I grew up listening to a lot of hip-hop in the 90s, such as Tupac and Biggie Smalls. In the same interview, Dan Reynolds added, “We’ve always been a rhythmic rock band. “We bonded over rhythm and of course they were great live too,” Grant told Rolling Stone in 2013. The Nevadan quartet’s slightly quirky nature and their atypical usage of unusual percussive elements, such as the massive Japanese taiko drum featured on “Radioactive,” also endeared them to their new co-producer, Alexander Grant (aka Alex Da Kid), who has also cut hits with Eminem and Nicki Minaj. Further self-released EPs followed, and the band eventually brokered a deal with Interscope Records in 2011. With their creative juices flowing, the band’s fortunes improved after they won over a huge crowd at Bite Of Las Vegas Festival. Key tracks from Night Visions such as the mandolin-flecked “It’s Time” and the anthemic “Amsterdam” first appeared in the band’s setlist during this period, alongside their crowd-pleasing covers of classics by The Rolling Stones, The Cars, and The Cure. However, in the same way that the grind of playing sleazy Hamburg bars sharpened-up The Beatles, these subsistence-level gigs laid the groundwork for Imagine Dragons’ subsequent success. It gave us enough money to pay rent and eat Top Ramen or Taco Bell.” We would do four nights a week and they’d give us $400 for the six hours. “The ding-ding-ding from the slot machines was louder than the tiny speakers they gave us. “We’d play in front of these blackjack dealers in bikinis and dudes just sitting at slot machines,” frontman Dan Reynolds told Rolling Stone in 2013. ‘The slot machines were louder than the speakers they gave us’ The venues included Mandalay Bay and the famous Caesars Palace, but glitz and glamour were rarely on the agenda.
A lengthy bout of dues-paying ensued, with Imagine Dragons playing every Vegas nightspot that would have them. Indeed, the Las Vegas-based quartet had initially scrambled for all the attention they could get following the release of their independently-issued, self-titled debut EP in September 2009. The statistics are astounding, but they only tell a small part of the story, for Night Visions’ runaway success was by no means a given.
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