American rock group Imagine Dragons roared onto the stage of the Impact Arena on Saturday night.
Reynolds, the lead singer in bought-in-Thailand blue harem pants, jumped with excitement as he kicked off the night with the opener Shots. The eight vertical blocks that served as the concert backdrop glowed in the dark, while the dazzling stage light criss-crossed the other three members of the band, Wayne Sermon, Ben McKee and Daniel Platzman.
The guitar playing by Wayne Sermon proved to be one of the most memorable moments of the gig.
The adrenalin-filled night continued with many of Imagine Dragon's hits, including Trouble, It's Time and Smoke And Mirrors, all of which were sang out loud by the audience.
The special effects and lighting cues on the evening made for a great atmosphere and were impressive as they synced with the rhythm of each song. At one point, for example, the background screens were filled with images of vaporising smoke as the band played Smoke And Mirrors. The images then changed to waving golden hands as the band sang Gold.
As this was the band's first concert in Bangkok, the fans were very enthusiastic, with many of them deciding to change their phone screen to a gold colour and wave them along to accompany the song Gold. It was a captivating moment even for me, who was not a big fan.
Without doubt, Imagine Dragons successfully captured the hearts and attention of their fandom, which ranged from young teens, to middle-age men and women. Imagine Dragons' signature style is how they manage to cross genre boundaries, and hearing them live definitely rocked. Fans kept their fingers crossed hoping that Thailand would be the first place to see the live performance of Roots, their latest song that was released just a few days before the concert. Unfortunately, though, that didn't happen.
One of the two projector screens somehow stopped working after the first few songs. Still, Reynold's voice and movement was captivating enough and did a pretty good job of commanding the stage and spreading his power through the hall.
The last song on the set list, Radioactive, was another high point that signalled the end of the show, which came all too fast. The band returned to the stage for an encore, however, to play The Fall. During the song, Reynolds waved the Thai national flag and expressed his sympathy for the victims of the recent Bangkok bombing.
Although there was nothing in the gig that was all that surprising, it was an entertaining night all the same. The catchy tunes, Sermon's guitar riffs, and, of course, Reynold's pants are just a few things that will linger in my memory for a long time.
Wayne Sermon and Dan Reynolds on stage.
