Fans of American pop-rockers Maroon 5 were falling over one another to grab tickets to the band’s first ever concert in Indonesia.
After a shaky start to their tour in March, due to yet another tobacco sponsorship controversy, tickets sold out almost immediately when promoter Java Musikindo confirmed the gig for late April. The boys are set to take their funk-inspired easy-listening sound to the stage at Istora Senayan on Wednesday night.
Like so many other bands, Maroon 5 started with some like-minded high school friends. While the overwhelming majority of these groups are never able to make it out of the garage, Los Angeles boys Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Ryan Dusick were lucky enough to attract the attention of a recording company.
“It was really organic,” frontman Levine said in an interview with the Huffington Post last year, referring to the band’s early days. “We knew there was something special going on. I really only became a singer because I was the best singer in the band — I was never one of these ‘American Idol’ kids that wanted to be a singer. I just wanted to be in a band, that’s really all.”
First performing under the name Kara’s Flowers, the band released an album in 1996, but were dropped by the recording company a couple of months later due to dismal sales.
After this initial disappointment, the boys decided to put the band on ice so they could attend college — but they never lost their love for music along the way.
That break probably provided some much needed time for their sound to mature and gain some perspective because, when they regrouped in 2000, it didn’t take long before they were signed again. After recruiting James Valentine as a guitarist so Levine could fully focus on vocals, the band changed their name to Maroon 5. A name change seemed like the right step, since the band had changed from grunge and rock-influenced tunes to a more pop-inspired, R&B vibe.
The band’s first album as Maroon 5, “Songs About Jane,” was released in mid-2002. It was not an instant success. In fact, it took months before music critics and audiences eventually noticed the record, but word of mouth quickly snowballed.
“Succeeding in this particular business is extraordinarily difficult, so you just have to develop a thick skin and just go, go, go,” Levine said. “We were a band for a long time before we succeeded, which I think was a good thing, sort of a blessing in disguise.”
The album spawned four hit singles — “Harder To Breathe,” “This Love,” “She Will Be Loved” and “Sunday Morning” — and catapulted Maroon 5 into the spotlight of the music world. Unlike their Kara’s Flowers days, the band’s album shot to the top of the charts and helped them win multiple awards, including a Grammy.
“I think that we weren’t ready musically or emotionally to be successful,” Madden said in an interview with Chart magazine of the band’s pre-college days.
With the popularity of “Songs About Jane,” the band felt pressured to deliver an equally successful follow-up album. Dusick, the drummer of the original line-up, then left the band in 2006 because of health reasons and was replaced with Matt Flynn.
With fresh talent on board, the band delivered “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” in 2007, while “Hands All Over,” the band’s latest effort, was released in September.
Patience, hard work and a good dose of self-confidence have brought Maroon 5 to where they are today.
“You can say what you want about our band, but at the end of the day, there’s not another band currently out that sounds the way we do,” Levine said.
But fans should beware: Levine recently stated in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that he believed Maroon 5 had reached its peak, and that they would probably only record one more album before going their separate ways.
“Eventually, I want to focus on being a completely different person because I don’t know if I want to do this into my 40s and 50s and beyond,” he told the magazine.
Ticket-holders for Maroon 5’s performance in Jakarta should count themselves lucky — it seems the band’s first performance in Indonesia could well be their last.
Maroon 5
Wednesday, April 27
Istora Senayan, Gelora Bung Karno
South Jakarta
After this initial disappointment, the boys decided to put the band on ice so they could attend college — but they never lost their love for music along the way.
That break probably provided some much needed time for their sound to mature and gain some perspective because, when they regrouped in 2000, it didn’t take long before they were signed again. After recruiting James Valentine as a guitarist so Levine could fully focus on vocals, the band changed their name to Maroon 5. A name change seemed like the right step, since the band had changed from grunge and rock-influenced tunes to a more pop-inspired, R&B vibe.
The band’s first album as Maroon 5, “Songs About Jane,” was released in mid-2002. It was not an instant success. In fact, it took months before music critics and audiences eventually noticed the record, but word of mouth quickly snowballed.
“Succeeding in this particular business is extraordinarily difficult, so you just have to develop a thick skin and just go, go, go,” Levine said. “We were a band for a long time before we succeeded, which I think was a good thing, sort of a blessing in disguise.”
The album spawned four hit singles — “Harder To Breathe,” “This Love,” “She Will Be Loved” and “Sunday Morning” — and catapulted Maroon 5 into the spotlight of the music world. Unlike their Kara’s Flowers days, the band’s album shot to the top of the charts and helped them win multiple awards, including a Grammy.
“I think that we weren’t ready musically or emotionally to be successful,” Madden said in an interview with Chart magazine of the band’s pre-college days.
With the popularity of “Songs About Jane,” the band felt pressured to deliver an equally successful follow-up album. Dusick, the drummer of the original line-up, then left the band in 2006 because of health reasons and was replaced with Matt Flynn.
With fresh talent on board, the band delivered “It Won’t Be Soon Before Long” in 2007, while “Hands All Over,” the band’s latest effort, was released in September.
Patience, hard work and a good dose of self-confidence have brought Maroon 5 to where they are today.
“You can say what you want about our band, but at the end of the day, there’s not another band currently out that sounds the way we do,” Levine said.
But fans should beware: Levine recently stated in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine that he believed Maroon 5 had reached its peak, and that they would probably only record one more album before going their separate ways.
“Eventually, I want to focus on being a completely different person because I don’t know if I want to do this into my 40s and 50s and beyond,” he told the magazine.
Ticket-holders for Maroon 5’s performance in Jakarta should count themselves lucky — it seems the band’s first performance in Indonesia could well be their last.
Maroon 5
Wednesday, April 27
Istora Senayan, Gelora Bung Karno
South Jakarta
Source : JG
