On Sept. 22, the band AWOLNATION stopped in St. Louis for their “Never Let Your Fear Decide Your Fate” tour.
This highly popular punk band was accompanied by the new folk rock band, Imagine Dragons and Hip-Hop/Indie artist from Austin, Texas., Zeale. At 8 p.m. Zeale kicked off the show by introducing himself, and threw down a beat for the audience.
Zeale started with his first song “Hope Dies” which provided the audience with the first taste of his sound. While most people were getting into to it, Zeale said he wasn’t satisfied. He then began freestyling. Zeale was pleased with the audiences reaction and continued. Caci Brewer( 12) who attended the concert had good things to say about it.
“I thought Zeale was a good singer, I would definitely enjoy hearing more of him.” Brewer said. “He definitely will be uprising soon.”
After Zelaes, the stage was being set for what could be considered the main act of the night. Imagine Dragons took the stage and began with their hit “Demons” . As the crowd sang along, lead singer Dan Reynolds began to dive more into his music. The band transitioned into their next song, Radioactive. This is where the concert really took off, and everyone entered into their own state of mind. Radioactive is a mix of rock and the genre “dubstep”. Following this, they began the first beats of their latest song, Tiptoe. This light hearted song captured the attention of many with its upbeat fast paced rhythm.
“My favorite song by Imagine Dragons is now Radioactive,” Brewer said, “I could practically feel the bass go through my body from this song. I have never experienced something like this.”
Imagine Dragons took about three minute break until the crowd started chanting for more. And they listened. The bands guitarist, Wayne Sermon, strummed the first notes of the bands most popular song, Its Time. This song has been featured on the hit Fox show, Glee, and is featured in the new movie “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”. The main message anybody can get from this song is that you should always be yourself and nobody should change that. The band closed with their longest song, Nothing Left to Say/ Rocks. This nine minute song is filled with eccentric beats from the bass drum, cords from a different planet on the guitar, and a four minute drum solo given by Daniel Platzman. The song closed with a solo by bassist, Ben McKee.
After the amazing performance by Imagine Dragons, AWOLNATION took the stage. They began their set with the hit punk song, Sail. This had a nice beat and good rhythm. But after the first song, spectators noticed the crowd began to disperse. After asking around, people had said they only came for Imagine Dragons. although a little disappointed with that, It was easy to see why. The three acts all had different sounds, and could not really accompany each other. But AWOLNATION continued to play.
They moved into their next song, “People”. This was a slower song but was still a fun hear. The rest of the concert was like this.
“I enjoyed AWOLNATION, but I think there song choices were not good enough to out shine Imagine Dragons” Brewer said. “Overall I give the concert five stars, and would love to see all three bands again.”