Heart, veins, and rain: thanks Imagine Dragons!

Rising from the Nevada desert and Las Vegas in the late 2000s, rock band Imagine Dragons became one of the most popular American bands of the last years, composed by lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman.

The band first gained success with the release of the single “It’s Time”, from their award-winning debut album “Night Visions” in 2012 (double platinum in the USA): they hit it big, containing the singles “Radioactive” (later Grammy Award) and “Demons”, on the top of the charts for so much time as no other group did.

In 2015 it’s released their second album “Smoke + Mirror”, on top of the charts in America, Canada and UK, number one with the famous singles “I Bet My Life” and “Shots”.

2017 is the year of their third album “Evolve”, with the singles “Believer”, “Thunder”, and “Whatever It Takes”: top 5 in most countries all over the world, a success never happened to other bands in a so short period of career.

Three American Music Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, and one Grammy, not considering one MTV Video Music Award and one World Music Award.

Billboard placed them twice on the top of their “Year in Rock”, naming them “Breakthrough Band of 2013” and “Biggest Band of 2017”.

Imagine Dragons have sold 12 million albums and 35 million singles worldwide: and numbers are increasing…

The Las Vegas based group were here yesterday, at the Expo Experience area in Milan, for the 3 days “Milano rocks”, reached by sixty thousand people and not so sure how many thunders and heavy rain.

Dan, dressed only with a pair of black shorts and boots, showing his perfect body and abs, starts singing “Thunder, feel the thunder” and believe me it’s not just a song!

But nobody cared about the rain, wet clothes and hair: we were all stucked by them and Dan’s words: “This a place of love, no hate or intolerance…”

A successful staging with beating drums while behind a big videowall was showing computerized images of a dystopian reality, proving to be not only a group with pop refrains but even a powerful, recognizable, effective energetic rock band.

Dan Reynolds says “Our tour is about to end, which is nice to finish it in front of sixty thousand people!” and then starts singing “Every breath you take”: an amazing hommage to Sting.

But he has more to say and share to us, just before “Demons” he talks about his depression and darkness, trying to let us understand to ask for help of the loved ones and friends when in need: “Always talk about it, never think that you have to keep everything hidden inside yourself. I know the darkness, but I also know that life is always worth living.”

And I think in the end it’s all here the meaning of the concert, an exhibition full of vitality and joy of life, to state that every diversity is precious and all of us can stand the most difficult situations.

Last year was a dark one in terms of musical losses and above all rock: it may be the sky, with its rain, that gave us a new present to not ever give up in life.

“…Whatever it takes
‘Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins
I do whatever it takes
‘Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains…”

And now we are aware too.

Thank you.
@Blogjuls

Songs of the night:

Radioactive
It’s Time
Whatever It Takes
Yesterday
Natural
Walking the Wire
Next to Me
Shots
Every Breath You Take / I’ll Make It Up to You
Start Over
Rise Up
I Do not Know Why
Mouth of the River
Demons
Thunder
On Top of the World
Believer