Sofia Minich
“What a great night to be alive!” Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds yelled into a crowd of thousands at the Mattress Firm Amphitheater in Chula Vista, anticipating the night of a lifetime last Thursday, Sept. 28.
Beginning the night with artists K. FLay and Grouplove, the night was sure to be full of energy . The opening acts set the bar high with their stunning performances, especially of K. Flay’s mesmerizing “Dreamers” and Grouplove’s lively “Ways To Go”, but Imagine Dragons did not fail to meet the standards, and went further to shatter them.
Opening with “I Don’t Know Why,” following eerie sounds and an omniscient voice narrating the story of evolution, Imagine Dragons had
the entire crowd on their feet. It seemed as if they wouldn’t be able to top their first song, but then they played their iconic “It’s Time.”
While singing this song, yelling out the lyrics so that every single person could hear them, audience members felt what it is to be blissfully confident. Reynolds paused in the middle to yell “Can you feel my heart?,” leading the audience to erupt in deafening screams. At times, he would stop singing and hold the microphone out, and it seemed as if every person at that concert knew the lyrics as they screamed every word with passion and spirit.
There were not many dry eyes following the band’s performance of “Bleeding Out,”a song about pain, sacrifice, and love. As Reynolds sang, and the audience echoed along, raw emotion could be heard in each person’s voice.
Reynolds took a moment to talk about love and existence before playing “I Bet My Life.”
“We are one human race existing. We must love, we must respect others, we must be understanding,” Reynolds said.“We don’t know each other’s lives, we don’t know the roads that we’ve tread, we don’t know where we’ve come from. And you shouldn’t even judge yourself, just love yourself, exist!”
Reynolds went on to describe feeling “alive” and relayed to the audience his favorite parts of his shows“I get to do these shows every night,” Reynolds said.“I get to see all these faces, I see people of all different sorts, all singing to the same words, feeling the same things. It’s so simple, it overwhelms me, every night! I wish the world could see it, I wish you could be here with me every night, I do. It’s a beautiful thing, it’s a beautiful thing indeed.”
As the crowd surrounding started tearing up, he finished his speech and went on to play their next song.
“I hope we can be more loving, that’s it,” Reynolds said.“I’m not trying to say that I’m perfect, I have a lot to do, but I wanna be more loving, I wanna be more peaceful, I wanna be more accepting of everybody, that’s it. That’s what tonight is about. Feel that! Feel gratitude to be alive, for your health, and to be breathing today.”
As the band went on to play the rest of their set, members of the audience got increasingly into the music. People everywhere were dancing, singing, shouting at the top of their lungs. Everyone on their feet, experiencing what it is to truly feel alive.
