When Imagine Dragons took the stage to the sold-out Merriweather Post Pavilion last Friday night, the crowd could not have known what they were in for. Lead vocalist Dan Reynolds charged the stage and led his fellow bandmates on a pulse-pounding, non-stop barrage of high energy songs that went on well into the night.
If you don’t know the band Imagine Dragons by now, you have either been hiding in a witness protection program, ice fishing in the arctic for a few years, or like the old saying goes, living under a rock somewhere. Odds are that even if you don’t know the band by name, you have probably have at least heard a few of their tunes either coming through your car radio, over the loudspeakers at a shopping mall, or leaking out from the depths of your subconscious as socially induced white noise. Point being, this band is everywhere right now, and even if you don’t intimately know their music, you probably know their songs.
The stage setup was armed with drums and percussion instruments of all sorts. Reynolds literally ran around the stage during and in-between songs, moving from one drum station to the next for their entire set. Imagine Dragons bring so much raw energy to the stage, it radiates from each member of the band to form this halo-like glow that wraps around the entire crowd. It is obvious that they want to give their fans the best show experience they can give them, and they do. Their energy never seemed to fade throughout the night, and I can safely say that this is the biggest stage presence that I’ve seen from any band all year.
A few songs into their set, Reynolds stopped for a minute to tell the crowd, “I used to come to DC when I was little, and I threw up the first time I came here. I was either 8 or 18; I don’t remember.” He went on to say, “This is the biggest crowd that we have ever played for.” That was one of only a few pauses during the entire show. Imagine Dragons played live as if they were 20-year music veterans and still managed to come off as a band that’s hungry to entertain their audience for the first time.
This has been a huge year for the Las Vegas-based band, who have spent most of the past year on the road. They released their first full-length album Night Visions in 2012, which was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Rolling Stone has called the band’s song “Radioactive” “the biggest hit of the year,” and Billboard has coined Imagine Dragons as “The Breakthrough Band of 2013.” There are clearly no signs of slowing down for this rising star of a band. Seeing their performance was stunning
To get the evening’s sounds under way, The Envy Corps served as the night’s opener and served up a fun and solid set. California’s alternative rockers The Neighborhood had the honor of second band of the night. The Neighborhood has had a recent string of success and is known largely for their song “Sweater Weather.” I have to say, going in I actually could have almost liked the “Sweater Weather” song—I mean who wouldn’t? As far as songs go, it’s catchy, and it’s a fun, sweet song. After seeing it played live, I hope I never hear it again. Their set was dull with no moments of note. The band lulled around the stage mostly staring at each other and came off like a bunch of guys having bad jam session in their basement. The only hope for this band is the vocals of their lead, Jesse Rutherford, whose voice, although a little muted at times, carries the weight of this band. Luckily, Imagine Dragons more then made for the night’s middle.
IMAGINE DRAGONS
THE NEIGHBORHOOD
THE ENVY CORPS
