Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the industries to take a hit was live music. Maroon 5 was one of many acts who had to postpone their 2020 tour, however on September 7th, 2021, the band’s fans in the DMV finally got to experience it. Carrying the simple title the 2021 Tour, Maroon 5’s eleventh headlining tour was a night of tight musicianship and the pristine falsetto of frontman Adam Levine.
The band opened the show with their 2011 hit “Moves Like Jagger “. While Adam Levine’s dancing didn’t pay proper homage to Mick Jagger, Levine’s stage presence made up for it. From there, the group took it back to the 2002 debut Songs About Jane for a lively performance of “This Love”. Adam Levine then dipped into his features catalog for a performance of “Stereo Hearts”. At this point, I honestly expected Levine and the group to do a medley of Levine’s Hip Hop features. It would have been great to hear Levine sing his verses of Kanye West’s “Touch The Sky”, Ying Yang Twins “Live Again” or Lil Wayne’s “Trust Nobody”. Instead, though, the group kept it moving by performing songs from their seven-album catalog.
Ideally, just about any hit song you wanted to hear, was performed. My night was made when I heard “Sunday Morning”, while my wife was happy when she heard an acoustic version of “Payphone” and my son’s song of the night was “Don’t Wanna Know”. Despite the lukewarm critical response to the group’s latest album Jordi, “Beautiful Mistakes” and “Memories” both came across great live.
My first time seeing Maroon 5 was a fun night out. However, I did have a few complaints. The group’s opening act was Blackbear, and the less said about his performance, the better. Now it could be my forty years of age and my love of real Hip Hop, but whatever Blackbear was doing, just was not for me. On the plus side though, my son seemed to enjoy his performance so I guess that is the silver lining.
For an opening act, I would have much preferred a short opening set by group member PJ Morton, who is an amazingly talented solo artist in his own right. In addition, my favorite Maroon 5 song, “Lost Stars” was not part of the setlist. Nevertheless though, Maroon 5’s DMV stop on their latest tour was a great way to spend a few hours.
Final Grade : B+
For this week’s Second Listen Sunday, I took a trip back to 2007 and revisited “Don’t Talk Just Listen” from the group B5. Hailing from the Peach State, B5 comprised the Breeding Brothers, Bryan, Carnell, Dustin, Kelly, and Patrick. Initially finding success two years earlier with their cover of The Jackson 5’s “All I Do,” their debut did just enough with their preteen fans to warrant a second album.
With the exception of a few cases, R&B groups experienced a period of stagnation in 2007. While some groups continued to tour and perform their renowned classics, releasing new music was infrequent. To commemorate this week’s Slow Jam Saturday, I would like to acknowledge a notable piece from Jagged Edge’s sixth album, “Baby Makin Project,” titled “Whole Town’s Laughing At Me.”
For this week’s Second Listen Sunday, we are taking a trip to the Great Lake State and showing some love to R&B Band Ready for The World and their self-titled debut album. Arriving in stores on May 14, 1985, via MCA Records, the album on which the band produced their first single was “Tonight.”
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