Penn State Lion Ambassadors in association with Student Programming Association will bring indie-rock band Imagine Dragons to campus in celebration of Founder’s Day.
The concert will take place at 8 p.m. on Feb. 20 in Alumni Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center. After having its hit, “It’s Time” featured in the trailer for the new movie, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” Imagine Dragons has been leaving a mark in the indie-rock genre and gathering a solid fan base.
Heather Maggi, entertainment chairwomen of SPA, said that Imagine Dragons is having its spring tour and was a popular choice among the 2013 Penn State Movin’ On spring music festival survey. Maggi presented the idea of bringing the band for Founder’s Day to her committee and everyone seemed interested.
“We were in communication with Movin’ On and it’s just about bringing music to the students and we knew the student body wanted to see them, so we thought it would be a good fit,” Maggi (senior-film and video) said.
Last year’s Founder’s Day concert featured fun.,which consequently became a huge success in the music world with hits, like “We Are Young” and Maggi said she expects the same caliber of artistry from Imagine Dragons.
An opener for Imagine Dragons hasn’t been confirmed yet but there should be at least one band performing before the main act.
Amanda Neff said she saw Imagine Dragons at a free concert in Philadelphia in September and said the group is an entertaining live act that sounds even better in person than on its CDs.
“I love the singer’s voice and the lyrics to their songs are great,” Neff (senior-film and video) said. “‘Demons’’ was the first song I heard by them and I immediately fell in love.”
Katie Rice, who has been listening to Imagine Dragons since the release of its first EP, said it is hard to describe the band’s unique sound, comparing the vocals to raspier voices, like Mumford and Sons but the instrumentals to The Killers or Muse.
“I think it’s a great idea to bring them to campus because this is the kind of music I listen to in comparison to Kid Cudi or Childish Gambino and other rappers,” Rice (senior-advertising) said.
Chris Pierangeli, Lion Ambassadors committee director, said SPA was primarily in charge of booking the act but they were happy to collaborate with SPA and they think Imagine Dragons is a great choice.
“I hope as many people as possible can make it to the concert and remember Penn State’s birthday,” Pierangeli (senior-secondary education in social studies) said. “We are going to try hard to get the word out about the event since we have a lot of time until February.”
Pierangeli said they are currently in the early stages of planning festivities for this year’s Founder’s Day but thinks the event will be a way to shed light on all the organizations on campus.
