Maroon 5 makes us wonder

Do you think you can stand listening to This Love by Maroon 5 one more time? The song is so popular it seems to be one of those we have been doomed to listen to forever. Just think it is now a must in the song line-up of many local bands because it is guaranteed to bring a flagging audience to its feet. Spend an evening in a karaoke joint and you will surely find somebody doing his own enthusiastic version. And admit it, you hear This Love running in your head whenever you are faced with moments of unrequited affection.

To be fair it still sounds as new and as exciting as when it first came out four years ago in Maroon 5’s stunning debut album titled Songs About Jane (SAJ). The driving beat is still right for strutting and the lyric is just as relevant to the broken hearted lovers resigned to loving unwisely but very well. Thanks to This Love, SAJ is now 10 times Platinum. That means it has already sold over 10 million copies in the US of A and many parts of the world. It has also prepared the way for Maroon 5 to come up with an even better, more broken-hearted and harder rocking follow-up in the second album with the catchy but ungrammatical title of It Won’t Be Soon Before Long.

Maroon 5 is now also a Grammy winner several times over. It was named Best New Artist at the 2005 Grammy Awards. A year later a new live recording of This Love also picked up a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Then just three weeks ago, the LA band won one more. This was another Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for Makes Me Wonder from It Won’t Be Soon Before Long.

Maroon 5 is now certainly not only one of the best but also one of the most successful pop bands in the world and Manila is in for a big treat when the group arrives for a special one-night only performance at the Araneta Coliseum on March 5. Local fans will finally get the chance to watch Adam Levine on vocals and guitar; James Valentine on guitar; Jesse Carmichael on keyboard; Mickey Madden on bass; and Matt Flynn on drums, do their hits live.

I’m sure that their biggest hits, This Love and Makes Me Wonder will be the main highlights of the evening. But fans are hopeful that there will also be Harder to Breathe, She Will Be Loved, Sunday Morning and Must Get Out from Songs About Jane. Then there must also be Wake Up Call, Won’t Go Home Without You, Little of Your Time or If I Never See Your Face Again and maybe even my favorite emo ballad Better That We Break from It Won’t Be Soon Before Long CD.

For an idea of what Maroon 5 has in store for its Pinoy fans, you might want to check out the Limited Deluxe Edition of It Won’t Be Soon Before Long released early this month for the concert. For only P495, you get the whole album plus a bonus DVD with music videos of Makes Me Wonder, Wake-Up Call and Won’t Go Home Without You, highlights of the Live in Japan tour last year and other goodies like an acoustic version of Won’t Go Home Without You, a remix of Wake Up Call and others.

A Viva Concerts and Events production, Maroon 5 Live in Manila is presented by SMART Buddy in cooperation with San Miguel Beer and sponsored by New Curfew, Tommy Hilfiger, Skechers, Mentos, Petron XTRA, Crowne Plaza Hotel with the help of MCA, PBO, Viva Prime Channel, ABS-CBN and MTV. Media Partners are The Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, People’s Journal plus NU 107, Magic 89.9, RX 93.1, Jam 88.3, 101.1 Yes FM, 90.7 Love Radio and 99.5 Hit FM.

Tickets are priced at P10,500 (VIP), P7,875 (Patron A and B), P5,250 (Lower Box), P3,938 (Upper Box A), P2,625 (Upper Box B) and P1,575 (General Admission). Call Ticketnet at 911-5555 if you want to get hold of the few remaining tickets.