MØ & Imagine Dragons at Target Center

Gatrs March 23, 2022 Events

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I’ll be honest, it was hard to watch my friends and boyfriend pull out of my driveway with their destination being bingo at a local dive bar. I love bingo and dive bars but I love live music more so after a quick cat nap to sleep off some of the screwdrivers I had started my day with, I made y way to a bustling downtown Minneapolis for the Imagine Dragons show.

MØ was the sole opener of the show on Sunday night but that’s all that the ever-growing crowd needed. A larger-than-life sound with some of the most gorgeous vocals I have heard in some time, MØ had no problem instantly capturing the audience in the palm of her hands. This Danish singer/ songwriter is not a stranger to the stage and that became apparent within the first song. Although her movements seemed constrained to just a small portion of the ginormous stage, she provided this sense of energy and movement without running around like a crazy person. Every movement, just like every note, had a purpose during her forty-minute set.

Love them or hate them, Imagine Dragons is not going anywhere. Even if their music isn’t for you, their message is for everyone and needs to be heard.

I would be a fool to not mention the band behind MØ. Although they absolutely let MØ take the spotlight, the show would have been so different without them. Being able to watch all of the intricacies that create MØ’s music come together on stage definitely added a little something something to the set. The infectious dancebeats from the band is exactly what the audience needed to get ready for what was to come from the headliners of the Sunday night show.

Love them or hate them, Imagine Dragons is not going anywhere. Personally, their music is just a bit too commercial to me but I’ll admit that you can find me belting out “Thunder” from time to time and will rarely change the station if one of their songs comes on. Beyond those few moments though, their music just isn’t for me but that was not going to stop me from checking out their show on Sunday night. Even if their music isn’t for you, their message is for everyone and needs to be heard. From the formation of the Tyler Robinson Foundation which helps young people battling cancer, to supporting the LGBTQ+ community, human rights organizations… seriously, the list goes on and on. So, as I said, love them or hate them, this band is here to stay, and honestly, there’s no way to deny the good that they are doing for the world.

I’ll be honest, the excitement of the early confetti drop and the blinding lights swirling around the venue was enough to have me singing along by the second song, “Believer”.

Imagine Dragons’ set started off fairly understated for the powerhouse of a band that they are. With vocalist Dan Reyolds appearing in the middle of the stage offshoot that jutted into the audience, he simply showcased his powerful voice before the curtain concealing the stage dropped and gave the audience their first look at the amazing band. Cue the confetti and it was off to the races for this band and the clearly stoked audience. I’ll be honest, the excitement of the early confetti drop and the blinding lights swirling around the venue was enough to have me singing along by the second song, “Believer”. A true showman, Dan spent the entirety of the second song literally sprinting around on the many pathways that created the stage. It was hard to follow him but absolutely added this sense of energy that my super exhausted self needed. It sounds cheesy, but by the end of “Believer”, I was, well, a believer.

Somehow, Inagie Dragons twenty-four song set seemed to fly by. Even with the speed this show seemed to have, the band was able to give the audience this undeniable connection. Dan thanked Minneapolis for always being so kind to the band and although that gets said at damn near every stadium show I go to, there was something genuine about the way that Dan said it. Dan Reynolds is absolutely a showman but this show would have been nothing without his amazing band. Taking turns on the catwalks, I feel like the band did get some of the recognition they deserved but it was nearly impossible to take your eyes off of Dan as he knelt down into the crowd trying to give as many high fives as possible.

I won’t spoil every song that Imagine Dragons performed. I’m not going to tell you about every moment that my heart fluttered with an undeniable sense of excitement and awe.

From going all the way back in the band’s catalog with “It’s Time” to playing the hits like “Thunder” and “Radioactive”, I feel like this band did a great job catering to both their die-hard fans and the casual listener to their band. With five full-length albums, it’s not like this band has a shortage of songs to pick from yet everyone that they picked had the audience on their feet and excited. Even when a few acoustic songs were performed, there was no shortage of excitement or energy on stage or in the audience.

I won’t spoil every song that Imagine Dragons performed. I’m not going to tell you about every moment that my heart fluttered with an undeniable sense of excitement and awe. That’s not my place to do so and I can solely urge you to see this band live. Love them or hate them, Imagine Dragons is a force to be reckoned with, and, well, they put on one hell of a show– there’s absolutely no way to deny that.

Line Up:

MØ

Imagine Dragons

Venue: Target Center

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing

Average Age of the Crowd: 37

Crowd Surfers: None Spotted

Mosh-ability: 2 out of 10

Sausage-Fest Meter: 6 out of 10

Stage Divers: None

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around: $0

Broken Bones: None Noticed