Back in 2018, Las Vegas rock group Imagine Dragons were the biggest band on the planet, dominating radio stations around the world and winning numerous awards for their work. Although they formed back in 2008, 2018 also saw them become the most streamed artist on Spotify in the world, helped along by the success of their third studio album ‘Evolve,’ which had been released the previous year, and the album’s extremely popular singles including ‘Believer,’ ‘Thunder,’ and ‘Next To Me.’
The group also played at the much-lauded Madness Music Festival that year, delivering a headlining set that featured a powerful rendition of their track ‘Believer’. Dominated by lead singer Dan Reynolds’ upbeat stage antics and drummer Daniel Platzman’s relentless energy, the group had the huge crowd in the palm of their hand, encouraging them to literally shout along with the song’s anthemic chorus and building up the tension with an acoustic singalong before they burst into the full track.
Reynolds also gave an eloquent speech to the crowd before playing the track, getting them sufficiently hyped up for the music that was to follow and thanking them for the support they had given the band. “We get to go on this stage every night and see people come together with so much diversity,” he said, “thank you for giving us this opportunity.” His speech (which many fans have since dubbed ‘incredible’) made a beautiful introduction to what is actually a very poignant pop song.
Another highlight of Imagine Dragons’ set at the festival was their rendition of ‘It’s Time’, an older song lifted from their 2012 double-platinum debut album ‘Night Visions’. Featuring guitarist Wayne Sermon on mandolin, ‘It’s Time’ has a palpable feel-good, uplifting energy to it, something that the band really emphasized during this inspirational rendition, whilst the highlight was Reynolds’ impassioned delivery of the lines: “now don’t you understand / that I’m never changing who I am”.
Whether you’re a devoted Imagine Dragons fan or you only remember a few of their bigger hits from back in the day, hopefully these videos will serve as a little reminder of the band’s inspirational songwriting and potent live performances. Tracks like ‘Believer’ in particular have really stood the test of time, and it’s little wonder that even today the band is still ranked among the top 30 most streamed Spotify artists in the world.