Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 3, 2016

Imagine Dragons has one of the more whimsical names in the already at times outré universe of band monikers, but their music is decidedly more mainstream, eschewing the innovative for the tried and true gambits of high energy and easily accessible hooks. The band hit it big with their single “Radioactive”, though it took a while for that tune to actually become a hit, as lovers of chart arcana may be aware. Imagine Dragons offers competence and clear musicality, even if a lot of their material sounds like it could be coming from any number of other aggregations, at least at times. Lead vocalist Dan Reynolds has just a few wobbly moments in this 2015 Toronto concert, but he’s a winning presence and keeps the audience screaming with approval, and of course singing along with many tunes. The band plays with a lot of fervor in a typically highly produced environment which is at times a little hard to see due to some odd lighting choices.

Imagine Dragons Smoke + Mirror Live features the following songs:

Intro
Shots
Trouble
It's Time
Forever Young/Smoke and Mirrors
Polaroid
I'm So Sorry
Thief
Gold
Demons (Featuring Bleeding Out and Warriors)
Amsterdam
Hopeless Opus
On Top of the World
Friction
Release
I Bet My Life
Radioactive
The Fall

Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Imagine Dragons Smoke + Mirrors Live is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision, an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and Universal Music Group with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.90:1. The progressive presentation allows some typical bugaboos like combing artifacts, posterizing and banding to be virtually negligible, but unfortunately some odd lighting choices keep detail at bay throughout this presentation. While the "traditional" deep blues are (of course) on display, a number of tunes are lit in garish yellows and/or greens, a choice that tends to wash out detail and fine detail in all but close-ups. Other tunes are barely lit at all, with Dan's black t-shirt almost blending into the shadowy background.

Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Imagine Dragons Smoke + Mirrors Live is one of the first concert Blu-ray discs I've personally reviewed which features a Dolby Atmos track (with a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core). There are also DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks. The Atmos track provides excellent separation, though some of the overhead effects are limited to washes of audience noise, including their ubiquitous attempts to sing along with Dan. There's really appealing clarity and some great forcefulness in some of the lower synth effects, as in the intro to "Radioactive". Dan's voice occasionally gets swallowed in both the Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes, though it tends to receive better general prioritization in the LPCM 2.0 offering. All three mixes offer sterling fidelity and no problems with distortion or dropouts.

Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Roots (Multi Angle) Intro (1080p; 2:01) is what boots if you hit either the "Play" or "Roots" menu options. The disc is then authored to move automatically on to the actual multi angle footage.


• Roots (Multi Angle) (1080i; 3:37)


• I Was Me (Multi Angle) (1080i; 5:07)


• Hopeless Opus (Alternate Version) (1080p; 5:32)


• Gold (Alternate Version) (1080p; 4:28)

Additionally this release includes a CD.

Imagine Dragons: Smoke + Mirrors Live Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While Smoke + Mirrors assumed the top spot on American album charts, it has yet to produce a single of "Radioactive"'s popularity, though of course that tune took months to finally catch on, so maybe there's some slow burning smash still lingering. The band is never less than enjoyable, but I found this concert to be a little overproduced and calculated. Technical merits, especially audio, are excellent. Recommended.