Review and photos by Jenna Hughes
Imagine Dragons made a stop in Atlanta for the Into the Night Tour, the final chapter of the breakout album Night Visions on Wednesday, packing Philips Arena with devoted fans.
The Naked and Famous were fantastic openers, performing songs from the 2009 hit album Passive Me, Aggressive You including the hits “Girls Like You” and “Punching In A Dream.”
The band, which formed in 2008 in New Zealand, has enjoyed a quick rise to fame in the past few years. “Hearts Like Ours,” from their newest release, 2013’s In Rolling Waves, is arguably the band’s best song to date and the crowd seemed to agree, singing along loudly. “Young Blood,” the band’s first breakout hit, closed the set and then it was on to Imagine Dragons.
The band slowly trickled on stage to the opening chords of “Fallen,” and front man Dan Reynolds appeared to enormous cheer from the crowd. A natural showman, Reynolds picked up his drumsticks and proceeded to jam with the rest of the band during the song’s intro. There really is nothing else quite like seeing every single member of the band playing a different type of drum and it is that unique aspect that makes Imagine Dragons such a stellar live act.
“Tiptoe” kept the set going as Reynolds strutted down the catwalk to get up close and personal with fans while they screamed the lyrics back to him. Massive radio hit “It’s Time” had the entire arena singing along so loudly that they nearly drowned out Reynolds entirely.
New song, “Who We Are,” from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack came next, along with a surprise cover of Rush’s “Tom Sawyer.” Reynolds strained a bit on the high notes during that one, but the music was spot on and the crowd was loving it. Things slowed down a bit for “30 Lives,” which Reynolds dedicated to a fan, a cancer survivor who told the band that their music helped him through his recovery. Many in the audience held up their cell phones with the flashlight on, creating a serene, twinkling environment during the song. “Demons” was another crowd pleaser and “On Top of the World” had everyone out of their seats dancing. Giant balloons filled with confetti descended over the audience during the song and Reynolds left the stage, strolling through the floor of the arena while high-fiving fans who rushed to meet him.
“Radioactive,” the band’s biggest hit thus far, closed out the set with Reynolds giving it his all, banging the bass drum with ferocious intensity and ending with an impressive finale of drumming with the rest of the band. The crowd demanded an encore and the band returned to play “Nothing Left To Say” to end a great night of music in Atlanta.
The Naked and Famous
Imagine Dragons
