[Live Review] IMAGINE DRAGONS (Perth)

Perth Arena
Saturday May 12, 20187 :

Supporting Imagine Dragons on their Australian leg of the Evolve tour are The Temper Trap who started off the night with an absolute bang, their indie vibes putting the whole audience in a trance as lead singer Dougy Mandagi stunned them with his powerful vocals. Having a guitar change almost every song can sometimes get messy but for the Temper Trap it was all too easy, every tune had something new to bring to the audiences ears and eyes. They performed ‘Sweet Disposition’ which the crowd went wild for, every single person in the audience was singing their hearts out to the classic. Before you knew it The Temper Trap set was over and there was an anxious wait for the lights to dim and Imagine Dragons to take to the stage.

At 8:45pm the arena went black, and scrambled white noise played as the band’s two minute visual intro started. It was predominantly black and white with an evolutionary/time oriented theme and multiple voices speaking about the formation of our planet. The intro finished and again, the stage went black…Imagine Dragons appeared standing at the front of the main stage each dressed in clothes from a different era. Immediately the show had the audience’s eyes glued to the stage as lead singer, Dan Reynolds jumped around with so much energy, you couldn’t help but dance around in your seat.

The band covered Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’ and spoke about something which is very close to the bands hearts, depression/anxiety, the stigma around it and getting help. Emotion was running heavy through every being in the arena when they played ‘Demons’, from their debut album Night Visions.

The show had so many brilliant elements to keep the audiences eyes peeled, there were multiple confetti and fog cannons, lasers, combined drumming, a runway & a separate acoustic stage where they performed a number of hits, mostly from their earlier albums (Night Visions and Smoke & Mirrors). Not to mention a hyperactive lead singer who bounced all over the stage throughout the night!

They sang and danced their way through the Evolve album with visuals telling the story of the world’s history and finishing with the band’s evolution from playing small venues to sold out stadiums! Of course they performed their top hits from their latest and past albums like ‘Thunder’, ‘Whatever it takes’, ‘Believer’, ‘On top of the world’ and ‘Radioactive’ which they closed the show with.

Imagine Dragons are certainly a band born for the stage, they engage with the audience like a conductor to an orchestra and every single person in the arena felt the energy which pulsed off the stage and into their hearts. Imagine Dragons put on a spectacular live show with never a need for auto tune as they’re so incredibly talented. It’s a show you wouldn’t want to miss.

Reviewer : Nicola Arnold
Photographer : Skyler Bjelanovic

IMAGINE DRAGONS
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THE TEMPER TRAP
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