NCT Dream Talk The Dream Show 3: Dream()scape World Tour, 2024 Bucket List, & More

Courtesy of Live Nation/SM Entertainment

The past few years have been a whirlwind for NCT Dream. In 2022, as COVID-19 restrictions finally fully loosened up, the SM Entertainment septet returned to the road to embark on their second world tour, which included 41 stops worldwide. Days after wrapping up the tour in the summer of 2023, they released their third studio album, ISTJ, and now, less than a year later, they are ready to do it all again.

Keeping up their relentless pace, 2024 is shaping up to be a busy year for NCT Dream. Back in March, the group released its latest EP, Dream()scape, signaling a seismic shift in their sound. The six-track project, led by title track "Smoothie," felt almost like a reintroduction for NCT Dream, who first burst into the scene as bubbly tweens with their debut single "Chewing Gum" in 2016. Gone are the saccharine aesthetics, now replaced by “dirty taste" and gritty thorns. "No more good boy, I'ma bad," Mark prophesies in the opening verse.

Dream()scape has only been out for a couple of months, and with so much to digest, you'd think NCT Dream would still be hung up promoting the EP, but now all eyes are on their new world tour, The Dream Show 3: Dream()scape.

First announced in February, The Dream Show 3: Dream()scape tour is NCT Dream's third world tour, a continuation of The Dream Show (2019–2020) and The Dream Show 2: In a Dream (2022–2023). The members — minus Renjun, who announced a hiatus citing health reasons in April — kicked things off in Seoul with three shows back to back in Seoul before taking the show to Osaka the following weekend. Last week, the group added even more stops across the U.S., Latin America, and Europe, joining the previously announced Asian shows and including a handful of cities they've never visited before.

Ahead of their first shows in Seoul and as they prepare to make the world their literal oyster this year, Teen Vogue caught up with Mark, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung over Zoom to chat about what to expect from the different legs of the tour, their preparations, on-the-road essentials, and more. Read the interview below.

Teen Vogue: Let's jump straight into your tour. I know you're kicking things off in just a couple of weeks in Seoul. What does a typical day look like for NCT Dream at the moment?

Jeno: Every day these days, we're pretty much focused on preparing for the concert. We're in the final stages of finalizing the choreo bits as well as some of the technicals, but everything is going quite smoothly.

TV: How many hours a day are you spending preparing for the tour, roughly?

Mark: Like, 25.

TV: Wow, ok. [Laughs.]

Mark: No, but even after this interview, I mean, we go straight to practice. I think for the past week, we've been in the practice room every single day, all day. And even practicing like that, we still have a lot to practice and we still have a lot of imperfections. But the concert's in a way a week later. So, though it's very tiring that we got to split ourselves up, we're doing the best we can.

TV: I'm sure the best you can is more than enough. Do you have any surprises planned for the tour? I know you like to keep things private, but if you can give us a couple of teasers and just keep it out of context.

Jisung: So this time, it's going to be all group performances. We're always going to be performing together. There's no solos, no units, just all NCT Dream, all the time.

TV: This is the third installment of The Dream Show. What has been the biggest lesson you have learned from last year's 41-stop tour?

Chenle: One very important lesson I learned is [managing our] stamina, being physically ready to go on a long tour. Because of course, we're always doing our best, but if we use up all our energy 200% all the time, then it's difficult to maintain that high level of energy throughout the tour. I felt that we need to learn how to control and use our limited energy wisely.

TV: How do you do that? I know you don't have a lot of time in between stops, so how do you prioritize not burning yourself out and your health in general. How do you take care of yourself and also each other while you're on tour?

Chenle: Well, for myself, I'm going to bring my tumbler, and I'm always going to have warm water with me at all times so that I can just be sipping on some warm water. I also have a spray for my throat to alleviate the tension.

Jeno: Because we have a lot of intense choreo this time around, I'm going to bring a foam roller with me on tour. I'm just going to have it so I can stretch any of the sore muscles that I have or any of it to prevent any injury of the muscles. Yes, I'm just going to make sure I have a foam roller with me.

TV: You're doing bigger venues and a handful of cities and countries that you've never been to before, like Colombia, Oakland, and the Netherlands. Is there a stop or a venue that you're particularly excited to perform at?

Haechan: This is a great chance for us to meet a lot of fans abroad and I'm really excited for the chance to meet fans in places that we've never been before. And I just want to say anywhere our fans are, NCT Dream will go there, we'll try to be there.

TV: Do you have time to explore the cities you perform at at all?

Mark: [Nods.]

Chenle: Well, I plan on playing basketball in every city. [Smiles.]

TV: I know Chenle already said a couple, and Jeno as well, but can you give me the essentials that you absolutely need while touring? It can be supplements, clothes, beauty, video games, whatever. Give me your simplified packing list, just one or two things from each of you.

Mark: I like to bring some supplements as well, like antibiotics, vitamins, things like that. And I like my earphones… And a book!

Jaemin: I always carry my shower filter, a heating pad…

Haechan: [Laughs.]

