Music review: Maroon 5 provides entertaining concert at Pond

By ANH NGUYEN

Los Angeles-based funky Maroon 5 hit Anaheim in typical rock style and flair last weekend.

The 2005 Best New Artist Grammy winners, who used to go by the name of Kara's Flowers, came to Arrowhead Pond to give the 13-18 year-old girls a show they will never forget, along with their boyfriends, who most likely were dragged along.

The name of Maroon 5's tour is the "Honda Civic Tour." Maroon 5 teamed up with Honda to promote Honda's Civic Hybrid car, and the band members have been vocal with their concerns about the environment. At the venue, they showed off a black and white special edition Maroon 5 Honda Hybrid Civic. Los Angeles radio station KIIS FM even had a contest and gave away a signed Hybrid Civic by Maroon 5. The winner of the environmentally friendly car was Cynthia Ramirez from neighboring city Rancho Cucamonga.

For this show, the Arrowhead Pond was transformed into its "theatre" setting. The theatre setting narrows down the seating of the arena to about half, and chandeliers are dropped from the ceilings to give the effect of an intimate show. This setting cannot compare to the theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but it makes a decent attempt nonetheless.

With a backdrop wall of colored lights behind him, singer/guitarist Adam Levine emerged from behind a silhouette that was projected on the curtain. Levine, clad in blue jeans, a white T-shirt, a black blazer, and a belt with a huge round rock star buckle, took center stage.

Guitarist James Valentine and bass player Mickey Madden rarely moved from their designated section on the stage. It didn't matter much since most of the attention was given to Levine, who in time took off his blazer and danced and jumped all over stage, occasionally picking up the guitar to play on certain tracks.

The flawless, almost 90-minute show -- which included hits like "Harder to Breathe," "Sunday Morning," and their addictive track "This Love" -- also featured songs destined to be on the new album such as "Wasted Years" and the '80s keyboard-sounding "I Can't Stop Thinking About You."

The band played one song after another without a skip in the beat. The only time it slowed down was when Levine announced, "Everyone do me a favor and get out of your seats." The stage then went dark as it seemed nothing was there; however, a sole spotlight dawned on the Maroon 5 front man.

Levine started an a capella rendition of "This Love," with the audience singing along. It echoed throughout the unused section of the arena, and after the chorus was finished, the other members of Maroon 5 jumped right in with the lighted wall, now with a "5" drawn on.

MAROON 5 is proving to be a rock band that shouldn't be taken lightly. The band members' stage presence and showmanship gives a reason to check out their show live. Don't forget that their music is catchy, and it's hard not to hum it all day.

Levine's on-stage charm makes up for the lack thereof from the rest of his band mates. Don't get me wrong -- the rest of Maroon 5 is talented, and you cannot expect much from them with Levine up front.

Levine even jumped on the drums to cover AC/DC's "Highway to Hell" as part of the encore with drummer Ryan Dusick on vocals, who has been on break recovering from tendonitis.

This band is worth the price of admission and with "Songs of Jane" under their belts, more great things are yet to come.

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