Smoke + Mirrors Tour
The Smoke + Mirrors Tour was the second major concert tour by American rock band Imagine Dragons, launched to promote their sophomore studio album, Smoke + Mirrors, which was released on February 17, 2015, via KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with 195,000 album-equivalent units sold in its first week.[1] The tour officially commenced on April 12, 2015, at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile, and concluded on February 5, 2016, at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, Netherlands, encompassing 109 performances across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.[2][3] Announced in February 2015, the tour featured innovative stage production designed by Moment Factory, transforming venues with immersive visuals that evolved from monochromatic realism to vibrant psychedelia, enhancing the band's high-energy performances of tracks like "Shots," "Gold," and "I Bet My Life" alongside staples from their debut album Night Visions.[4][5] North American dates, which began in June 2015, included opening acts such as Metric and Halsey, drawing large crowds to arenas and contributing to the tour's reputation as a visually and sonically spectacle-driven outing.[5] A highlight was the July 4, 2015, show at Toronto's Air Canada Centre, which was filmed and released as the concert film Smoke + Mirrors Live, capturing the band's dynamic live presence before a sold-out crowd.[6]Background
Announcement
The second studio album by Imagine Dragons, Smoke + Mirrors, was released digitally on February 17, 2015, through various platforms including iTunes, marking the band's first major follow-up to their debut Night Visions.[7][8] The album's release followed the public announcement of the Smoke + Mirrors Tour earlier in February 2015, generating immediate buzz among fans for its alignment with the album's themes of illusion, deception, and theatrical performance.[9] Initial tour dates were revealed in early February 2015, ahead of the album release, highlighting the South American leg kicking off on April 12, 2015, at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile, followed by arena shows across North America starting June 3, 2015, in Portland, Oregon.[10][11] Early promotion included the announcement of a preview performance on March 17, 2015, at The Star Event Centre in Sydney, Australia, serving as an intimate showcase of new material ahead of the full tour launch.[12] To build hype and facilitate early access, Imagine Dragons partnered with Southwest Airlines for the "Destination Dragons" fan contest, launched on January 26, 2015, which offered winners complimentary flights, VIP tickets, and behind-the-scenes experiences at select tour stops.[13] Tickets for the initial dates went on sale rapidly, with many North American shows selling out within hours, underscoring the band's growing global appeal post-album debut.[5]Development
Following the massive success of their Night Visions Tour, which solidified Imagine Dragons' status as a leading rock act, the band opted to launch the Smoke + Mirrors Tour mere months after the album's February 17, 2015, release to sustain that momentum and introduce new material to live audiences.[14][15] Logistical planning encompassed multiple international legs—beginning in South America in April 2015, followed by North America starting June 3 at Portland's Moda Center, then Europe, Asia, and Oceania through early 2016—with venue selections focused on arenas and amphitheaters capable of hosting 10,000 to 20,000 fans per show, including major sites like Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center and Los Angeles' The Forum. Coordinating this global itinerary presented significant challenges, particularly in managing cross-continental travel, tight schedules that allowed minimal downtime (often just one day off after three shows), and the physical demands on the band, such as muscle strain and vocal recovery for frontman Dan Reynolds.[5][16] A key hurdle was adapting the album's experimental sound—featuring darker, more introspective tracks with intricate electronic and orchestral elements—to the high-energy demands of live performances, requiring extensive adjustments during rehearsals to maintain cohesion and audience engagement. Pre-tour preparations centered in Las Vegas, the band's hometown, where they conducted intensive rehearsals to refine set transitions and synchronize performances, while integrating new visual elements drawn from the album's surreal artwork by Tim Cantor, developed in partnership with production firm Moment Factory to create an immersive, thematic experience.[15][16][4]Production
Opening acts
