Concert Review: Imagine Dragons "Evolve" Tour

MILOSZ KOWAL ’18
PHOTO EDITOR
A surprisingly large amount of musicians and public figures have taken to using their platform to espouse their views about the current political landscape. Detractors of such gestures would argue that the platform for celebrities is to showcase their talent, not their personal opinions. Anyone, ranging from Meryl Streep to Roger Waters, have blatantly attacked our current president, chastising him for his policies.
However, Imagine Dragons was different. The only vaguely political thing the band mentioned was the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas, as well as various other tragedies that have occurred this year. The tragedy in Las Vegas struck a chord within them, as the band originated in the city. Dan Reynolds, Imagine Dragons’ lead, called for solidarity and proclaimed being “Las Vegas strong.” In Boston, the band held a moment of remembrance for the Boston Marathon bombing. While some might proclaim this as politicising a tragedy, there was no mention of any political party, affiliation, or anything of the sort.
While being part of Evolve album tour, the setlist spanned across to all three of the band’s studio albums, providing a mix of tracks from Imagine Dragons’ back catalog interspersed between the new tracks. Most of the songs were crowd-pleasers, such as “Gold” and “Shots.”
The show began with a visual introduction to the album, followed by a laser show that accompanied the opening track of Evolve, “I Don’t Know Why.” The entire show was a grand spectacle of lasers, pyrotechnics, and confetti, concluding with the band’s most popular song, “Radioactive.” The setlist also included an homage to the late Tom Petty, who they cited as a major influence.
Grouplove and K. Flay, two smaller artists, served as the opening acts. For the European and Asian legs of the tour, other acts will serve as the openers. Grouplove performed a small sampler of their catalog, along with some of their more popular music, including hit song “Tongue Tied.” K. Flay performed her popular songs and then joined Imagine Dragons on stage for a remixed version of “Thunder,” one of the hit singles off of the new album.
The Imagine Dragons Evolve Tour was the quintessential arena-rock performance. Ranging from quiet ballads to total headbangers, the concert was a showcase of the band’s extraordinary performing skills. The level of showmanship presented is matched by only a few acts, especially for a band this young, and only on their third album. As the band grows in popularity and reaches new heights, their possibilities and scale will only increase for the better.