Jaemin: And then meds and vitamins, and a humidifier.

Chenle: Humidifiers are essential for being on tour. But bringing along the humidifier can be a bit bulky, so I like to request one in all the cities I go to because it's very good for the throat as well.

Jaemin: And my skin care. Cosmetics.

Jisung: I like to bring along a Bluetooth speaker, and I always bring along this aurora mood light. I've never actually used it, but I just bring it along.

Haechan: Bath salts for me. I really like taking baths.

TV: What if the hotel doesn't have a bathtub?

Haechan: Then, I can at least just try to smell the nice scent. [Laughs.]

All: [Laugh.]

Jeno: I always bring my iPad, because I spend long hours on the plane and I always make sure to download dramas or movies to watch.

TV: You're all still very young, but you've been on the public eye for a lot of years, what has been the biggest challenge or the biggest change that you have noticed when it comes to your priorities and what you value the most both in and outside of work since your debut?

Mark: I think we started at a very young age and we were given a lot of tasks and a lot of schedules to go through. And I think at that time, we were just very hard-working, responsible players in the game. But now I feel like we are at the level where we are more conscious of how we want to express ourselves on stage and who we are as artists and players. So I think that's the biggest difference for us as a team and individually, we all know how to and why we want to express ourselves more and I think that brings more of our colors to whatever we do. And I think we're still growing in that sense. And mainly other than that, I think I could see how much we've grown with our fans as well. And that's something that I always, it's very touching to see that and we're still on the way too. So, in all those senses, I think we've grown a lot.

TV: If you had to describe your “colors” back then and now, which words would you choose?

Jaemin: Personally, I think in the past, I was just a cute child and now I am very enthusiastic and positive.

Mark: I think we were… children. And now we're… grown children.

TV: [Laughs.] Not adults yet?

Mark: Not adults, but we're grown children.

TV: I feel like that growth that you speak about is really palpable in your latest EP, Dream()scape. I think it's very different from anything that you have done in the past and darker. As you test out new sounds and new influences, is there a genre or a vibe that all of you feel most comfortable or at home with sonically just pertaining to music?

Jisung: As a team, I think we're very good at doing concepts that have this, not sad, but beautifully sad vibe. Individually, as well, I think we are good at portraying that beautiful sadness.

Chenle: Beautiful sadness, that's it.

TV: You're going to spend the majority of the latter half of the year on the road. And I know that doesn't leave much space to do anything else, but is there anything on your bucket list that you want to cross off before the end of the year? It can be as a group or as a person. Is there something that you want to 100% achieve in 2024?

Haechan: I want to go snowboarding with all my members.

Jisung: It's probably not going to happen.

TV: He's manifesting.

Jeno: I want to find a new hobby for myself that I could do in my free time.

TV: Are you close to finding it?

Jeno: [Pauses to think.] No, I’m still looking for it.

Chenle: Basketball?

Jeno: Nope.

Chenle: These days, I've been working on taking care of my ankle. I've been hurt pretty often and I've learned that my core and overall my other muscles are still a bit weak, so my goal is to work on overall muscles so that it's less pressure for my ankle.

Jaemin: These days, I'm preparing my own photo exhibition with the photos that I take, and one of my hopes and goals is to open this exhibition all over the world.

Mark: Well, I think we should take the time to go on a vacation together. Even if it was just for a night outside of the city.

TV: Make it a bit more than one night. At least two nights.

Mark: If the schedule allows!

Jisung: I want to go to a very cold area such as Northern Europe, go to a hot spring and see the northern lights.

TV: That’s also on my bucket list as well for this year. I think that's everything. Is there anything else that you want to add for fans that are planning to travel and see you abroad or just a general message for fans?

Haechan: For fans who've been waiting a long time for us and through this tour — and because there'll be fans who see us in person for the first time — we're really excited to see you, and we hope to meet all your expectations and all the hopes that you've had for us. So, just please wait for us, stay happy and healthy, and continue to support and love us. Thank you!

_{This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Most of NCT Dream's answers were translated from Korean via an interpreter.}

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue

Want more great Culture stories from Teen Vogue? Check these out:

• A New Generation of Pretty Little Liars Takes on the Horrors of Being a Teenage Girl

• Who Is Rihanna, Really?

• Jennette McCurdy Is Finally Able to Grieve

• Underneath Chappell Roan’s Hannah Montana Wig? A Pop Star for the Ages

• Donald Glover’s Swarm Is Another Piece of Fandom Media That Dehumanizes Black Women

• On Velma, Mindy Kaling, and Whether Brown Girls Can Ever Like Ourselves on TV

• The Next Generation of Female Rap Lives on TikTok

• Gaten Matarazzo Talks Spoilers, Dustin Henderson, and Growing Up on Stranger Things

• How K-pop Stars Are Leading Mental Health Conversations for AAPI People and Beyond

• Meet the Collective of Philly TikTokers Making You Shake Your Hips

• The Midnight Club Star Ruth Codd Isn’t Defined By Her Disability