Imagine Dragons takes over the Tower stage at Lollapalooza’s main stage… the minutes that will come after this instant should be filled with all the crazy emojis you can think of, including the explosion one. This show was as big as the festival itself. Before the third song is over the public has already been impressed with two confetti rains and pyrotechnics.
The band manages to engage the public and have them clapping, singing and jumping to all their hits. Dan Reynolds parades on stage singing Believer on the catwalk and every single fan at the festival field holds their hands up in the air to the beat of the song. It’s a fabulous scene to watch.
Listening and watching Imagine Dragons perform live is a revelation. It’s almost like this is the place where the band actually belongs and not on the record. Apart from what you would imagine, their music and the band themselves seem more intimate and more identifiable.
Ben McKee focuses on the audience with the warmest of smiles every time he flips his bass to reveal the pride and trans colours and the rainbow heart behind it. Apart from his many titles, McKee is also an activist and he dedicates his work to collect donations to non-profit organisations, working to create a better, kinder wold.
Dan Reynold’s makes a call for peace, referring to the world’s political conflicts, resonating even more after he is handed an Ukranian flag by someone from the audience. When Reynolds dedicates the Alphaville cover Forever Young to the people from Ukraine, the entire Gärdet gets filled with the deafening chants of the public who sing the lines: Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst / Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?
Imagine Dragons has room to grow, it is already a major festival headliner, but we see they still have a long path to pave in order to explode like the legend they are already beginning to resemble and most likely will end up being.
All photos by Karen Lundquist @1_way_ticket_photo_video
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