Dreamcatcher (group)

Dreamcatcher ( ko, 드림캐쳐, translit=deurimkaechyeo; formerly known as MINX; also stylized as Dream Catcher) is a South Korean girl group formed by Happyface Entertainment (now Dreamcatcher Company). The group consists of seven members: JiU, SuA, Siyeon, Handong, Yoohyeon, Dami and Gahyeon. They made their official debut on January 13, 2017, with the single album '' Nightmare''.

Dreamcatcher originally debuted under the name MINX, releasing the single "Why Did You Come to My Home" on September 18, 2014 with a five-member lineup of JiU, SuA, Siyeon, Yoohyeon, and Dami. That December, they released the holiday single "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" with girl group Dal Shabet. They released the EP ''Love Shake'', their last release as MINX, in July 2015. In November 2016, the group announced that they would re-debut in 2017 under the new name Dreamcatcher with two new members, Handong and Gahyeon.

The group has come to be recognized as "The Face of Rock in K-pop" by ''Rolling Stone India'' magazine.

Career

2014–2016: MINX

Under the name Minx, the group held their first live performance at the Oak Valley Summertime Festival on August 9, 2014, where they performed two original songs: "Action" and "Why Did You Come To My Home". On September 15, Happyface Entertainment officially announced their new girl group, and Minx released their debut digital single "Why Did You Come to My Home" on September 18. The song was described as a "new take on the children's rhyme" of the same name.
Minx made their official debut on '' M Countdown'' on September 18 and ended promotions on October 26 with a final performance on '' Inkigayo''.

In July 2015, Minx released their first EP, ''Love Shake'', with a lead single of the same name. The single was promoted as a "joyous song" that "goes well with summer", a remake of the song "Love Shake" from labelmate Dal Shabet's '' Bang Bang'' album. On the same day, Minx held a press showcase at Ellui, a club in Seoul. They performed their first comeback stage on ''The Show'' on June 30 and '' Show Champion'' on July 1.

2017: Re-debut as Dreamcatcher and ''Prequel''

In November 2016, Happyface Entertainment revealed that Minx would re-debut under the name Dreamcatcher with two additional members, Handong and Gahyeon. The group re-debuted with the release of their single album ''Nightmare'' and its lead single "Chase Me" on January 13, 2017. On January 19, they held an official debut stage at ''M Countdown'' with "Chase Me".

On April 5, Dreamcatcher released their second single album ''Fall Asleep in the Mirror''
with lead single "Good Night". The song was covered by all-female rock band Rolling Quartz in 2022.

Dreamcatcher released their first EP under their new name, ''Prequel'', on July 27. The album contained six tracks, including lead single "Fly High". The album debuted at number five on the ''Billboard'' World Albums Chart and peaked at number one on the US iTunes K-Pop Top 100 Chart. On August 1, Happyface Entertainment announced that Dreamcatcher would hold their first world tour after wrapping up promotions for ''Prequel''.

On October 3, Happyface Entertainment announced that Dreamcatcher would join the show ''MixNine''. By December 10, 2017, however, Happyface Entertainment announced that JiU, Siyeon, Yoohyeon and Dami would leave due to a schedule conflict with their tour in Brazil. On December 8, Happyface Entertainment announced that in collaboration with MyMusicTaste, Dreamcatcher would tour seven countries in Europe in February 2018 as part of their "Fly High" World Tour. Happyface Entertainment announced on December 28 that Dreamcatcher would hold a fan meeting on January 13, 2018 to celebrate the first anniversary of their debut with fans. All tickets to the fan meeting sold out in under one minute after sales opened to public on January 2.

Towards the end of the year, Dreamcatcher received critical acclaim from music critics worldwide for their unique sound that incorporated influences of rock and metal music. "Chase Me" placed at number 19 on '' Billboard''s Best K-Pop Songs of 2017: Critics' Picks, and Dreamcatcher was listed number three on ''Billboard'''s Best New K-Pop Acts in 2017.

2018: Rising success and first world tour

On January 4, 2018, Happyface Entertainment revealed that Dreamcatcher would release a new digital single dedicated to fans in celebration of their first anniversary on January 12, composed by Ollounder (오종훈) and Leez (이수민), who also composed Dreamcatcher's previous lead singles "Chase Me" and "Good Night". Individual teaser photos were subsequently released every day until January 12, when Dreamcatcher officially released their first anniversary digital single "Full Moon" alongside a promotional video.
The single immediately charted highly on the iTunes Top 100 K-Pop charts in many countries worldwide and ranked number 16 on the ''Billboard'' World Digital Song Sales chart. On January 13, Dreamcatcher held their first anniversary fan meeting at the Mary Hall Grand Theatre at Sogang University, where they performed "Full Moon" for the first time. In February 2018, Dreamcatcher became the first K-pop girl group to complete a tour of major European cities. Cities visited on the "Fly High" World Tour included London (February 14), Lisbon (February 16), Madrid (February 18), Amsterdam (February 21), Berlin (February 22), Warsaw (February 23), and Paris (February 25). In March 2018, the group announced their official fandom name to be "InSomnia".

