For their seventh concert in Thailand, American pop-rock band Maroon 5 returned to Impact Arena last Monday for another memorable performance with a 20-song setlist, despite not selling out.
[Photos courtesy of DOTDF]
Like their previous concert at Rajamangala Stadium, DJ Mr Mailbox warmed up the crowd with a 30-minute set of dance floor hits, starting with (definitely intentionally) a remix of Lisa's Moonlit Floor (Kiss Me) as well as bangers from Bruno Mars, Rihanna and Beyoncé. Most of the crowd seemed to save their energy for the main attraction before Mr Mailbox bade farewell at 8.30pm.
About 30 minutes later, the lights were off as Harry Belafonte's Jump In the Line was played while Maroon 5 took to the stage before they kicked the night off on a high-energy note with Animals, the second single from their fifth album V. The big screens captured frontman Adam Levine in Predator's infrared vision, in line with the song's preying metaphor. Levine capped it off with a guitar solo for a big finish before they immediately moved to One More Night, the reggae-tinged pop single from their fourth album Overexposed. With no pause, they then served up the extended rendition of This Love, the second single from their debut album Songs About Jane and one of their breakout songs, which incited loud cheers and enthusiastic singalong from the crowd before Levine impressively finished it off with another guitar solo.
Levine paused to greet the crowd and encouraged everyone to get on their feet before they performed Stereo Hearts, a collab between the American rap rock group Gym Class Heroes and Levine. Next, Maroon 5 treated day-one fans to Harder To Breathe, their debut single from Songs About Jane, before fast-forwarding to lighting-paced funk Lucky Strike, a promo single from Overexposed.
Levine then led the crowd to repeat his vocables as a fun prelude to mid-tempo and jazz-tinged Sunday Morning, the fourth single from Songs About Jane, complete with a solo by the band's lead guitarist James Valentine as the stage was bathed with golden lights. The breezy number was followed by mellow pop/R&B Payphone, the lead single from Overexposed about a love story with no "happy-ever-afters". Maroon 5 and the crowd got into the groove with What Lovers Do, the third single from their sixth studio album Red Pill Blues, before they segued into breakup bop Makes Me Wonder, the first single from their sophomore album It Won't Be Soon Before Long and their first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The band surprised fans with a cover of Prince's I Wanna Be Your Lover and Levine put his falsetto to good use. To my knowledge, it is the second song by Prince that Levine has covered as he did justice to Purple Rain at Howard Stern's birthday bash in 2014. Another surprise (to those who didn't look up the setlist in advance) came in the form of Heavy, an uplifting song about the pressure that life can sometimes bring by the band's keyboardist and background vocalist PJ Morton off his album New Orleans. Morton is an artist in his own right with nine studio albums under his belt. Maps, the lead single from V about past love and betrayal, started with a chill vibe before building up to a big chorus.
Memories, the lead single from their seventh studio album Jordi, proved to be the most kumbaya moment (and the only breather) of the night as the crowd joined Levine in a heartfelt singalong, complete with mobile phone flashlights, while Levine expressed his appreciation for his fans in Thailand.
Things got groovy again with the danceable breakup number Don't Wanna Know, the lead single from Red Pill Blues. The dancey vibe continued with Love Somebody, the fourth single from Overexposed. Levine and the crowd clapped along to the synth intro of the song while sparkles floated on the central screen as the blinding white light accentuated the first chorus. The vulnerable yet hopeful message about wanting to love someone unbridledly, coupled with an earnest performance, made it the night's biggest highlight in my opinion. Maroon 5 tried to turn the arena into a dance floor with Moves Like Jagger, the fourth single off their third album Hands All Over, before they left the stage.
Levine and Valentine returned to the stage for an encore. Levine reminisced about their first time in Thailand in 2004 (but their Thailand debut concert was back in 2008, according to my research) and expressed his appreciation for fans in Thailand who have stuck with them for so long. Then he jokingly asked who in the crowd was younger than 24 as he was about to perform a song older than them.
The song in question was She Will Be Loved, the third single of Songs About Jane and one of their breakout songs. Levine and Valentine, who also co-wrote the song, performed it acoustically just the two of them to a reverberating singalong from the crowd. Levine paused to announce that their new album is coming soon in a "few months" to much delight and cheers from the crowd. For the second half of the song, the rest of the band joined them to do justice to their must-perform. Next Carbi B's rap verse kicked off Girls Like You, the fifth female-empowerment single off Red Pill Blues, while the screens showed a portion from the music video where female icons from various fields jamming to the song.
Maroon 5 finally sent fans off with Sugar, the third single from V, complete with Levine's unbuttoned shirt and the concert's sole confetti rain for a pink and playful finale.
"Maroon 5 Asia Tour 2025" in Bangkok was a nonstop hit compilation from the band's over two decades of discography. Since Levine said the eighth album is coming soon, I guess it won't be soon before long (see what I did) that Bangkok will get another Maroon 5 show.