The Smoke + Mirrors Tour featured a rotating lineup of opening acts tailored to each leg, with selections emphasizing complementary alternative rock and indie influences to build anticipation for Imagine Dragons' performances.[17] For the South American leg in April 2015, select dates featured local opening acts, including Vivanativa in San Juan, Puerto Rico.[18] In the North American leg, spanning June to August 2015, Canadian alternative rock band Metric served as a primary opener for the majority of dates, delivering high-energy sets that highlighted their synth-driven sound.[5][19] Rising pop artist Halsey joined as support for select shows, including additional appearances that showcased her burgeoning popularity and dynamic stage presence through tracks from her debut EP.[17][20] For the European leg, beginning in October 2015, British indie rock group Sunset Sons opened for the majority of dates across Europe, including performances in the UK and Ireland, where their surf-rock vibes provided an upbeat prelude to the headliners.[21][22] Local acts occasionally filled support slots for specific venues to align with regional audiences.[23] The Oceania portion in September 2015 primarily featured Australian rock band British India as openers for shows in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, infusing local flavor with their raw, anthemic style that resonated with the tour's rock ethos.[24][25] These supporting artists collectively heightened the tour's energetic atmosphere, fostering a seamless transition into Imagine Dragons' main set.[26] In the Asian leg during late August 2015, openers varied by market, often incorporating regional talent to engage diverse crowds, though specific lineups were not uniformly announced across promotions.Staging and visuals
The Smoke + Mirrors Tour featured an elaborate stage design centered around a circular platform that elevated above the audience during key climactic moments, creating an intimate yet immersive connection with the crowd. This setup was complemented by eight tall convex LED columns arranged as multimedia screens, which could synchronize to form unified stunning images or fragment into dynamic patterns, incorporating visual illusions such as appearing concave from certain audience angles. These elements drew from the tour's thematic emphasis on deception and spectacle, evoking the album's "smoke and mirrors" motif through optical tricks and shapeshifting projections.[4][27] Visual effects were driven by extensive use of LED screens and projection mapping, including 360-degree displays surrounding the audience to immerse them in evolving environments—from flat, colorless abstractions to vibrant 3D realism, surreal distortions, psychedelia, and ethereal landscapes. Heavy integration of lasers, including the Phenom system of programmable eye-safe audience-scanning units developed by Lightwave International, added sweeping beams and refracting mini-mirrors forming laser sculptures and light curtains. Synchronized lighting, powered by 44 High End Systems Solaspot Pro 1500 fixtures and controlled via Barco XHD-400 media servers, blended seamlessly with video content on the columns and Barco HDF-W26 projectors, generating illusions that mimicked and extended the projections for a cohesive, high-energy aesthetic. Audience participation was enhanced by PixMob LED bracelets, which illuminated in sync with the performance, integrating fans into the visual narrative.[4][27][28] The production was helmed by Moment Factory, responsible for creative direction, technical design, content creation, and turnkey execution, in collaboration with creative director and scenic designer Jesse Lee Stout. Lighting design was led by Sooner Routhier, with content direction by Adam Hummel and technical direction by James Richardson. For filmed elements, such as the concert capture released as Smoke + Mirrors Live, director Dick Carruthers oversaw multi-camera shoots involving over 20 cameras and aerial helicopter footage to document the visuals. This setup represented an evolution from the Night Visions Tour, incorporating more experimental multimedia platforms and automation for transformative stage configurations adaptable to arena venues worldwide.[29][30][6]Musical content
Set list
The Smoke + Mirrors Tour featured a standard 19-song setlist that heavily emphasized tracks from the band's second album, Smoke + Mirrors (2015), while incorporating fan-favorite hits from their debut Night Visions (2012) to maintain high audience engagement. A representative performance from the July 4, 2015, show at Air Canada Centre in Toronto opened with the explosive "Shots" from Smoke + Mirrors, quickly transitioning into "Trouble" and the Night Visions staple "It's Time," before delving deeper into new material like "Polaroid" and "Gold." The set balanced energetic anthems such as "Radioactive" with introspective cuts, culminating in the encore closer "The Fall."[31][32] The typical sequence, drawn from multiple 2015 North American shows, proceeded as follows:- Shots
- Trouble
- It's Time
- Forever Young (Alphaville cover)
- Smoke and Mirrors
- Polaroid
- I'm So Sorry
- Gold
- Thief
- Amsterdam
- Tiptoe
- Bleeding Out
- The River
- Demons
- Radioactive
- On Top of the World
- I Bet My Life
Encore: - Roots
- The Fall [32][33]