Dreamcatcher in London review: A short and sweet blend of heavy metal meets K-Pop

Before K-Pop girl group Dreamcatcher took to the stage in London on Thursday night, the energy was palpable. Their fans, called InSomnias, rushed to the barricade right at the front, gifts and homemade signs of their faves held aloft, to be as close as possible.

The outpouring of love began before the six members even stepped on stage and kept going throughout, even the slight pause at the start due to an unfortunate technical difficulty was filled with supportive screams from the fandom at ULU Live.

No other K-Pop group, male or female, is doing what Dreamcatcher does. Sweet pop vocals and schoolgirl-style outfits shouldn’t match with gothic heavy metal but the group owned it.

As the floor thudded to the sounds of Chase Me, What, and the haunting Goodnight, members JiU, Yoohyeon, Siyeon, SuA, Dami and Gahyeon (their seventh member, Handong, was unable to join because of ‘schedule conflicts’) pulled off their poised, witchy dance moves with enthusiasm, clearly happy to be in London for a second time in front of a bigger crowd.

Dreamcatcher’s versions of Bad Boy by Red Velvet and TT by TWICE showed they can easily turn their hands to any style; but Siyeon and SuA’s sultry unit stage made you want to see more of what Dreamcatcher can do.

And what they can do – very well – are standout numbers like Wonderland, a hypnotising love song with a threatening baseline; and showboating flourishes like Dami twirling a silver cane mid-song or a vampiric neck bite slotted seamlessly into a routine. And the chilled, reggae-inspired July 7th displayed some serious vocal talent from JiU in particular.

With six albums under their belts, there was scope for the show to run longer than a zippy two hours without the need for covers, or a raffle for albums and signed flags. The latter was a well-meaning addition that took advantage of the small venue, but was ultimately chaotic as a mix up with numbers meant winner after winner failed to come forward. But it was a small blip for InSomnia, who were soon back screaming again through You And I, Over The Sky and their furious comeback single Deja Vu.

The encore of Wake Up and Mayday, a pop punk track pulled straight from a time when the likes of Simple Plan were at their peak, saw one lucky fan manage to snap a Polaroid of Siyeon posing straight down the lens. She looked close to tears with happiness.

For her, all the hiccups beforehand were blown out of the water. Even if Dreamcatcher ended up with no music for the whole gig, no doubt the fandom would have stepped in, belting out every word – in Korean and English – by heart. And they would have left with smiles just as big.

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