Imagine Draagons perform at BottleRock 2019 in Napa (Photo Courtesy of BottleRock)
Mike DeWald // @mike_dewald
“It doesn’t get any better than this, anywhere” said OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder early on in the band’s afternoon set.
The sentiment was shared by many of the band’s throughout the day of BottleRock’s opening night of their annual three day music extravaganza. Headlined by Imagine Dragons, the first night also featured performances from Logic and OneRepublic, among an eclectic array of other artists. The festival announced this week that it sold out once again, with 40,000 fans per day packing the festival grounds.
Imagine Dragons and BottleRock have come a long way since the two last crossed paths in 2014. For the festival, the annual music spectacle has become one of the destination festivals in the country.
The band took the stage as the sun began to set on the far horizon of the MainStage lawn, with Reynolds singing out the rhythmic nursery rhyme cadence of “Believer”. Reynolds is a commanding presence on stage, the 6’4 singer draws all the eyeballs as he struts and bounds across all areas of the large BottleRock stage. Reynolds vocal range has developed over the band’s career, ranging from the guttural and animalistic roar to a soft refined falsetto.
The majority of the evening’s material came from the band’s hit album, Evolve, but they made it a point to mix in a fair amount of variety including the band’s original hits. The band charged through rockers “Whatever It Takes” and “Natural” full of vigor, pyro and confetti. The band’s set had a number of production elements including pyro, strobes, and smoke cannons throughout but it was always executed in a tasteful fashion that added to the emotion of the band’s performance. “Shots” featured a stripped down piano introduction before the full band joined the performance. The band launched in a mid-set cover of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”, which was a nice understated surprise.
Reynolds primary mission seems to be spreading positivity and hope in the world through music. He continued driving home his message of inclusivity and the normalization of depression and anxiety. At multiple times during the set he addressed specifically the younger set of fans in the audience giving them assurances that the stresses and anxieties they feel at school can be overcome.
“They’re going to try to put you in a box,” said Reynolds definitely, “you don’t have to exist within that box.”
The band returned to the main stage after a midship acoustic set to close with a trio of hits, “Demons”, “On Top of the World”, and “Radioactive”. Throughout the night each individual band member was also able to show off their own musical chops with solos and interludes, including local boy and former Forestville resident bassist Ben McKee. The band’s sound has evolved over the past number of years, with their material ranging from straight forward rock to almost Paul SImon-influneced on the opposite end of the spectrum. The band closed out the night with their trademark full band drum circle, a feature of their set that is as compelling and dramatic as ever.