Imagine Dragons to Fire Up This Year's Grey Cup's Halftime Show

Imagine Dragons thrilled their Vancouver fans in February, and the band has promised a similar performance at the Grey Cup in November.

Photograph by: Mark Van Manen, PNG Files , Vancouver Sun

Grammy-winning American rock band Imagine Dragons will be breathing some fire into this year's Grey Cup halftime show, it was announced Thursday.

The Las Vegas-based band known for popular singles Radioactive and It's Time will be performing during the Canadian Football League's championship game at BC Place on Nov. 30.

"You know, I'm not that familiar with Canadian football," Imagine Dragons bassist Ben McKee admitted in a phone interview Wednesday. "I know you get one less down and the field is 10 yards longer and there's less timeouts. I'm for all that stuff - more action and less deliberation on the field."

McKee promised a high-flying performance in the same vein as the ones the band gave on its latest arena tour supporting blockbuster album Night Visions earlier this year. The band's last appearance in Vancouver was at Rogers Arena in February, a huge leap from the previous concert they had played here at the Commodore Ballroom in 2013.

"We like to be very hands-on with the production and we like to have a creative input in every aspect of our performance," McKee said. "Playing a halftime show in a stadium full of fans, you have to elevate everything and magnify it. We're going to bring out some special things for the Grey Cup."


Imagine Dragons - McKee, singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon and drummer Daniel Platzman - are now working on the followup album to Night Visions, which earned them a Grammy, an American Music Award and five Billboard Awards. In Canada, Night Visions has been certified three times platinum, indicating sales of more than 240,000 copies.

"This is a dynamic young band that reflects today's CFL and the excitement that has always surrounded our biggest game and Canada's biggest party, the Grey Cup," said Sara Moore, the CFL's vice-president of marketing and events, in a press release. "The millions who saw Imagine Dragons steal the show at this year's Grammy Awards, where they won a Grammy for best rock performance, will know how exciting it is that they will command Canada's biggest stage."

Despite being American, McKee attested to having a little bit of Canadian in him.

"The last time I was in Canada, I was dared by a fan to chug an entire bottle of maple syrup," McKee said with a laugh. "There has to be some remnant of that in me. It changed me. I transformed a little bit in that moment. I started wearing a little more denim and I've been going with it ever since."

SUN