Looking around to see the unfamiliar sight of hugging middle-aged couples in replacement of teenagers eager to mosh I can’t help feel somewhat uncomfortable, but then again I can’t imagine anyone moshing to Maroon 5’s love ballads.
The band begin with ‘Misery’ the new single from their 2010 album ‘Hands All Over’ as much of the crowd scream as each member appears on stage, and even though I’m wearing earplugs I still twitch as the women scream louder to the appearance of lead singer Adam Levine.
The band tear through both classics such as ‘Harder to breathe’ and ‘Secret’ which have to crowd both singing along and softly swaying to the music, yet the sound of cries and screams of women still echo the venue as the band members throw themselves around the stage. On several songs Adam Levine and lead guitarist James Valentine suddenly blast into incredible solo’s that had me mesmerized by the sheer creativity and musical beauty contained with them, in particular a long guitar duel at the end of ‘Won’t Go Home Without You’.
Even playing Alicia Keys’ ‘If I Aint Got You’ was remarkable as the group played the song so good you’d have never guessed it was a cover, Levine’s soft voice (and dashing good looks) have the entire crowds eyes on him as he paces back and forth to both sides of the stage to please the audience of mostly female fans. A long dragging intro leave the crowd waiting in anticipation for the next song which turns out to be an acoustic version of one of my favourites ‘She will be loved’ – Levine takes advantage of the crowds singing and gets different sections of it to belt out the end of the song; Somewhere within the midst of this I see a bra thrown on stage and it someone end up in Levine’s back pocket…
After playing ‘This Love’ in which my concentration was focused upon a group of girls and a 6-foot man who were dancing as if they were calling for rain, the band bounded off-stage to everyone’s surprise. However unlike previous gigs I had been to there was no chants for an encore which made me nervous. Nevertheless the band soon did return to play ‘Makes Me Wonder’ and ‘Sunday Morning’ which was when I realised how this one amazing band managed to sell out two dates at such an incredible venue.
Full of surprises and superb crowd interaction Maroon 5 put on a real show that would make anyone feel content and keen to buy all of their albums.
