Closing the second day of the F1 Singapore Grand Prix, Maroon 5 gave an electrifying performance that kept the crowd begging for more
It’s 7pm on race evening, Saturday. Although the scorching sun had already called it a day, the deadly combination of heat, haze and humidity hung thickly in the air.
Nonetheless, these drawbacks did not deter the sea of fans that thronged the Padang to secure a spot in front of the stage where Maroon 5 would perform. Some had been camping out from as early as nine hours before, eager to catch Adam Levine and his American pop-rock band up close.
Filipino fan Clarence Bautista, 33, had secured his tickets way back in April, just to make sure he could catch Maroon 5 here.
“I couldn’t miss it; I didn’t even mind paying for the flight to Singapore just to watch them,” he gushed.
It’s little wonder why. The band, which performed at the same venue in 2012 to a crowd of 50,000, is internationally loved for catchy and earworm tunes such as “Moves Like Jagger”, “Sunday Morning” and the recent chart-topper “Sugar”.
These songs, as well as several older hits, were what fans had braved the elements for. Four long hours before Maroon 5 was set to appear, the fans had already begun screaming in anticipation.
The grand entrance
At 11.15pm, mysterious jungle sounds and the beat of tribal drums pulsated in the air, marking the grand entrance of Maroon 5.
It was obvious from the get-go who commanded the crowd. Lead singer and guitarist Adam Levine was the boss, keeping the audience on an undulating high from the very first song, “Animals”.
Like a herd of fanatic wildebeest, the fans were charged with frenetic joy and an infectious energy rippled through the crowd.
Sugar? Yes please
Throughout its 15-song set, Maroon 5 delivered a highly-charged and emotional performance, turning out recent numbers such as “Stereo Hearts” and the moving “Payphone”.
Fans who’ve followed the band from its humble beginnings were treated to older sleeper hits “Sunday Morning” and “Harder to Breathe”. At the end, relenting to our cries for an encore, Adam and guitarist James Valentine returned to the stage for a mellow acoustic rendition of “She Will Be Loved”, much to the delight of many a fan girl (and fan boy) in the crowd.
For much of the show, Adam and the rocker-haired James displayed an adorable chemistry in showmanship. They weren’t shy to exhibit mischievous exchanges on stage.
At one point, Adam swung a kick at James’ behind. The pair then made up by shredding on their guitars together in what seemed like genius ad-libbed instrumentals. One more winning performance to add to the shelf for these bad boys.
Missing the conversation
In one of their latest hits, “Maps”, Adam croons: “I miss the conversation”. Regrettably, so did I.
Perhaps due to the relatively shorter set and their tiredness — Adam was drenched, as though he’d been perspiring from the minute he stepped into Singapore — there was rather limited audience interaction.
With Adam taking the lead in speaking to the crowd, his conversations with the fans were largely restricted to the spiels concert-goers are familiar with: getting fans to chime in to popular lyrics, asking how everyone’s doing and the token “we love Singapore but it’s so hot here” statement. The last one was met with hoots for the pretty boy to “rip [his] shirt off”.
However, the audience didn’t seem to mind the thin conversations at all. Not especially when Adam finally decided the heat was too much to bear and pulled off his tank top, igniting a burst of frenzy and screams from captivated fans.
Built like a beast, Adam then strutted on stage with a bare chest and hot pink guitar, belting out their sensual new hit, “Sugar”, while clenching his microphone stand like a stripper pole. He more than compensated with fan service — that the audience lapped right up.
By Pamela Chow
Maroon 5 performed on Sep 19 at the Padang Stage.
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