On Monday night, thousands of people gathered together to see the 2013 Honda Civic Tour at Lakewood Amphitheater. Almost all of the seats were filled and there was a mass of people on the lawn. Some of you might be wondering, what’s so special about Maroon 5? They are soooo mainstream.
Mainstream or not, Maroon 5 has a special place in my heart. They were my first concert when I was eleven and I have been taken with them ever since. I saw them in 2005 and 2007, so I thought the show I was going to see on Monday would be similar to what I had seen previously. Well, eight years have passed since my first encounter with the band and boy, was I wrong.
I wasn’t prepared for the upbeat energy the band emitted to the crowd nor was I expecting to hear the humble thank you’s from Adam Levine, the band’s front man. There seems to have been some growth within the band, not only performance wise, but attitude wise. I remember my first time experiencing their show and it was fun, but I wasn’t blown away. This time, my mind was blown.
Fun light shows illuminated the stage while Levine flirted with the crowd. The rest of the band played perfectly and brought the funk. Maroon 5 added fresh jam band like sounds to a fan favorite, Makes Me Wonder, which went quite well with the song. They played other fan favorites like She Will Be Loved, Misery, This Love, Love Somebody, and Daylight. They also played more songs that only people who owned their CDs would know, such as Tangled, Harder to Breathe, Lucky Strike, and Shiver. They incorporated singles that were not on CDs and were collaborations with other artists like Christina Aguilera, Travie McCoy, and Wiz Khalifa. Their rendition of Stereo Hearts was AMAZING. The rapping parts were sung and sounded like a beautiful melody. Levine also sang Christina Aguilera’s part in Moves Like Jagger and it sounded just as good! However, during Payphone, there was a video of Wiz Khalifa rapping to us on a gigantic screen. I would have loved to hear Levine’s voice singing those lines, but I can’t complain!
All in all, Maroon 5 still has an appeal to audiences. Their music is still just as good and their stage performances have gotten a lot better. I’d recommend seeing them live!
By Molly Silverman
