As the lights flashed and an automated recording of a phone operator went on, people stopped talking, anticipating Maroon 5 to start to play.  I attended a Maroon 5 concert on Wednesday, April 3 at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.  

I attended another one of their concerts in 2011, but this time it was my first indoor concert.  Since the seats were on the second section off the right side of the stage, I was close enough to see everyone that was performing.  The stage was in an “M” shape for Maroon 5’s logo, and lead singer Adam Levine and guitarist James Valentine often came to the right side, close to where I was sitting.  The first opening act was Owl City, who did a great job.  Even though there was not as much energy emanating from the crowd for this performance, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I had not heard very many of singer Adam Young’s songs besides the popular ones like “Fireflies” and “Good Time,” but he has a great voice and sounded like he does on his recorded tracks.  After the brief intermission, Neon Trees came out and opened with the song, “Moving In the Dark,” my favorite song off their new album Picture Show.  Neon Trees had a stellar performance, especially with the lead singer Tyler Glenn’s energy and dance moves.  During “Everybody Talks,” he even kissed a girl’s hand that was standing in the pit.

Maroon 5 soon came out and began the concert with “Payphone.”  They followed up with other popular songs like “This Love,” “Sunday Morning,” “Daylight,” and “Lucky Strike.”  For their encore, a bridge was lowered to connect the main stage to a small stage out in the audience.  Levine first crossed the bridge, singing “Stereo Hearts,” and Valentine soon crossed over to Levine to perform an acoustic version of “She Will Be Loved.”  I was surprised they performed “Stereo Hearts” because it is a Gym Class Heroes song, and Levine just sings the chorus.  However, he sang and rapped the entire song very well.  Maroon 5 ended with the song “Moves Like Jagger,” and singer Rozzi Crane came out to sing Christina Aguilera’s part.  Maroon 5 utilized the entire stage and had a great performance.  Levine even went to each member of the band and introduced them.  Levine also had a guitar solo and played with Valentine, too.

 They were able to keep the crowd interested and singing along.  The concert exceeded my expectations, especially the opening acts.  Even though I was looking forward to Maroon 5, Neon Trees had the best performance.  They sounded better live than they do on the record, and they had the most energy and best stage presence.  Overall, the performances were fantastic, and anyone who is interested in getting their money’s worth for a concert should invest in a ticket to see Maroon 5 or Neon Trees.