Over the course of 5 years, Imagine Dragons has developed their music to a worldwide influence. They are a four-person rock band originating from Las Vegas, Nev. and have held a top spot in the Billboard Charts along with receiving numerous amounts of rewards. Some of their awards include Billboard number one rock artist of 2013, having their first studio album, “Night Visions”, chart the Billboard 200 for two consecutive years and being the only artist to have two songs in the Top Ten Most Downloaded Songs in Rock History; “Radioactive” (No. 1) and “Demons” (No. 8). More recently, the band’s latest big hit, “Believer,” spent 12 weeks at the number one
spot on the Billboard’s alternative radio charts.
The band’s music career truly began in 2012 with the release of the “Night Visions” album, selling over 2.5 million copies to date. The most popular and well known song on the album, “Radioactive,” smashed records on its own, being at the top of the Billboard Charts for 87 weeks and ultimately becoming the genre’s biggest hit of 2013. After a two-year break of being out of the media and touring, the band announced their second studio album, “Smoke + Mirrors”. Although not as popular as their first album, Imagine Dragons still sold over one million copies and took themselves on a world tour featuring the new songs. Finally in 2017, they have released their most current studio album, “Evolve”, which recently toured to Colorado.
Imagine Dragons took the stage on Oct. 14 at the Pepsi Center following the opening bands, Grouplove and K. Flay. The 2017 “Evolve” tour took place not only in Denver but in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Seattle, Montréal and several other cities across the nation.
The band followed the theme of their album, evolution, within its opening minutes of the concert. Old black and white educational videos about the history of man were featured to lead into the first song, “I Don’t Know Why”. Next c
ame upbeat songs to motivate the crowd, some of which included, “It’s Time”, “Gold”, “Whatever it Takes” and “Yesterday”. For the entire course of the fifth song, “Start Over”, they rained sparkling paper circles over the crowd’s heads. The use of other confetti-like materials continued throughout the concert, including four large confetti guns and inflatable balls for the crowd to pass to one another.
Sophomore Jessie Lauck attended the concert and enjoyed the multiple interactions with the crowd.
“I especially liked the balloons and confetti, it made me feel as though I was really a part of the concert…It was a night to remember,” Lauck said.
Following the upbeat songs, Imagine Dragons used its platform to spread awareness towards everyday issues facing the world. Lead singer, Dan Reynolds, shared his opinions on equality in the world by stating this message,
“Amidst all the confusion, amidst all the divide in the world, amidst the loss that we’ve all felt – especially our hometown of Las Vegas – we come out on the stage every single night.” Reynolds said. “I walk down and I see your faces. I see people of all different colors, all different cultures, people come here from different political backgrounds, from different religions; all the things that the world tells us should divide us… Why? There’s no reason for divide. We will not be fearful. We will continue to create music. We will continue to come together.”
Along with the topic of equality, Reynolds spoke about his own personal experience with depression. He explained that his passion for music helped him to find his happiness. Reynolds then began to sing one of his hit singles, “Demons”, from the album Night Visions. Following this song and a few others, Reynolds and the rest of the band took stage towards the back of the arena to sing songs featured on older albums such as “Bleeding Out” from “Night Visions” and “Dream” from “Smoke + Mirrors”. Along with a tribute song for Tom Petty, the band performed “Won’t Back Down”. The final five songs were Imagine Dragon’s biggest hits including “Radioactive” from “Night Visions”, “I Bet My Life” from Smoke + Mirrors and “Thunder”, “Believer” and “Walking the Wire” from “Evolve”.
Amongst the crowd, sophomore Casey Ford found the concert immensely enjoyable. “The night was incredible and the whole stadium was full of positive vibes,” Ford said.
Harper and I were fortunate enough to have gotten tickets to the concert before the band sold out. Our seats were located on the floor and fairly close to the stage. It was one of the most surreal experiences of our lives. Although we are both relatively short people, visibility of the stage was not an issue. We both have attended numerous concerts in recent years and can confidently say that sitting on the floor is a must for concert goers at least once in their lifetime.
As the concert progressed, the band told personal stories about what they did in their free time allowing for the audience to feel really immersed in not only their music but their personal lives as well. To lead into the song, “Demons”, Dan Reynolds shared his personal struggles with depression. While performing the song, the band slowed the tempo which revealed the deeper meaning of the mental health issue. By doing this, the song became more intriguing and powerful.
Aside from the personal stories, the performance of the concert overall was phenomenal. We enjoyed how many of the songs were played differently than the recorded versions. For example, “Radioactive”, one of the more well known songs, was played more instrumentally than it is on the recorded version. It provided the audience with a different perspective of the songs they love. Some of our personal favorites, “It’s Time” and “I’m So Sorry”, were played with such enthusiasm. You could really tell that the band members were enjoying the show as they danced lively on stage and gave high fives to many of the crowd members.
The positive energy from the band put everyone in a good mood and brought the crowd to their feet. Overall, the concert was incredible and if we could, we would live through it a hundred times more.
