Looking around, it was quite a varied crowd, ranging from teenagers to forty-somethings. When I first saw the concert notice, I wondered which band would be the opening act and which band would headline. A few minutes into Maroon 5’s set, I knew who the crowd had come to see. Even though Maroon 5 has only put out three studio albums, the band tore into a set that sounded like a greatest hits package. There is a very familiar feel to Maroon 5 music – reminiscent of Earth, Wind and Fire, Chicago, and maybe even the Doobie Brothers. The playlist went from Harder to Breathe, Sunday Morning, If I never see your face again to Misery…and continued on…
The music was tightly executed, upbeat and polished. The set flowed along with Adam Levine prancing about, shedding clothes and working himself into a sweat, while most of the audience danced in the aisles to his falsetto voice. There were very few slow moments as the band wasted little time. When they launched into Wake Up Call, the band hit a new level and the crowd went crazy. This Love had the whole place shaking and then, just like that, the band wrapped up its set. Coming back for two more numbers, Hands All Over and She Will Be Loved, the encore was weak compared to the rest of the set. Though Adam Levine was fun and energetic and the music was great, the concert was short, clocking in at about an hour and 15 minutes, with the encores.
As the set wound down, I began to wonder how Train would top this. It takes a fairly confident band to follow such a strong opening show, though having seen Train, I thought they would be up to the challenge.
Sadly, they fell short. Running at a much slower pace, Train took a while to get things going. With lots of shtick, running around the whole stadium, bringing 25 or 30 girls up on to the stage and playing a few interesting covers, like Rihanna’s Umbrella, a Blondie song and U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” Pat Monahan must have thought that he had earned the Bono sized ego.
But the band only really started to spark when it Hey Soul Sister, a recent mega hit. And surprisingly after only about an hour, that was it for the show. The band reappeared for a few encores, including a terrific version of Drops of Jupiter. Hard to believe that it has been 10 years since the song was released but the hooks are still a crowd favourite. The band then wrapped things up with “This Ain’t Goodbye” which was subdued and somewhat unsatisfying. It felt like the set was even shorter than Maroon 5’s. I couldn’t help but feel that Train never really hit its potential. Too much down time, too many gimmicks and an energy level that just wasn’t there. Then again, it has to be hard to follow Maroon 5, something Adam Levine alluded to towards the end of their set when he said “I hope you’ll show Train the same love you’ve shown us.”
On a pleasant note, Nikki Jean opened up with a really solid half hour set. Playing some Motown pieces and some of her own numbers including Pennies in a Jar and La Di Da, Jean did a great job kicking things off.
