Third time’s a charm!
I fell in love with Maroon 5 INSTANTLY. I heard the album ONE time and I was a head-over-heels fan. It was 2004 when I finally jumped on the bandwagon. I had just moved to Chicago, and it was my first time living by myself. Songs About Jane helped me fight a serious case of loneliness as I belted out every word during my ultimate empty living room performance.
Of course, in true fashion, I looked for tickets to any upcoming concert they had in Chicago. They were performing soon, and I bought tickets and got stuck in another city and missed the concert! I was passed pissed. My friends gloated for months about what I missed.
The SECOND time I went to see them was in Miami. But as luck would have it, the concert was scheduled the same date I was scheduled to be out of town. Boo.
So this is my third attempt at seeing the band, and nothing was going to come between me and this concert!
Maroon 5 is not a group, they are a BAND. They play instruments. (I refuse to call groups that don't play instruments a "band"...I. Just. Can't.) But not just play. They play WELL. They made sure we were aware of how far they could push their pop-rock box by evenly placing powerful guitar and drum solos showcasing how talented they are. Mr. Frontman himself, Adam Levine can really sing. Really! His voice went from rock, to pop, to soul all in the same medley. You can definitely tell some of their influence comes from R&B legends like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Listen to Wonder’s “Superstitious” and tell me differently!
The played the following songs (not exactly in this order):
“Misery”*
“If I Never See Your Face Again”
“Harder to Breathe”
“Give A Little More”*
“Come Together”
“Won’t Go Home Without You”
“The Sun”
“Secret” (Mixed with “What’s Love Got To Do With It?”)
“All I Got Is You”
“She Will Be Loved”
“Shiver”
“Stutter”*
“Wake Up Call”
“This Love”
“Makes Me Wonder”
“Sunday Morning”
*From the new album Hands All Over
The surprise of the night for me was the cover of Alicia Keys “If I Ain’t Got You”, which apparently will be on their upcoming album. Not the easiest song to sing, but I think they did it justice for sure. Check it out for yourself below.
They also did a cover of the Beatles’ “Come Together” (My favorite Beatles song), which was pretty dope. They premiered two additional songs from their upcoming album which the audience enjoyed. Definitely a good sign to have been dancing away to songs they’ve never heard before.
It seems that they have taken their hiatus of the past 1.5 years to polish their craft because they sounded UH-MAY-ZING together. Their comfortably with each other was flawless. They engaged the crowd with effortless cool, especially during “She Will Be Loved” when they split the crowd for a righteous sing-a-long. I don’t know who authorized an outside concert in Miami in the middle of August. It was NOT a super idea at all. Despite the heat, the crowd stood up the ENTIRE show, even during the slow songs when people usually get weary and sit down. They made the sticky discomfort of a humid Miami night enjoyably bearable.
The first opener of the night was VV Brown. She is this super tall English bombshell with a pretty big voice. When we walked into the amphitheater, she was doing a cover of Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”. Not my favorite, but I like her style. Once we were finally seated, I concentrated more on her style and delivery. I definitely like her voice. Her musical styling was a little hard to catch, but it worked for her. It was a mash of indie pop and a little rock. I downloaded her album, Traveling Like the Light as soon as I got home to see if I like it. I’ll keep you posted!
The second opening was Kris Allen. He almost bored me to tears, mainly because he was on the stage for a REALLY long time. I don’t watch American Idol, but I am familiar with his dramatic win over Adam Lambert’s. Eh. If he didn’t have his guitar, it would have been all bubble-gum pop for me. He had a strong voice, but his lyrics were shallow and soft. No PASSION. It seemed to me that he was still trying to get his bearings of his first national tour. He must have sung EVERY song on his album, because he did at least 10 songs. No joke. Well, at least that’s what it felt like!
I can’t wait until Hands All Over drops (I already pre-ordered!), because I can never get enough M5! The concert was fire. Well worth my wait! :)
Check the pics and flicks!
Love.
Peace.
Music.
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