The Dee Events Center has sold out of concert tickets for the Imagine Dragons and Fictionist concert. Both Utah bands have drawn students from across the state to hear their modern rock stylings.
One such student is Kierstyn Miller, a freshman studying history. Miller said she started listening to Imagine Dragons in high school.
“My friend and I have a really similar taste in music, and she asked me if I’d ever listened to Imagine Dragons, and I said no, and she said, ‘You have to listen to them,’” Miller said. “So I pulled them up (on the computer) and listened to them, and I really like them.”
For Miller, good music is not just a catchy tune or a good beat; it’s also meaningful lyrics and a good message.
“I love groups that write their own songs, because you know the songs have importance to them and they wrote those lyrics because they felt strongly enough about something to write a song about it,” Miller said. “In popular music, the majority of the music has no meaning; it’s just there for a good beat or a song just to listen to in the background.”
Unusual topics with meaningful messages attracted Miller to the group, but she said she also enjoys the music in general.
“My favorite song by them is ‘Amsterdam,’” she said. “The first time I heard it, it just made me happy. I like the actual music of it, but I also like the lyrics. The chorus says, ‘Your time will come if you wait for it.’ You know, you’ve just got to be patient and things will work out. It’s a theme that isn’t really glorified in this day and age where everything is like ‘I need it now, I need it now.’ This song says just be patient; your time will come.”
While Miller was unable to obtain tickets for the Friday night concert, she said she loves concerts and would have really loved to hear what one of her favorite bands sounds like in person.
“I love the atmosphere of concerts,” she said. “Everybody is psyched up to hear the music because everybody loves the band that’s playing. I love hearing the live music from bands when I’ve only heard their recorded music before.”
Shannon Jones, a sophomore studying vocal performance, said she was disappointed when she was unable to find tickets, because she was excited to see one of her favorite bands in concert.
“I was really looking forward to seeing them in concert, because live music is always so much fun,” Jones said. “Their music is really cool, so it would’ve been a really fun, energetic concert.”
Jones said she finds Imagine Dragons’ music empowering and thrilling.
“The first time I heard Imagine Dragons was on the radio,” she said. “I heard ‘Radioactive’ and I thought it was really epic and intense and I loved it . . . I like their style . . . Their other song that I like is called ‘On Top of the World.’ I love running to it. It’s really happy and uplifting. I like their sound.”
Michael Shaw, a computer science student, said he felt Imagine Dragons are cultivating a modern sound.
“Every generation has a distinct sound, and Imagine Dragons is leading this electronic wave of artists. They are contributing to what people will think of when they think of the 2010s.”
The Imagine Dragons concert will be held tonight in the Dee Events Center and is currently sold out.
