“Two years ago, we hit a milestone in our career,” Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine informed the packed stadium Friday night. “We were here at the Liacouras Center opening for John Mayer. I thought about how great it would be back here…to have fans screaming our names and singing our songs. So, thank you for being here.” Maroon 5, made up of lead singer Adam Levine, guitarist James Valentine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden on bass and Ryan Dusick on the drums, opened their show with their break-out hit, “Harder to Breathe.” Having recently won the Grammy for Best New Artist, the band was obviously pumped. The crowd was on their feet within five seconds of the opening song and remained that way throughout the hour and a half show. The band played all of their hits, including a fun rendition of “This Love,” asking the audience to participate in singing the song before they started it. This was the most exciting song of the night; the crowd was completely into it, singing along and dancing as the spotlights roamed over the crowd, casting a rainbow of colors throughout the stadium. The background behind the band paid homage to the bandʼs Web site, flowing with bright gold and red lights and spinning with different images.
The energy of the crowd was loaded with enthusiasm as the band went through every song of their multiplatinum selling CD, Songs About Jane. They sang such songs as their new hit single, “Sunday Morning,” the sultry “Secret,” the wickedly guitar powered, “Shiver,” and the catchy “The Sun.” They also trailed off into their version of Pink Floydʼs “Another Brick in the Wall” which drew the crowd into even more shrieks.
Among those songs and the others from the CD, they played two new songs that hold incredible promise to make their next CD as huge as their current one. “Wasted All These Years” and “Canʼt Stop Thinking About You” excel in the same way the rest of the bandʼs songs do: they are unique in sound and lyrics and catchy in every way. It made the fans delighted to hear there is new music that will hopefully be arriving soon and proved that it has definitely been worth the wait. The two new songs created an incredible sense of the fans wanting more; the crowd got right into those songs as they did the others.
They ended the show with the last song on Songs About Jane, “The Sweetest Goodbye,” ending with a long guitar and drum solo, which allowed for the crowd to erupt into applause and screams. The band left the stage, teasing, letting their fans scream for them to come back until they returned moments later for their encore. They sang a cover of the Policeʼs “Message in a Bottle” and then did their hit, “She Will Be Loved” to finish the show. In the midst of the concert, Adam Levine took a moment to thank the fans and tell the crowd how much they appreciate everyone who comes to the shows and supports the band. It was a nice dedication to an already excited crowd, which then returned the favor by filling the place with applause.
Maroon 5ʼs fans were not disappointed; the show was incredible. The bandʼs energy and obvious passion for what they do was not lost on anyone who attended, and everyone left feeling completely satisfied and in awe.
Songs About Jane is a CD filled with a perfectly flowing tracklisting of songs, showing off the bandʼs talent, but seeing them live in concert makes it all the more worthwhile. The band has an obvious dedication to what they do and they make the wait for their next CD nearly impossible.