If you are lucky enough to live in or near a big metropolitan area like New York City or Los Angeles, then you probably have the opportunity to see just about every big band that tours, because there is no shortage of huge concert venues. But if you live less centrally, in a rural location, or have life circumstances (kids, weird hours at work, school, shortage of disposable income) that make it hard to get out to a concert, then the rare Live Concert Film that plays in a local movie theater is a godsend. Fans of Las Vegas-based rock band Imagine Dragons who’ve either been unable to catch the band on tour, or just want to see them live again, will be thrilled to know that Fathom Events, CinemaLive and Eagle Vision are bringing Imagine Dragons In Concert: Smoke + Mirrors to the big screen nationwide for a one-night concert event on Wednesday, March 2nd. Exciting!
Something I just learned is that Imagine Dragons‘ lineup includes three out of four guys who are all named Dan! That is crazy, right? Too bad they could not call themselves Band of Dans, because that name is already taken by They Might Be Giants‘ back up band, and The Dan Band is also taken. Anyway, Smoke + Mirrors — which is also the name of the band’s most recent #1 album — gives fans plenty of close-up face time with lead vocalist Dan Reynolds, guitarist Daniel Wayne “Wing” Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. Reynolds is, of course, the focal point, and the fact the that stage has a catwalk, which allows him to glad hand a large number of enthusiastic, smart-phone-wielding fans on the floor, certainly adds to the film’s intimate dynamic. And it really must be said that the fifth band member is the actual stage set itself, which includes a group of tall four-sided, mirrored columns that are staggered in a half-circle formation around the back of the stage. If you’ve ever driven into or out of LAX, think of that Kinetic Light Installation at the entrance and you will have some idea of what it looks like. Various projections bounce off the columns and create terrific atmospheric effects, including one song where it looks like the entire stage is on fire. Very nice.
The featured Smoke + Mirrors concert performance was filmed entirely on one night, July 4th, 2015 in Toronto in front of 15,000 people at the Air Canada Centre; a venue that resembles Madison Square Garden in set up, but is slightly smaller in capacity. Filmed in what is called Dolby Atmos, an array of speakers are not only all around the walls of the theater, but also on the ceiling, so you really do feel like you are right there in the venue. Imagine Dragons is super tight live, and it is obvious from Dan Reynolds’ plentiful on-stage crowd banter that they really love and appreciate their fans. My guess is that if you met the band members in real life, they would not act like dicks to you.
Music taste is more subjective today than ever, I so I really don’t want to turn this into a critique of a band whose music does not necessarily resonate with me, personally. I ‘imagine’ that if you like Imagine Dragons mostly very AOR tunes, Smoke + Mirrors will be the greatest concert film ever. And if you’ve been unable to see the band live, and really want to, this will give you an excellent, next-best-thing-to-being-there idea of how they are in a live forum — which is to say theoretically excellent. For me though, their music goes right through me leaving absolutely no hook residue in its wake, so if you are not fan, I think I can safely say that you can skip this. The only two songs of theirs that I know (and that is mostly because they are both used on TV commercials) — the rousing “I Bet My Life” and dystopian “Radioactive” — come at the film’s very end. Smoke + Mirrors is technically flawless – but I could not help during the screening but wish that I was watching Tame Impala or Hosier; two bands I saw live last year whose shows just blew me away.
For tickets and participating theaters showing Smoke + Mirrors, visit This Link. Run time is 1 hour and 35 minutes.
Watch the Trailer Below.