On April 28, Dreamcatcher were appointed public relations ambassador for copyright protection for Microsoft's latest Blockchain Security Technology commercialization and copyright protection campaign.
On May 10, Dreamcatcher released their second EP, ''Escape the Era''. Their second EP had six tracks, including the lead single "You and I" and its instrumental version. ''Escape the Era''s Outside and Inside versions ranked numbers one and three, respectively, on Hanteo's album chart and peaked at number three on Gaon and number one on China's Yinyuetai. It debuted on the ''Billboard'' World Albums chart at number seven. The group announced a Latin American tour on May 17, 2018, called "Welcome to the Dream World in Latin America", which kicked off on July 27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and ended on August 5 in Panama City, Panama. On July 15, Dreamcatcher signed with Pony Canyon to make their Japanese debut in the fall.

Their third EP, ''Alone in the City'', was released on September 20, 2018. On October 5, it was announced that Dreamcatcher would be debut in Japan in November with a Japanese version of their single "What", scheduled for release on November 21.

2019: Touring, first Japanese studio album and breakthrough

On February 13, Dreamcatcher released their fourth EP, ''The End of Nightmare''. The album culminated in their new single "PIRI", which showcased Dreamcatcher's signature rock acoustics and incorporation of music from its namesake musical instrument. On the same day, Dreamcatcher's agency, Happyface Entertainment announced that they had changed their name to DreamCatcher Company. After promotions of "PIRI", Dreamcatcher went on their Asia Tour "Invitation from Nightmare City", which was announced to be held in numerous cities—Jakarta, Manila, Singapore, Seoul, and Japanese cities Tokyo and Kobe—from March to May 2019. However, due to undisclosed reasons, the concert stop in Jakarta was later canceled; instead, a short fan meeting was held. On July, 3 more shows were announced as part of the "Invitation From Nightmare City" tour, including Australian cities Melbourne and Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Concerts were to take place from late August to early September. Unfortunately, due to a fire occurring at the theater on August 31, Dreamcatcher canceled their Melbourne stop. On August 31, Dreamcatcher announced the official first-generation membership for their fanclub "InSomnia". Both Korean and Japanese fanclub applications opened on September 2 for one month.

In early September, Dreamcatcher released a series of photos teasing a new release. A comeback scheduler was unveiled later, confirming the release of a new special EP, ''Raid of Dream.'' On September 11, the group released their first Japanese studio album titled ''The Beginning of The End'', which includes Japanese versions of most of their lead singles and two new Japanese singles. The music video for the track "Breaking Out" was released two days prior to the album release, and Dreamcatcher held a showcase to promote and perform the new Japanese songs broadcast on LINE Live. Together with the release of Dreamcatcher's Korean comeback album ''Raid of Dream'', the music video of their new Korean song "Deja Vu" was unveiled on September 18. A Japanese version of the song was also uploaded simultaneously. The song was a collaboration with the mobile game 'King's Raid'.

After "Deja Vu" promotions, Dreamcatcher embarked on their second European tour in London (October 24), Milan (October 27), Berlin (October 30), Warsaw (November 1), Paris (November 3), Amsterdam (November 5), and Helsinki (November 7). Thereafter, the group also held their first ever tour in the United States, where they performed in Los Angeles (December 6), Chicago (December 8), Dallas (December 11), Orlando (December 13), and Jersey City (December 15). Handong was absent from both Europe and America tours due to at the time unspecified reasons, later revealed to be her participation in ''Idol Producer''.

2020: Handong's temporary absence, first Korean studio album and international recognition

On February 3, Dreamcatcher revealed their teaser schedule for their first Korean studio album. The album—''Dystopia: The Tree of Language''—was released on February 18 with the music video for the uptempo EDM-rock song "Scream". The album featured eight new songs, packaged with Dreamcatcher's previous two fan songs "Full Moon" and "Over the Sky", as well as Siyeon's solo debut song "Paradise". The album was the first part of the "Dystopia" series and the group's first album since 2017. Dreamcatcher's third Japanese single, "Endless Night", was released on March 11, after its official music video was released a week earlier via Pony Canyon's YouTube channel. On March 12, Dreamcatcher announced support for Handong's participation in the Chinese Idol-producing show ''Youth With You''. From March 20, Dreamcatcher held a two-week-long follow-up promotion on "Black or White", a song from their first studio album, days after promotions for "Red Sun" and "Scream" ended in the second week of March.

