Back to the future with Maroon 5

MANILA, Philippines — The opening clip from the original time travel adventure Back To The Future movie greeted the multitude of Maroon 5 fans gathered at the Mall of Asia Arena last Tuesday night. The scene, which featured Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly setting up an electric guitar in full volume, doubled the air of excitement at the venue exactly 9 p.m. when the lights were dimmed and the sight and sound of clocks ticking came out of the large screens.

Expectedly, as the very ‘80s Marty boy hit the strings with his guitar pick, the band, on cue, began to play to delightful cheers from a crowd comprising from different age brackets.

One of today’s most beloved groups was on, led by its charismatic frontman Adam Levine who sang hit after hit in a frenetic one-hour show of mostly upbeat tunes bookended by a heartwarming encore.

Adam did not say much all throughout but instead let the familiar repertoire do the talking. His band has more than enough arsenal of hits to let spiel time get in the way.

The concert, part of Maroon 5 Red Pill Blues Tour, began with What Lovers Do. Then a string of certified hits in the ears of Filipinos followed through, including the one that first introduced them to music fans all over, This Love. There was an engaging drum solo prior to the night’s fifth number Sunday Morning, reminding everyone that Maroon 5 is a legitimate live, rocking band that necessarily makes use of digital recording experimentation to augment its otherwise organic feel to music-making.

“How are you doing tonight? We got a lot of songs for you,” assured Adam whose Hollywood-ish face and high-pitched voice arguably belong to the most famous in the annals of music.

Apart from the opening number, Maroon 5, now officially performing as seven souls including, of course, Adam’s closest partner to fame James Valentine, also performed Cold, Wait and their currently most streamed track Girls Like You (featuring Cardi B) off their latest album.

Their set technically climaxed with Makes Me Wonder and Moves Like Jagger — two songs that put well on display the group’s grasp of modern classic mainstream music. The Back To The Future inclusion was a kind of statement that all the radio-friendly, danceable hits that the band has produced over the years can be attributed to their good discernment of pop culture power. That Robert Zemeckis classic came out in the mid-‘80s and featured a couple of pop rock ditties from the pop band of the era Huey Lewis and The News.

Adam was certainly the night’s Huey Lewis and his great presence was like the sound of good news running at extended length, either to girls catching their breaths in the midst of his bear, tattooed arms or to the guys grooving to his melodious singing and competent lead-guitar playing.

At one point, he asked, “You know this song? Sing with me!”

That’s a request the audience need not be egged on. Most people sang along almost every song, whether the choruses or verse parts.

By encore, the euphoric crowd began holding on to each other and waving their mobile phone flashlights. The beauty of Adam’s vocals came out in-your-face with the backdrop of James’ delicate acoustic playing. Maroon 5’s one-two-punch knocked down everyone with its beautiful, raw rendition of Lost Stars and She Will Be Loved.

Adam dedicated the latter to the women around. That must have been too much to bear for some. It was like proposing to someone readying her impassioned yes.

Again, there was no need for Adam to say something. He got the crowd at Michael J. Fox entrance.

The Maroon 5 Red Pill Blues concert was made possible by Smart Music Live and produced by MMILive.