Imagine Dragons: Evolve, Genting Arena, Birmingham - review and pictures

And last night’s concert also came just days after another eruption of violence, this time at a Florida school.

So it was no surprise that their message of unity and inclusion was hailed loud and clear by frontman Dan Reynolds.

And they were loud. With the thumping, almost primal, drums running through so many of their tracks the crowd were swept along by their throbbing mass of sound.

Kicking off with I Don’t Know Why, the opening song on the new album, the sold-out venue was crackling with energy.

Moving on to It’s Time and Gold, from the first two albums, the tone was set for the night - no worries here, the favourites would be there along with the new.

And by Whatever it Takes, it was clear this huge band had truly grown into their huge sound.

The stadium, awash with lights and sound, was treated to I’ll Make It up to You, Mouth of the River and Yesterday, before a short homage to the Killers with All These Things I’ve Done, and Dan thanking that band for helping them get beyond their home town of Las Vegas.

Referencing his own struggle with depression, Dan offered words of support and called for compassion, before we were launched into the heart-felt Demons.

And by the next turn we were into the feel-good I’m Top of the World which brought giant balloons tumbling from the rafters onto the crowd, spinning in the flashing lights.

The pace then slowed as the band emerged towards the back of the stadium on a smaller stage where they performed beautiful acoustic versions of I Bet My Life, It Comes Back to You, Bleeding Out/Warriors.

After walking through the whooping crowds back to the main stage, they got K Flay, their feisty support back on for a thunderous version of Thunder and then on into Believer.

But surely they were keeping the best to last with their encore and they truly delivered with Walking the Wire, The Fall and an absolutely roof-raising Radioactive.

Singer Dan had admitted that music had saved him and with the beating heart of this life-affirming rock maybe we’ve all got a chance.