A thick line of campers and people wrapped in blankets is snaked around the outer edges of Prudential Center that covers over 500,000 square feet. The line belongs to none other than K-Pop idol group NCT DREAM who recently kicked off their debut U.S. headline “THE DREAM SHOW2: In A DREAM’ Tour” on April 5 in Newark, New Jersey. They will play in major cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, Dallas and Houston, as the entire tour will include 32 performances in 22 cities around the world with more dates to come. Prior to the U.S. tour, the seven-member group performed in the UK, debuting in France and Germany in late March. The hit tour is slated to end with shows back in Asia, such as Manila, Singapore, Macau and Kuala Lumpur.
NCT DREAM is the third subgroup of the boy group NCT and consists of seven members: MARK, RENJUN, JENO, HAECHAN, CHENLE, JAEMIN and JISUNG. The DREAM part of their name reflects the subgroup’s commitment to releasing music that reflects youth, adolescence and growth. The band debuted in August 2016 with their debut hit single “Chewing Gum” which peaked at number two on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart. Since then, the group has found major commercial success with their 2019 extended play “We Boom” and the release of their first studio album “Hot Sauce,” which surpassed 1.71 million pre-orders and was named “Best Album” at the 31st Seoul Music Awards.
Before the start of their Atlanta performance, student journalists were invited to join a Virtual College Roundtable brief 20-minute interview with NCT DREAM to further discuss their U.S. headline tour. Her Campus NYU was in attendance being represented by writers Rachel Kim and Sabrina Blandon. The seven-member group appeared in sleek, gray jackets with chain decorations and exuberantly greeted journalists with unique member introductions. Group leader Mark Lee gave introductory remarks about the team and the members’ tireless debut at a young age. Mark proceeded to emphasize the group’s goal, saying how they “wanted to be a symbol of healing to [their] listeners” and “be a beacon of hope to everyone who sees [them] and supports [them]…especially people like [them who are] young dreamers.”
While NCT DREAM has performed at K-CON before, this is the first time the group is touring in the U.S. How do all the members feel about this, and how have you prepared?
MARK: “We’ve never done this [tour] before eight years since our debut … We’re now beginning to travel the world so this first tour means a lot. We prepared strong performance wise and mindset wise to make sure we can show the world our capabilities and what we are striving for.”
What components of your performance will differ from your typical concert now that you’re performing for an American audience?
JENO: “I would have to say more so than having differences in stage [performance], it would really be all of the experience we gained from past tours and cities we performed. Through that we are able to try harder and freely express ourselves.
RENJUN: “I think each city that we performed at has its own charm and atmosphere. For example, when we performed in Newark or Paris, it felt like we were able to really enjoy those moments with our fans and that gave us a lot of strength.”
For those who don’t know much about the Korean pop industry, what sets your group apart from other K-pop groups?
RENJUN: “I have to say that for NCT DREAM, what sets us apart, is our history and the story that we created since our debut. Every K-Pop group has its own color [like how their color is pearl neo champagne] but for NCT DREAM, [the difference is] really the hope and dream we try to give and share to the youth –– the story that we have and just the fun we are able to show through our music as well.”
Are there any new hobbies the members have recently indulged in to help alleviate stress?
MARK: “When we get some free time or alone time in the hotel, watching movies does really kill time. You can get motivation and inspiration from movies as well, so I usually stay awake to watch films.”
As a top international sensation, NCT DREAM continues to amass a large following amongst young people on social media with 12 million Instagram followers and streaming platforms with over five million monthly Spotify listeners. They have also been named Billboard’s “21 Under 21: Music’s Next Generation” from 2018 until 2020 and were featured in TIME Magazine’s “25 Most Influential Teens of 2018.”
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Thank you so much Anna Blatt and Laura Potesta from the R&CPMK Entertainment Agency who invited HCNYU to attend the NCT DREAM Virtual College Roundtable. It was also enormously generous of them for extending concert tickets to our members for NCT DREAM’s first stop of their tour in Newark. This was such an amazing opportunity for our members, and we hope to work with you again for another event!