Imagine Dragons at USANA

Last night I had the opportunity to see Imagine Dragons perform at the USANA Amphitheatre and it was absolutely amazing, definitely a night I won't forget for some time.  I love Imagine Dragons (their album Night Visions is rare in that I can listen to it on repeat for hours without skipping any songs) and they always put on a spectacular show.  Last night was no exception!  They began with a song from their latest release, Evolve, called "I Don't Know Why" and continued with almost every song from this album throughout the night, including "Whatever It Takes," "I'll Make It Up to You," "Mouth of the River," a rousing rendition of "Yesterday," "Start Over," and "Rise Up."  I was really happy that they played "Gold," one of my favorite songs from Smoke + Mirrors but I have to admit that I especially enjoyed "This Is It," "On Top of the World," and an incredibly powerful version of "Demons."  Dan Reynolds was effusive in his love for Utah and the impact that the state had on their development as a band.  He dedicated "This Is It" to the crowd!  He also gave a heartfelt speech about depression before performing "Demons" and the audience held up their phones to light up the amphitheatre.  It was amazing!  After their main set, the band walked to a small stage in the middle of the crowd and performed an acoustic version of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" which they dedicated to him.  This was another high point of the concert for me.  Then they performed acoustic versions of "Bleeding Out" and "Dream."  I especially loved the cello on both of those songs.  Once they returned to the main stage, they finished their set with "Thunder," "I Bet My Life," and "Radioactive" complete with smoke and lasers.  It was thrilling to stand in a crowd with everyone singing every word to "Radioactive," the song that made me a fan of the band!  For the encore (which was really not an encore because they decided that it was too cold to make the crowd wait for them to return to the stage) they performed "Walking the Wire" and "Believer."  I can't describe how much I loved this show!  Dan Reynolds is such an enthusiastic performer and he seems so genuine in his interactions with the crowd!  At one point he mentioned that the rest of the tour would all be downhill from this point on because he loved the Utah crowd so much (sorry Denver!).  I will always try to see this band whenever they come through SLC!

Note:  It was really cold!  Last year I seem to remember making a vow that I would never see another outdoor show this time of year ever again...