On May 1, Millenasia Project announced that Dreamcatcher, alongside Korean boy group In2It and female soloist AleXa, would feature in their song "Be The Future". The project, supported by UNESCO's Global Education Coalition, emphasized the importance of maintaining good hygiene practices and expressed gratitude to teaching staff worldwide for their continued efforts in educating students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The music video of the song was released on May 6.

On June 16, Dreamcatcher released a teaser for their new song "R.o.S.E BLUE", an O.S.T collaboration for the mobile game Girl Cafe Gun.
The song was released on July 15. Following "Deja Vu" in 2019, it was the second soundtrack that Dreamcatcher released for a game.

As part of an ongoing collaboration with MyMusicTaste, Dreamcatcher performed a six-member concert, called "Global Streaming Into The Night & Dystopia", on July 4, the group's first online concert for a global audience.

On July 8, Siyeon released the OST track "Good Sera" for the drama '' Memorials'', her second after her ''Love & Secret'' OST collaboration "Two of Us" in 2014.

On July 30, the group revealed a teaser schedule for their fifth EP, the second installment of the "Dystopia" series. The EP ''Dystopia: Lose Myself'' was released on August 17 and became their best selling album to date. The music video for the track "BOCA" from the EP was released on August 18. On October 16, Handong officially returned to the group and released her solo debut song, "First Light of Dawn", on October 19. On November 9, Dreamcatcher officially joined the social media platform Weverse.

On November 20, Dreamcatcher released their fourth Japanese single "No More". On November 21, Siyeon released her third OST track "No Mind" for the drama '' Get Revenge''.

On November 27, Dreamcatcher announced that they would be performing the opening theme song for anime television series '' King's Raid: Successors of the Will'', titled "Eclipse". The song was released on December 25, and a full version was released in March 2021.

2021–present: ''Dystopia: Road to Utopia'', ''Summer Holiday'' and ''Apocalypse: Save Us''

With the third installment of the "Dystopia" series, the group announced their new comeback with their sixth EP, '' Dystopia: Road to Utopia'' and its lead single "Odd Eye", which was released on January 26, 2021. Dami and Siyeon released an OST for the drama ''Black Hole'' in two versions; the original debuted at number one on K-OSTs chart and number five on the rock genre charts.

On July 1, 2021, Dreamcatcher announced their management contract with Pony Canyon would end on August 31.

On July 30, 2021, Dreamcatcher made their comeback with the song "BEcause" and the special EP '' Summer Holiday''.

On April 12, 2022, Dreamcatcher released their second Korean studio album '' Apocalypse: Save Us'' and its lead single "Maison". On April 20, the group earned their first music show win of their career with "Maison" on MBC M's '' Show Champion''. On April 26, Dreamcatcher wrapped up their promotions with their goodbye stage performance on SBS MTV's ''The Show'', where they earned their second music show win.

On June 4, 2022, Dreamcatcher traveled to Barcelona, Spain to perform at the 2022 Primavera Sound Festival.

On June 16, 2022, it was announced that Dreamcatcher will host the Apocalypse: Save Us World Tour in America, which will host a world tour through nine regions, including Pennsylvania, Louisville, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Mexico City.

In September 2022, Dreamcatcher released an image of an unknown code word, signaling a comeback in October.

In October 2022, it was announced Dreamcatcher would hold a European tour for the first time since November 2019. The tour starts on November 14 and will cover five countries: Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom, and France.

Members

* JiU () – leader, vocalist
* SuA () – dancer, vocalist
* Siyeon () – vocalist
* Handong () – vocalist
* Yoohyeon () – vocalist
* Dami () – rapper
* Gahyeon () – vocalist

Discography

Korean albums
* '' Dystopia: The Tree of Language'' (2020)
* '' Apocalypse: Save Us'' (2022)

Japanese albums
* ''The Beginning of the End'' (2019)

Concerts

Headlining

Tours
*Dreamcatcher 1st Tour Fly High (2017–2018)
*Dreamcatcher Welcome to the Dream World (2018)
*Dreamcatcher Concert: Invitation from Nightmare City (2019)
* Dreamcatcher World Tour pocalypse: Save Us(2022)
*Dreamcatcher World Tour pocalypse: Follow Us(2022)

Special concerts
*Dreamcatcher 1st Concert – Fly High in Japan (2017)
*Dreamcatcher 1st Concert in Seoul – Welcome to the Dream World (2018)
*Dreamcatcher Concert: pocalypse: Broken Halloween(2022)

Online concerts
*Dreamcatcher Concert Global Streaming Into the Night & Dystopia (2020)
*Dreamcatcher ystopia: Seven Spirits(2020)
*Dreamcatcher Concert Crossroads: Part 1. Utopia & Part 2. Dystopia (2021)
*Dreamcatcher Online Concert: Halloween Midnight Circus (2021)

Videography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official website (Japanese)

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K-pop music groups
Musical groups established in 2014
2014 establishments in South Korea
South Korean girl groups
South Korean pop rock music groups
Musical groups from Seoul