Adam Levine
Adam Levine isn’t usually one to chit-chat onstage. In his two previous visits to Manila, the Maroon 5 frontman raced through his sets, pumping out one song after another in a workmanlike fashion. But in this recent visit, he made time to express his love and appreciation for the band’s Filipino fans.
Mounted by Live Nation Philippines, the Manila stop of Maroon 5’s “2020” world tour is the pop-rock group’s sixth overall in the country. And it likely won’t be their last.
“You want to know why we love coming here? For many reasons. But the number one reason we like coming here is because we know how much you guys love to sing,” Adam told the packed crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.
For a music artist, there’s no better feeling than hearing fans sing their hearts out to songs he wrote and recorded. “As a singer, I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me and the rest of the band when we come out to a place where I know … and that’s y’all’s thing—you guys love to f*cking sing. And that just makes us feel so good out here every night,” he said.
And sing along the crowd did to the parade of hits the band has put out in the span of 20 years and seven studio albums. While not exactly groundbreaking, Maroon 5’s music can be undeniably catchy. And perhaps the band’s biggest strengths is its ability to conform to the ever-changing music trends in mainstream pop.
As such, the band’s set felt like a collection of snapshots of different eras—front the funk-laden alternative tracks like “Harder to Breathe” from 2002 to pop-hip-hop cuts like “Girls Like You” from 2018.
Special place
Maroon 5 has played in countless cities around the world and encountered different kinds of fans. The Filipino crowd is many things, but “shy” is not one of them.
“There are some places we go where people are more shy and they don’t want to sing. But I just want to let you guys know that this is a very special place for us because we know that every time we come here … the crowd seems to get bigger and bigger. And it’s incredible,” he said.
“Every time we come here it just feels like you love to be in it with us, and you guys sing louder than anywhere else in the world. It’s a beautiful thing so thank you so much, guys. We love you,” he said, before giving an acoustic rendition of “Payphone” that had him smiling and tapping his chest.
Before playing the soft rock ballad “She Will Be Loved”—one of the singles that put Maroon 5 on the map—Adam couldn’t help but look back on the band’s 20-year journey, and how music brought them, and people together in places they never knew they would be in.
‘Music brought us here’
“Twenty years ago, our first album came out. That’s a long time ago; that’s older than some of you here. We come from very far from here. But being a musician, being in a band, and singing as part of your job [allowed us to visit] countries I have never been before. But our music brought us here and we were able to share something special with you guys,” Adam said.
“We appreciate you so much more than you could ever know. And we just want to thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts. We love you guys and appreciate your support over the last 20 years, because without you, we can’t do this,” he added.