M5 Concert

November 5, 2007 marked the day of the Maroon 5 concert

Headline: Maroon 5
Opening Acts: Phantom Planet & The Hives
Location: Arco Arena
Time: 7:30 [opening acts]

I went to the Maroon 5 concert with Jon and Erica, and since I drove last time to the JT concert at Arco, Erica took it upon herself to drive this time. We left super early and got to the arena super early. We basically chilled in the parking lot while bumping various tunes in the car for 2 hours. By the time we decided to leave the car we got inside the arena towards the end of Phantom Planet's opening act. A good act despite the fact I only knew one song: "California" [aka The OC song]. After that we stood in line to purchase some merchandise. I was hoping to find some cool t-shirt designs, however there were no creatively good and visually appealing Maroon 5 shirts. I then took the liberty of buying a $35 Hives t-shirt. Two words: bad ass.
Unfortunately I missed the whole Hives set due to standing in line, but they sounded great from what I heard.

The headliner began at 9:00 opening with "If I Never See Your Face Again" and following with "Makes Me Wonder." Impressive act with a great stage set-up and performance. Behind the 5-piece band was the huge "M" logo, complete with stunning light visual found in similar ways such as their "Makes Me Wonder" music video or Coldplay's "Speed of Sound" video, or Yellowcard's "Lights & Sounds" vid. Great musicians with great lyrical content, Princesque swagger, and a phenomenal live performance. Great lead guitar riffs were laid out constantly throughout the show. The show's encore included "Little of Your Time" followed by the smash hit "She Will Be Loved" and a parting with "Losing My Mind."

BEST PART OF PERFOMANCE: At the end of one of their songs from the latest album, they surprised the audience with a startling transition into The White Stripes' "Icky Thump" guitar riff. Fucking awesome. [The band is known for briefly covering songs at the end of their own songs]

Great show. Great band. Great night.