Announced late on Valentine’s day, NCT Dream gave NCTzen’s the best gift when they announced the extension of the second world tour, ‘In A Dream 2.’ This time entering Europe for the first time, with London marked as the first official tour stop in arguably the most successful K-pop act to come to London this year.
Selling out the 12,500-capacity arena. Fans flocked to see the original NCT Dream line-up perform live, a thought that years earlier would have been crazy to think about with the original graduation format created in 2016.
Performing a total of 29 songs alongside 5 perfectly created VCRs. The 3-hour-long concert was filled with non-stop action on a night that will go down in UK K-pop history.
Entering the arena. It would look much like the outside, with a screen displaying a projection of the tour poster alongside pictures of each member against a white background. This screen would be accompanied by two smaller screens on either side used as shots during the performances.
The stadium-filled fans would get a sneak peek for the night as short snippets of music videos would show up on the screen to loud screams from the crowd who turned the dimly lit arena green with neo-bombs and green clothing.
With the lights dimmed, the eagled-eyed fans could see a change in the members above as member Mark could now be seen wearing a sleeping mask. Marking the start of the first VCR where each member would talk about their dreams before coming on stage in their classic blazer look.
As they entered through the top of the platform before making their way onto the stage, where they would perform their second album title track ‘Glitch Mode.’ Before going into adrenaline mode, raising the crowd’s excitement through performances of ‘Countdown,’ ‘Strong’ and ‘Dreaming’ before ending section 1 with ‘Deja Vu.’
This lead to the second VCR, which perfectly set up the performance of ‘My First and Last.’ Throwing it back all the way to their 2017 album to great success from the crowd. Fans would be treated with a wide range of discography, from their debut song, ‘Chewing Gum,’ to ‘My Page’ from their first 2017 mini album, all the way to classic songs, ‘We Go Up’ and ‘Boom.’ These songs would gather the best reactions from the crowds, with everyone standing up and singing along.
Each VCR break would see an outfit change as the group would go from their classic blazer look to a shirt and jeans look, with many members opting to wear a mixture of leather pants and vests. They adopted a new appearance from their early years, projecting a more powerful and seductive image, following this look with white suits and finally matching black t-shirts with their names on and light green “fandom colour” trousers. Each outfit change showed a different side to the group, demonstrating their growth over the years.
After their fifth VCR and an instrumental of ‘Hello Future,’ in which fans would sing along, the group would take back to the stage as they would perform the 2021 repackaged album title track. Dreamies would also be treated to ‘Trigger the Fever’ and fan favourite and global sensation ‘Hot Sauce.’
Following this, whilst the group would play their final VCR and fans would be taught the neo-bomb wave, something typically reserved for Seoul concerts, the VCR instructed fans on how to do the wave for when the members came back out. And after performing the English version of ‘Beatbox’, released just a week ago, they would follow this by trying out the wave to good success after a few attempts, in a special heart-warming moment that I have never seen before and may never see again.
This would lead into the encore, where Dream would end the night performing, ‘My Youth,’ and finally on the perfect goodbye song, ‘Walk You Home,’ waving to fans in a beautiful performance paying tribute to their past releases.
This would be the end of the show. As fans look to exit quickly to catch the last trains from Wembley station. However, the lights would dim once again, with the familiar sound of the iconic K-pop intro Candy would pulse through the crowd, and each member would once again enter the stage sporting the symbolic bright ski gloves, surprising fans with one last performance. The reminisce of the infamous first-generation song ‘Candy.’ Sung originally by SM Entertainment’s first ever-idol group H.O.T. They would show their bubble pop style in an iconic performance showing just how far they have come since their start in 2016, making the song and stage their own.
Overall, the night was a whirlwind of emotions and will go down as one of the most iconic K-pop concerts in London. From artist and friend HRVY being in attendance, to the amazing style and costumes created and worn by NCTizens. The night was like a concert I haven’t experienced in a long time, reminding me of my last time at Wembley a few years ago, back in 2018, when BTS took over Wembley Stadium. NCT Dreams’ wide range of performances and setlist, mixing it up with the rap line singing ‘Saturday Drip,’ and the vocal line performing ‘Trigger the Fever’ made the concert well worth the asking price. The addition of VCR, gave fans the much-needed recovery time between songs as well as time for the members to get changed with interesting material fitting into each song. This kept the show fresh and it never left a dull moment. The show is definitely one to remember. And with the promise to come in the future, let’s hope it’s not long before they come back.
5/5 Stars
Review by Hillz Reporter, Ethan Horton
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