Amanda Molitor ’14: Imagine Dragons, following up on their extremly well received performance at Made in America last summer, returned to the Philadelphia area on March 7th to play a sold out show at the Camden’s Susquehanna Bank Center as part of their US tour in support of their debut album, Night Visions. This alternative pop/rock quartet hailing from Las Vegas formed five years ago and has achieved extreme mainstream success in the past year, during which it has become a Grammy award-winning band which can boast a platinum debut album and three Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping hits: “It’s Time,” “Demons,” and “Radioactive.” These songs play incessantly on almost every radio station; people cannot seem to resist singing along to the catchy (if not cliché) lyrics.
The representation of every demographic in the Camden audience is a testament to Imagine Dragons’ popularity with almost all age groups: teenagers, adults, and families with small children filled every seat. This mass appeal can be attributed to the band’s PG-rated lyrics and bouncy rhythms combined with the universally appreciated rock influence and infectious drum beats. The show was not in want of any percussion due to the numerous drums of every size strewn on stage and played by various band members at different times. This is an Imagine Dragons trademark and added an additional layer of originality to the typical rock concert.
After Nico Vega and The Naked and Famous opened the show, Imagine Dragons began their 90-minute set with such crowd-pleasers as “Fallen,” “Tiptoe,” “Hear Me,” but the audience immediately showed a powerful response to the distinct handclaps and mandolin riffs of Imagine Dragons’ first single, “It’s Time.” This was followed by “Amsterdam,” featuring a solo by guitarist Wayne “Wing” Sermon.
Front man Dan Reynolds interspersed the set list with nostalgic stories from the days when the band was “poor, but happy to just be playing music every day.” He told the Camden audience, “We started out playing small bars and we were happy with just that and now we are playing a huge arena like this. We do not take this for granted.”
Imagine Dragons paid homage to their rock ‘n’ roll roots by playing a cover of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” and dedicating it to “all people who are fans of classic rock.” Reynold’s attempt at hitting Geddy Lee’s higher notes was mediocre at best but overall, it was a decent cover and a great tribute to the “arena rock” of the early 1980s.
Photo courtesy of www.rollingstone.com
The lighters came out when the band played the slower “30 Lives” after giving a touching dedication to Tyler Robinson, a 17-year-old cancer victim. Along with Robinson’s family, Imagine Dragons started The Tyler Robinson Foundation in 2013 to help young people battle the disease that took Tyler’s life.
Ben McKee proceeded to shred on the bass guitar as the band transitioned into “Demons,” accompanied by the crowd’s passionate sing-along vocals. Following a solo by drummer Daniel Platzman’s, the band moved on to “On Top of the World,” which had everyone dancing to the lively beat and singing along to the borderline Disney-esque lyrics as huge confetti-filled balloons fell from the rooftops and bounced around the crowd.
Imagine Dragons saved the best for last and closed the show with their smash hit “Radioactive,” which won a Grammy for “Best Rock Performance” and is, as Rolling Stone put it, “the biggest rock hit of the year.” This song was obviously the highlight of the night, and the audience response was overwhelming. After the band left the stage, the crowd cheered for an encore, which Imagine Dragons delivered with “Nothing Left to Say.” When they took the stage for a final time, the powerful roar of the crowd rang painfully in every ear and the sound reverberated throughout everyone’s body: the tell-tale sign of a great show.
This is Imagine Dragon’s fourth and final tour for Night Visions and during the show, the band revealed it is excited to begin recording their sophomore album this summer. The runaway success of Night Visions will be a tough act to follow, but if the amped-up Camden crowd is any indication, Imagine Dragons has a large legion of dedicated fans that will be eager to devour the band’s next offering.