The next sentence is one that I never thought I would have to say.
Last week, I saw Imagine Dragons live in concert.
As you may or may not know, I absolutely cannot stand Imagine Dragons. I literally could not think of any band I would rather go see less than those talentless, cookie-cutter, cheese-balls. But, the production for the tour was supposed to be really impressive, and a couple of guys I work with really wanted to check it out, so I put my blazing opinions aside and found it within me to stomach the music and go to the show.
There have been a few instances where I have seen a band live that I was not a fan of, usually opening for another band, and their performance changed my mind. It is often easier for me to understand a band’s recorded music once I have seen their live interpretation of it.
This experience had the complete opposite effect. Rather than finding myself tapping my foot and nodding my head, I could almost feel my disgust for the band being further cemented with each note.
The tour is rather appropriately titled the “Smoke + Mirrors Tour”. I say the tour is appropriately titled because that is all Imagine Dragons music is, an illusion. There is no substance to any of it, nothing genuine. They do not have their own sound, all they do is write songs that are nothing more than a cheap rip-off of different subgenres of popular music. Between “Radioactive,” “On Top of the World,” “Friction,” and “The Fall,” I felt like I had heard 4 different bands.
Often, when Imagine Dragons come up in conversation, I say that they are a perfect example of what I think is wrong with the current state of pop music. There is a widespread lack of substance. Sure, we get glimpses of it in artists like fun., Paramore, and Kanye; but overall it’s a lot of repeating the same sugary polished shit. That’s not to say I don’t LOVE a good pop song. What I don’t love are all the copycats that come after a good one; and to me Imagine Dragons are nothing more than copycats.
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