Finally, I get to see a band that is equally as big in Europe as they are in the US. In the case of Imagine Dragons, they may actually be bigger. The Las Vegas natives treated the sold-out 3Arena in Dublin to a spectacle of rock for the ages. It was exactly what the Irish capital needed before the snowstorm of the century known as the “Beast from the East” would bring the entire country to a standstill.
It’s refreshing to see a band of this magnitude lose the rock star mentality and use their platform for something bigger than just their music. During the show frontman Dan Reynolds shared an intimate moment with the capacity crowd detailing his struggles with depression and later rallied the fans around LGBT rights and the sad state of politics in the US. For those who say they don’t want a side of smart social commentary with their pop rock music, I’d ask what have you done to change anyone’s life? And by the way, there’s no line at the merch booth at the moment in case your bored in between songs.
It’s interesting to read the reviews from across the UK and Ireland. One critic called the band shallow (don’t bother the delicate genius), while others called it exhilarating. While not my exact cup of tea, one cannot deny that these guys can write some fucking massive hooks and fuse genres like no one else at the moment. At the end of the day critics should always take a back seat to the fans, and in this case I didn’t see or hear one disappointed fan out of the thousands who were there. Funny how that ratio doesn’t translate to many of the jaded critics.
It’s been fun to watch Imagine Dragons evolve since the first time I saw them as the very first band on stage in December of 2012 at the Live 105 Radio Christmas show in San Francisco. Since then, I’ve seen them several times as they’ve continued to mature into global superstars. Their latest record, 2017’s Evolve, continues to pave the way for a futuristic new genre of rock and the show was a perfect representation of the forward-thinking mentality behind the band.
Imagine Dragons’ world tour continues throughout the year. Check out all the tour dates here.
