Imagine Dragons to perform free halftime show as part of college football championship game

Imagine Dragons will perform a special halftime concert for the College Football Playoff National Championship game on Jan. 7 in the Bay Area. The only wrinkle? The free concert is not at the same venue as the game.

When the final two college football teams take their halftime break at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Imagine Dragons will start cranking out the tunes at a site on Treasure Island. (Yes, that Treasure Island. The one in the middle of San Francisco Bay.)

The show, which features the most streamed group of 2018, is free, but fans will need special passes in order to access the site. According to ESPN, details on how to secure those passes are still to come.

Of course, most people won’t be viewing the Imagine Dragons performance live, they’ll be watching from the comfort of their own living rooms. The show will be part of ESPN’s televised halftime coverage of college football’s biggest game.

“The band will perform several songs, including tracks from their latest album ‘Origins,’ ” the ESPN news release elaborated. “Imagine Dragons’ appearance at the national championship game builds upon a season-long collaboration between ESPN, Interscope Records and Universal Music Group Nashville, wherein the band’s No. 1 song ‘Natural’ served as ESPN’s college football anthem.”

Another Interscope artist, hip-hop great Kendrick Lamar, performed the halftime show earlier this year at the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship at Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park.

Formed in 2009, Imagine Dragons has the been the hottest rock band of this decade. The Dragons started their career by scoring three consecutive platinum-plus albums, including 2012’s “Night Visions,” 2015’s “Smoke + Mirrors” and 2017’s “Evolve.” The group’s latest album, “Origins,” debuted atop the Billboard rock charts in November.

The group’s best-known songs include “Radioactive,” “Believer,” “Whatever It Takes” and “Natural.”

Granted, most halftime shows take place at the actual stadium where the game is being played — and there will be a halftime show at Levi’s Stadium, as well, performed, per tradition, by the two colleges’ marching bands.