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Multi-platinum rockers Imagine Dragons make their Victoria debut on Sunday

Las Vegas band one of the first to emerge from pandemic postponements with a stadium-sized tour
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Las Vegas rockers Imagine Dragons will make their Victoria debut Sunday at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Credit: Eric Ray Davidson

IN CONCERT: Imagine Dragons with AVIV

Where: Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, 1925 Blanshard St.

When: Sunday, April 10, 7 p.m.

Tickets: $49.50-$149.50 from selectyourtickets.com or 250-222-7777

The list of chart-topping acts from 2010 onward leans heavily toward pop and hip-hop, with Adele, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and Drake dominating just about every category, from ticket sales to streaming.

Rock bands with widespread appeal have been in perilously short supply during that same time frame. Nickelback, Linkin Park and Foo Fighters hit their sales targets with each release, but the genre as a whole has been dying a slow death. One of the few big sellers still working consistently is Las Vegas quartet Imagine Dragons — and where the group fronted by singer Dan Reynolds is concerned, “big seller” is putting it mildly.

Hit singles Believer, Thunder, Demons and Radioactive have each passed one billion streams since their release, making Imagine Dragons the first rock group in history to achieve such totals. The four-piece was the most-streamed group on Spotify in 2018, ahead of K-pop juggernauts BTS and perennial favourites Maroon 5, on their way to notching career totals of 75 billion — yes, billion — streams on the platform.

When Concord Music Publishing acquired the band’s publishing catalogue in 2020, it was for a reported $100 million US, more than Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac was paid for her output to date.

Because the Grammy Award-winning act appeals to a mainstream audience, they also have done well in traditional formats, with 49 million records sold since 2012. The momentum of the group has carried over to its massive concert tours, which have grossed between $30 million and $50 million US for each run since 2015. Another big string of dates by the group got underway Feb. 6, and is scheduled to extend through September, with the band’s inaugural Victoria appearance on tap this weekend at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

Shows on the tour have been selling well as the band is one of the first to emerge from pandemic postponements with a stadium-sized trek, its first since 2018. “It’s been a few years, huh?” Reynolds, 34, was quoted as saying in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, during its review of the band’s Feb. 19 performance.

“I’m sure it’s been a few tough ones for all of us, but we’re here tonight, together. This night is yours! Let go of all your stress. Work, school, politics, religion, leave it at the door just for tonight.”

The music of singer Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman covers a range of styles, but never dips too deeply into one specific genre, which gives it an everyperson appeal. In some circles, that family-friendly sheen — just enough rock for some, enough tender moments for others, with inspirational moments for everyone — has drawn criticism. Lots of it. Reynolds, in particular, has been a target on social media.

He’s an open book — a brave choice in today’s world — which is rare for an artist of his level, and has talked openly about his sobriety and mental health struggles. The group was not available for interviews in advance of its Canadian dates, but in a recent interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Reynolds spoke at length about his battles with drugs and reasons for talking regularly about his recovery on social media.

“I’ve had multiple friends that have died because of drug overdoses — close friends — starting in high school,” he said. “So, I don’t see it as ‘cool’ at all. Anybody who has someone close to them who is dealing with real addiction, it’s not a pretty thing to see. But I’m not saying it’s shameful. That’s why I talk about it.”

It hasn’t been an easy road to critical acceptance for the group, with the suggestion — unfairly so — that Nickelback-like critical drubbings stem from its unofficial branding as a Christian group. While rock ‘n’ roll is generally secular, which makes for an awkward fit where religious acts are concerned, Reynolds has not shied away from addressing his roots in the Church of Latter-Day Saints.

Reynolds (who has said he considers himself a “non-practising Mormon” in previous interviews) has denounced certain elements of the church, and his efforts to change the entrenched mindset among some practitioners, with regards to gender-related issues, have been considerable.

He donated his childhood home in Las Vegas to Encircle, a group that works with LGBTQ+ youth, and created the LoveLoud Foundation, which supports LGBTQ+ youth in the Mormon community. “The simple answer is just treat our [LGBTQ+] youth the same, afford them the same love,” Reynolds told Yahoo.

“[Treat them] the exact same as your other children. They are told the same principles of God loving them, if that’s what they choose to do. If they’re in a religious household, God loves them and they’re going to heaven. If that’s your story that you’re telling, you better tell all your kids. Because if you’re not, then your kid is seven times more likely to take their life. And no parent wants that. It’s one of those things that it’s hard to have patience with, but we’ve got to change our ways.”

mdevlin@timescolonist.com