headlining. When I saw they were coming to Moline, IL I bought a ticket during the arena presale. I hadn't kept up with Maroon 5's music in the intervening years (I rarely listen to pop radio), so I splurged on their most recent album when I saw it on sale so I could "study up" and prepare for the show. I played the Youtubes of some of my old favorites of theirs like Misery and She Will Be Loved to my classes on the Friday of the concert, then after class headed to to Quad Cities. Hubby was out of town, so I also booked a room in the hotel right night to the I-Wireless, which was really nice given the cold weather and icy pavements that day. I don't know why I never stayed in that hotel any of the times that Keith Urban played Moline!
It was obvious how far Maroon 5 had come since I last saw them perform. Instead of being the opening band without even a banner behind their drummer, they now had a very impressive, shiny, glitzy Las-Vegas worthy stage set-up, complete with a satellite stage mid-arena. The high gloss stage and catwalks formed a huge M V (5) and the back of the stage was a huge nearly 180 degree semi-circle of the best high def video screens that I have ever seen - just gorgeous!! The changing visual displays projected on that screen during M5's set were really beautiful and engaging - I have never been so impressed by the background displays at a a concert. Since I was sitting in the lower risers closest to the stage I felt almost immersed in the scenes portrayed on those screens during the show. Kudos to their staging designer!!
There were 2 opening bands, both of which I had heard of but really didn't know. But again, I did my homework beforehand, listening to their Youtube videos. Owl City seemed to be a fairly lightweight very pop sounding group - pleasant songs that did have the audience singing along. Here is their song Fireflies
Neon Trees were a bit edgier indy-pop-rock with a slinky lead singers whose moves just captivated so that you could not look away. Again, they did seem to have a following in the audience, so I guess I am just woefully out of touch with the genre. I did enjoy both the openers, which is not always the case, so I was happy. Here is Neon Tree's Trust http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMU8mmoGXa4in Moline.
Maroon 5 came out strong with their hit Payphone and then had a good mix of old songs and new album songs throughout. I enjoyed watching Adam, dressed in all white, moving constantly from centerstage to left catwalk to right catwalk. With the exception of one or two guitar solos from their lead guitarist, the rest of Maroon 5 definitely stayed in the background. Adam chatted with the audience on and off throughout the show, but I noticed that most of the time he kept his distance from the edges of the stage or catwalk and did not physically interact with fans until the very end of the concert. Towards the end of the show a long arched bridge like one might see over a stream was lowered from the arena rafters to allow Adam to get to the mid-arena satellite stage (tricky!) Here is She Will Be Loved out in mid-arena.
I Won't Go Home Without You
Wakeup Call
