Adam Levine serenades ‘most musical, wonderful’ PH fans
For a band with a wide arsenal of hits like Maroon 5, it may be quite tempting to let the set list do most of the heavy lifting at a concert, especially one that’s part of an extensive world tour. And Adam Levine, at least in our experience, has been guilty of that in the past.
In a few of the band’s previous concerts in Manila, I have seen the frontman blitz through his repertoire like he had a flight to catch immediately after, which was probably the case. He would pump out one song after another in workmanlike fashion with just the occasional exhortations to break the steady march.
Still, it worked—every single time. The thing is, Maroon 5’s hits are so popular and so irresistibly singable that the opening strains alone are often more than enough to get the crowd going.
That seems to have changed, however, in Maroon 5’s more recent visits. Its seventh show in Manila last Jan. 29, which kicked off its 2025 season and Asian tour, featured some of the most engaging performances we have seen from the American band, particularly Levine.
The concert—mounted by Live Nation Philippines together with the Department of Tourism and the Tourism Promotions Board—more or less followed the Maroon 5 blueprint: a series of pop-rock bangers strung together into one big medley of sorts, thanks to nifty and musical transitions.
For instance, the feral chants and guitar outro of “Animals” dissolved into the fun opening whoops of “One More Night,” whose ending falsetto, in turn, signaled the piano-driven strut of “This Love.” All that time, Levine strolled from side to side, and up and down the runway. He shimmied about and knelt down; danced and hoisted the mic stand like a flagpole, as if rallying the sold-out crowd to bring the house down.
“It’s so good to be back, so good. But can you do me this favor? Everyone who’s sitting down, stand up!” Levine bellowed to the fans at the jam-packed SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Lighthearted exchange
But more importantly, Levine took his time in each number, building up tension and excitement with teasing intros in such songs as “Harder to Breathe” and adding swirling guitar instrumentals in others. “Sunday Morning” was more fleshed out with various vocal ad libs, and a lighthearted exchange of yelps and scat-sung lines between Levine and the fans. Midway through the head-bobbing pop-funk ditty “Makes Me Wonder,” the vocalist spiced things up with snippets of Prince songs.
Levine sounded solid all-around, especially so when shifting in and out of his sweet head tones and falsettos, which give his songs their signature come-hither flair. The fans got to appreciate this better in the night’s gentler moments, as in the acoustic delivery of “She Will Be Loved”—Levine’s “favorite song to perform”—which swelled and exploded into full instrumentation toward the end.
“We know here in the Philippines, you’re the best singers. No one sings louder at Maroon 5 concerts,” said Levine, who described Filipino concertgoers as “musically wonderful.”
Indeed, Filipinos are so good at singing that, earlier in the same song, they ended up wresting control of the first verse from Levine. They got so excited and impatient waiting for him to start that they decided to go ahead and do the singing for him. They got ahead of themselves and went straight for the chorus, too. A little taken aback, Levine had no choice but play catch-up.
“You guys skipped the first verse, so we have to go back and do the first verse!” quipped Levine, who dished out a standard 18-song set. And even then, it still wasn’t enough to cover all of the band’s hits and other fan favorites.
While Maroon 5 isn’t the most groundbreaking of bands out there, its willingness to adapt to the fickle nature of the pop music landscape—whether by way of drastic stylistic shifts, or unlikely collaborations with other artists—has helped the American group cross over to the streaming era and maintain chart relevance through the years.
Case in point: “Memories,” from the group’s seventh and latest album “Jordi” (2021), sounds nothing like say, “Shiver,” from the debut album “Songs About Jane” (2002). But who’s comparing? “Memories,” a wistful ballad for “all of us who have lost people very special to us,” is just as compelling as the band’s early works. And the fans, like what Levine had earlier requested, “filled the room with melodies.”
“I know the Philippines loves music. You guys are the most musical, wonderful people. That’s why we love coming here so much,” Levine said. “Because you sing with us and experience the same joy we experience when we play.”
