When we heard that Imagine Dragons was coming to Utah, we were SO excited and asked Cal and Cassidy if they wanted to come with us (feeling a little foolish knowing Cassidy's brother-in-law is the lead guitarist in Imagine Dragons). They agreed, but when I went to buy tickets, I panicked at all the options. I hadn't realized that it would be in the stadium at the U, and I had never been in that stadium before, and I didn't know where to get tickets. So, I choked. I opted to just not get any.
As the concert got closer, I felt a little bad. At some point, I mentioned to Cal that I never got tickets because I wasn't sure where to get them. In July, Cal and Cassidy said, "We want to take you to the concert." They essentially arranged for tickets from the band. They asked if I would be able to stand up the whole time and be on the floor right next to the stage for the concert, but since I wasn't sure that would work out, they got tickets where I could sit down, and they were really close and really amazing! Cal was nice enough to (mostly) give up his VIP access to hang with us.
He met us in time to go see Macklemore and the other girl that opened up the concert (I can't remember her name, but she was great.) Here we are with Macklemore on stage.
It was kind of amazing how slowly people trickled in, and how little they paid attention to the first girl and even Macklemore. I guess we know who most of the people were coming to see.
It was fun seeing Macklemore's people using band instruments and rocking out on stage with them.
Right before Imagine Dragons went on, the clouds opened up, and we all got wet. It delayed the concert slightly, but I guess this was one of the times we were grateful rainstorms in Utah don't usually last very long. During this time, I looked to the side and Cal was talking to Ben Lundquist, a guy I went to high school with. The last time I had really talked to Ben was right before I went on my mission, right after he got home from his. He was kind of a jerk at the time, and I confess, I've sort of held it against him ever since. But, seeing him there (and hearing Cal talk kindly about him), I decided I should go say Hi and give him the opportunity to grow up. I'm so glad I did! We caught up for several minutes, I introduced him to Brian. Ben's dad grew up with Daniel (Wayne) Sermon's dad in Swan Valley, so they got hooked up with tickets as well. It's always a little funny when worlds collide. It's funny how two sisters from California can both marry guys from different places with strong ties to the same place. Hopefully you followed that! The world is quite small, after all. Ben followed in his father's footsteps and is farming on their land in Swan Valley (which is in such a gorgeous spot!). I couldn't help revisiting high school: running cross country with Ben and his little brother Andy, Ben chasing me out of the seminary building with a spider, trying to wake board on Palisades reservoir with Ben's family and my high school friends, celebrating New Year's Eve with my friends at his house when we were all seniors. It has been so nice to remove the irritation with him that has hung on for so many years and be at peace with it all. I even got to meet his gorgeous daughter! During the break, we also got to talk to Cassidy for a little bit. She was hanging out in the pit with her family for the rest of the concert.
Finally, it was time for Imagine Dragons to take the stage. Do you see Dan Reynolds right there on the cat walk part of the stage? He's the figure that is lit up, wearing a black shirt and tan pants.
Here we are with him. Yeah, we're practically famous. This part of the stage felt closer than this picture shows.
There he is again.
They gave us light up wrist bands when we entered the Stadium, and when the concert started, they synced with the music, and it was really, really cool. During "On Top of the World", they released these giant beach balls into the crowd, and we had fun watching them and even getting to hit one of them.
Cal at some point ditched us to go hang with Cassidy and his in-laws and nephews and nieces. We couldn't blame him. We'd have been there too a different year. I was really grateful for the chair though! Even if we ended up seated next to a very hostile-against-BYU (and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) lady. She was the worst part of the concert, and for a minute, I was worried we'd have an altercation after she booed when Dan Reynold's mentioned attending BYU and I jokingly said, "Hey now! We're concert buddies. We can be friends" and she went off about how terrible and fake Mormons are. I was a little afraid. She clearly has some deep, unresolved issues there, so I decided to let it go and try not to think about it the rest of the concert or engage with her again.
During "Symphony", we thought it was really cool when Dan Reynolds pulled out a tenor sax and played it.
When he was done, he said that in middle school, a kid beat him up for playing the tenor sax. "How do you like me now, suckah!"
And, of course, there were fireworks.
Lots of fireworks for an amazing finale.
It was amazing how much debris from confetti and fireworks were left on the floor when it was all done.
We had an amazing time, and we could hardly talk about anything else for the following week (thanks, Serene and Dustin for being so patient with us). Thank you, Cal and Cassidy for this incredible treat. We had a blast!
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