Imagine Dragons' tunes uninspiring at AAC, but frontman's showmanship helps

Imagine Dragons' lyrics can be opaque at times, but not in "Gold," a crystal clear new song about feeling alienated by sudden riches and fame.

"Who can you trust when everything you touch, touch, touch turns to gold, gold, gold?" Dan Reynolds sang Friday night to a near-capacity crowd at American Airlines Center.

With just two albums to its name, the Las Vegas quartet has exploded to become one of rock's biggest bands, thanks to a string of happy-clappy hits like "It's Time." Before playing that tune, Reynolds struggled to describe the strange and humbling experience of getting famous overnight. "It's not something I think I'll ever get used to."

He really shouldn't be so surprised. There's always been a huge audience for catchy pop-rock tunes played in an inoffensive style that recalls U2, Coldplay and other chart-topping acts.

A few years ago, One Republic cornered the market on the strum-by-numbers approach. Today, Imagine Dragons supplies the goods. Next year, some new group will make a killing by boiling down other bands' styles into easy-to-digest singalongs.

That's not to say Imagine Dragons aren't talented. Daniel Platzman's nimble, jazzy drumming enlivened more than a few tunes. And at the very least, the band was versatile, moving from the Mumford-y "Trouble" to the thundering blues-rock of "I'm So Sorry" to the metallic post-grunge of "Friction."

But as a singer, Reynolds lacked pizzazz and range, a fact that became all too clear during the band's cover of Alphaville's 1985 hit "Forever Young." Between songs, he tried to make a grand statement about the Charleston church shooting but wound up just spewing feel-good platitudes: "I believe the future is bright!" he said. "I believe in this generation!"

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Reynolds proved to be more interesting as a showman, dancing jigs up and down the runway and dashing through the aisles of the lower bowl as he sang. At one point, he collapsed onstage and stayed on his back for the next five minutes.

Perhaps he was just catching his breath -- or maybe even he'd grown bored with his band's uninspiring music and needed a temporary escape.

New York singer Halsey -- the show's first scheduled opening act -- had to cancel for a reason rarely heard in the world of rock 'n' roll: She was recovering from getting her wisdom teeth removed, according to Reynolds.

The Toronto band Metric warmed up the crowd just fine on its own with a breakneck set of electro-pop and guitar-rock that recalled Blondie by way of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Lead singer Emily Haines stole the spotlight, her gauzy cape flowing behind her as she jumped up and down with a vengeance unseen at the AAC since the Mavericks' 2010-2011 season.

Thor Christensen is a Dallas writer and critic. Email him atthorchris2@yahoo.com