Live Review: Maroon 5

We haven't even made it through the arena turnstiles and already teen squealing can be heard. But it's not even 9pm and Maroon 5 aren't scheduled to hit the stage for another 15 minutes! Turns out their support act Evermore are getting mobbed in the foyer. A pack, ten people-deep, has formed around The OC themesong (It's Too Late) creators. Their identities are confirmed when we ask a chick on the outskirts for a gander at one of her happy snaps. The Hume brothers obviously still have a huge underage following. 

Once inside the venue, it's immediately apparent that Adam Levine's gig as a coach on The Voice US hasn't done him any harm. Or has it? This is far from the coolest crowd we've ever seen. And plastic seating has been laid out in GA. Blackout. A ringing phone echoes through the cavernous space. There's a flurry of recognition and then much screaming as we realise tonight's opening number will be Payphone (feat Wiz Khalifa: not present). All band members are decked out in all-white ensembles (although Levine and bassist Mickey Madden rebel by sporting black trainers). Levine is of fine voice, and we're treated to a segment of MJ's Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough to further demonstrate his singing prowess. Levine certainly does love a Russian Cossack-style, extended kneel pose. How he'd ever get those dirty stains off the knees of these white strides, night after night, is a mystery. Songs from the band's 2002 debut Songs About Jane are received with much excitement and Sunday Morning is still gloriously upbeat, funky escapism to dance to. Not so sure about new track Wipe Your Eyes, but the seamless closing transition when vocal morphs straight into guitar solo redeems the entire song. Then Won't Go Home Without You totally restores the vibe. Another newie, The Man Who Never Lied, flows into a Skrillex intro (OUCH!) for the irresistible Harder To Breathe. Guitarist James Valentine is extraordinary. When his riffs synchronise with a digital equaliser spread across strip screens, we're powerless.

At various points the show, Levine straps on a guitar and it looks like he's playing Guitar Hero. One More Night is funky as hell and none could hiccup that first line (“you AND I”) quite like Levine. The frontman tells us he intends to “make this shit crumble”, meaning the Rod Laver Arena walls. His speaking voice is so high-pitched it's like a chick, which messes with his hotness quotient. He's actually sexiest when singing in a vexed fashion. Still don't get why he persists with that guitarography – oh, hang on: the guitar solo that follows This Love is epic! I stand corrected.

Maroon 5's encore kicks off with a cover of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes – a brave move since we saw Jack White himself close his Splendour headline set with this very song a couple of months back. Valentine sings and, hold up, who's that on the kit? Levine aptly replicates Meg White's drum pattern, which can't be that hard surely. She Will Be Loved is tainted by Levine enquiring, “Where the ladies at?” in his titmouse voice. Still, his singing voice is divine and Levine earns bonus points for this song's lyrical sentiment. But then he pauses to tell us that he just turned away from the mic to burp, rather than being emotionally invested as most of the punters probably hoped. Levine could afford to be a bit less real. Their cover of Stereo Hearts by Gym Class Heroes is a drainer and we all just wanna pull Moves Like Jagger. First we must suffer through their next single Daylight, which Levine claims is also his “favourite song on the album”. Fail. Then in comes the whistling intro for the song we all wanna hear. It stops. After a few deliberate false starts (Levine even teasing, “Gangnam style!”), we're indulged. Who'd have tipped Levine would leave his top on? Dancing to this song performed live is still worth the admission price alone.