Waaaaaay back on May 15 of this year, I drove home from school on a stealth mission to get to the nearest computer to buy tickets for the recently announced Imagine Dragons tour! When I heard via Twitter a few weeks earlier that the group would be touring their soon to be released album called “Evolve”, I knew I had to go. I purchased tickets directly in the middle of the stage and sat back admiring my TicketMaster order on my laptop screen with a giddy smile on my face. Soon after that, Imagine Dragons dropped their new album and I was obsessed! My boyfriend and I listened to one of their new songs every time we were in the car together for months!
After months of finally waiting for the date to arrive, Sunday October 1st finally arrived! We drove up to a huge crowd entering into the venue, the Hollywood Bowl. We stared at the colorful merch, which was well designed and soft!
The Hollywood Bowl has bench style seating, so we rented $1 seat cushions and headed to our seats, which were amazing and dead-center! Every seat at this venue has a great view since the seating is elevated at an angle. K. Flay was the first act and then Grouplove, both of which were really impressive and made me look into their songs after the concert, but then came the main attraction.
Dan Reynolds, the lead singer of Imagine Dragons, brought down the house! His voice is even better live and he brought a genuine excitement to the performance. Not only did he play songs off of the “Evolve” album, such as “Walking the Wire”, “Whatever it Takes” and “Believer”, he also played the songs form their first album “Night Visions”, such as “Radioactive” and “It’s Time”.
Between songs Reynolds would comment about how the world should unite in times of tribulations, which unfortunately we experience frequently nowadays. His main message was that whether you are left-wing, right-wing, black, white, hispanic, or any ethnicity, we can all relate and come together to experience and appreciate music. I took these words to heart that night, especially when I came home to the news about the Route 91 shooting in Las Vegas.
Overall, the night was one to remember. I got to hear all of my favorite songs with someone I love, especially when loved ones were taken away from so many people on that very same night. I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to hear Reynolds speak of uniting the nation as 17,500 people shouting their approval of his message. If you ever have the opportunity to hear a band this band that is crazy about their fans, their music, and isn’t preoccupied with their political stance, I highly recommend seeing Imagine Dragons!