Right now, you’d be hard-pressed to find a band that’s had a better start to 2013 than Imagine Dragons. While their ascent began at the end of last year, the Las Vegas-natives have exploded, with their songs breathing fire across most rock radio stations in the country. We’ve highlighted most of their laurels already with a live review by our own Daniela Montelongo in addition to a Featured Artist piece. Needless to say, we’re still impressed by what the band brings to the proverbial table.

Last night’s show at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre was a rare opportunity for fans to get a glimpse of the band in a truly intimate setting. For the past few months, the band has slowly moved from playing smaller clubs to mid-sized theatres to last week selling out two nights at the over four thousand person capacity Hollywood Palladium. Unlike the other shows on this tour, this particular performance was taped for the sixth season of Live From the Artists Den. The producers couldn’t have picked a better band to bookend the season.

The show cemented Imagine Dragons’ status as one of the hottest up-and-comers in music. With their usual stage set up in tow (for those of you who haven’t had the chance to see them, this includes a huge projection screen backdrop with a couple of tree-looking things to hold up the lights), the band steamrolled through a dynamic set of the well known songs from their major label debut and commercial breakthrough, Night Visions. It’s rare to see a frontman pulverize drums as their instrument of choice (usually it’s a guitar), but singer Dan Reynolds’ percussion playing adds to the foundation of the band’s sound, which makes it easier for everyone to build off.

For a new band, Imagine Dragons has a very enthusiastic fanbases. Yes, when “Radioactive” was played they went nuts and rightfully so, but their energy and excitement didn’t wane when some the band’s lesser-known songs were played. But then again, since they’ve been spent the better part of the year on the road, there were probably more than a few fans that had seen the band play live before, hence the familiarity.

Reynolds told the crowd how excited he was to play in such a small room and the show served as the band’s last before they headed to Europe and Asia today. Despite being on a tight schedule, Imagine Dragons weren’t nervous about the potential time constraints and were in peak form. Then again, when a band is in a groove like they are, fans should savor the moment because it’s not likely they’ll be seeing them in this setting ever again.

Photo – HOB Chicago (c) Daniela Montelongo