020’s “Break the Wall” and “BOCA”, all of which were designed to not only be great stage songs but also get the crowd up, going, and hyped. And in a surprise move that I haven’t seen since Red Velvet did it in 2018 with “Bad Boy”, Dreamcatcher unexpectedly sang 2020’s “Tension” in all-English, perhaps giving fans a preview of what might come up in their setlist for their upcoming 2022 World Tour’s first leg in North America.

[embed]https://twitter.com/hf_dreamcatcher/status/1533193319483723776[/embed]

All in all, it was a set that was well-received, well-loved, and exciting for both Dreamcatcher to perform and Dreamcatcher fans to listen to. It truly made Dreamcatcher feel like they’d slot in comfortably in any festival setting with a rock connection, and the crowd size, respectably large and filled with fans as well as curious attendees, showed that off. There were at least some folks who weren’t Dreamcatcher fans who appreciated what the group brought to the table:

[embed]https://twitter.com/pettyintrigues/status/1533159043996364800[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/JimothyTV/status/1533162953444302853[/embed][embed]https://twitter.com/mxddness/status/1533158181051977728[/embed]

If there’s even a small, minimal conversion of fans from Primavera Sound, the group can likely consider this a success, not just for themselves, but also for K-Pop continuing to bring it’s legitimacy outside of South Korea to events such as these. Once again, a win-win all around.

[embed]https://twitter.com/Dylart_/status/1533169984813277189[/embed]

And finally, if it wasn’t clear from how happy and excited they were to be there, Dreamcatcher loved seeing their fans and getting to interact with them. In a post-show touching moment that one fan got to capture on video, Primavera Sound’s staff was kind enough to let a Dreamcatcher fan in a wheelchair see the group, with Dami noticing and immediately running to see them. All of Dreamcatcher ended up talking briefly and snapping a group photo with the fan, creating a memory for them that they’d likely not forget any time soon, if ever. It’s the little moments like these that make it clear how much both Dreamcatcher and their fans have missed live events and concerts, and the opportunity to have such kind interactions with the people that love them. I can’t thank Primavera Sound’s organizers, Dreamcatcher Company, Dreamcatcher themselves, and all my fellow fans who’ve supported them over the years for making this group successful enough to be sustainable, and to show their music and the industry they represent are legitimately a draw — not just for how good it sounds, but for the group themselves, who are hard-working and wonderful to the fans that appreciate them. One can only hope we see more moments like these during 2022’s World Tour stopps.

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Dreamcatcher has kicked off what will no doubt be a busy summer of performing and traveling. Be sure to pop back here next week for the regularly-scheduled recap, and for more news about more rocking Dreamcatcher content!