Imagine Dragons rocked Alumni Hall last night for the annual Founder’s Day Celebration.
The energy in the room was constantly bouncing between Imagine Dragons and the crowd as they played off of each other the entire night.
“We’re a band that relies on the energy from the audience,” Ben McKee, Imagine Dragons’ bassist, said. “To look out and see hundreds or thousands of people who know the music that came to participate in [the experience] is an indescribable [feeling].”
The audience was definitely full of energy. Before the band even came on stage, the crowd was chanting for Imagine Dragons and a deafening cheer filled the hall when they appeared in the doorway.
“The performance was amazing,” Estefania Lascano (junior-architectural engineering) said. “They’re great live.”
Alumni Hall was at full capacity, but the crowd pushed so close together and up to the stage that it was only using about half the room size.
“I’m a huge fan of [Imagine Dragons],” Jennifer Gong (sophomore-architectural engineering) said. “I feel as if I am a part of the music.”
From the first to the last song, the band placed all of its emotions into every note and lyric, so it wasn’t surprising when Dan Reynolds, lead singer, practically collapsed onto the drum set at the end of “Radioactive”—which was the standout song of the night.
“I’ve always written from a pretty personal place,” Reynolds said. “Life experience, dreams, aspirations, fear and sorrow all go into it.”
This is the first tour that Imagine Dragons is on where it is the headliner.
“This has been the most amazing tour of our lives,” Dan Platzman, Imagine Dragons’ drummer, said.
The band said it enjoys the freedom headlining gives them to sing the songs it wants and to spend more time on the stage—the place where the band feels most comfortable and it doesn’t plan to leave it anytime soon.
“We will play from now until we die,” McKee said.
The stage is definitely where Imagine Dragons is meant to be. The band knew how to use every part of the stage to its advantage and was sure to engage the crowd at all times. It was as if the entire hall was a part of the performance, not just the stage set up in the front.
The crowd gathered in Alumni Hall last night was true fans, who knew basically every word to the each song, soaked in every lyric that was sung. The link between the music and crowd was undeniable.
“We never wrote anything expecting it to be big, but to be able to have our songs connect with people [around the world] is a very surreal, gratifying feeling as an artist,” Reynolds said.
The concert was more than just a performance. Imagine Dragons put on a show for the crowd. The band designed the stage set up itself, including the lighting, and hired set designers to then piece it all together. The performance from the stage only added to the emotions felt through the music.
Imagine Dragons is gaining fame quickly, but the band said it doesn’t feel famous. It wants to enjoy the opportunity and work as hard as it can at its’ music.
One thing Imagine Dragons is for sure of is its gratitude for its loyal fans.
“They’re the reason we are here,” Wayne Sermon, Imagine Dragons’ guitarist, said. “We definitely would not have made it this far if it wasn’t for the people coming to our shows all these years and that makes them a part of the identity that is Imagine Dragons.”
