But he’s strictly working within the realm of pop, and collaborating with a wide variety of artists - from country star Kane Brown to rapper-turned-rocker Machine Gun Kelly - to expand his brand.
I’m sure Trainor never led an audience through an “(Expletive) you” call and response like the Florida native did Thursday.īlackbear might be the edgiest opener Maroon 5 has ever had - with a catalog of seething, expletive-laced songs targeting ex-lovers and his own failings. Meghan Trainor was originally part of the Maroon 5 tour when it was announced for 2020, but she dropped out, replaced by emo-leaning singer and rapper blackbear. Blackbear brings emo angst to opening set The crowd clearly felt the same way, loving every moment of Maroon 5's Milwaukee show - mistakes and all. "After these weird (expletive) 18 months, it feels incredible to be back," Levine yelled late in the night.
He brought some heart to his performance of "Love Somebody" - dramatically reaching out as he pined for connection, triumphantly hoisting his mic stand up at one point like Excalibur. And sparse "Jordi" hit "Memories," with Levine paying tribute to "the ones that we lost on the way," resonated more in concert, after everything that's happened since COVID-19 hit. "Payphone" was presented as an acoustic guitar-supported singalong, while "Wait" was reimagined as a disco jam that had significantly more spirit than the studio single.Īnd while Levine never has and never will have "Moves Like Jagger" himself, his falsetto was consistently in fine form Thursday. Matt Flynn did a flashy drum solo to kick off "One More Night," and brought some polyrhythmic flair to "Maps." PJ Morton on keys slid in a soft jazz touch on "Don't Wanna Know" and made "Sunday Morning" shine with funky and soulful grooves. Levine - sporting a short neon blonde haircut and cheetah-print shorts that matched his tattoo-covered legs - did his own guitar showboating for "This Love," "Animals" and "Sugar." It started with an '80s metal intro for "Moves Like Jagger," with the sugary whistle hook fluttering around Valentine and Jesse Carmichael's heavy guitar riffs. "Jordi" songs like "Lost" and "Beautiful Mistakes" were bland re-creations of their studio versions, but the six-piece band shook up the formula for almost all of the night's 20 songs. In terms of their singles, Maroon 5 are more machine than band, but that was a charmingly human moment Thursday.Īnd there were several pulse-quickening moments across a 95-minute set. Their latest full-length, June's "Jordi," has some of the worst reviews of the year.īut that's why Levine goofing up in Milwaukee was actually refreshing. Led by Levine’s vanilla falsetto, it’s pleasing, largely innocuous pop best served on a chill Spotify playlist, or to fill the silence at a department store or coffee shop. That’s come at a cost, with the band pushing aside personality and embracing softer, more synthetic sounds over time to keep up with trends. Compared to practically every other band around, they’ve dominated, with at least one top five single on the Billboard Hot 100 on every album since its 2002 debut album - and sometimes as many as four. More: Here are all the Milwaukee venues, concerts that will require masks, proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test, including Summerfest I thought I'd be way out of the game at this point." We do not take that for granted for one second," Levine cheered. "It is the most surreal dream and the most amazing thing to be able to do this for this long, and to have audiences this full. But instead of merely laughing it off and resetting, Levine got philosophical.Īt the sixth show of a rescheduled tour, Levine seemed to take great joy in being able to make a mistake on a stage again, and to do it in an amphitheater filled with thousands of people - not just in the wake of a concert-free pandemic, but also at this stage in Maroon 5's career.
Hey, it happens, especially for one of the first shows coming out of a pandemic. And then he teased James Valentine, the only other musician on stage at the time, playing on acoustic guitar, that he was the last person in the room to recognize the mistake - "which is kind of a problem," Levine joked. It was actually one of the best moments of the night.Īfter accidentally jumping ahead to the second verse, Levine was pleasantly baffled that the crowd singing along quickly made the illogical jump with him. It took nearly 20 years, but Adam Levine for the first time messed up Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved" in concert, at the American Family Insurance Amphitheater in Milwaukee Thursday.
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