Editorial
Front Page - Friday, September 10, 2010
River City Roundabout
Musical Misery
Erica Tuggle
During the August 26 show of Maroon 5, Kris Allen and V.V. Brown, the energy of the rows upon rows of fans who came out to the show prompted comments of gratitude from the artists. Maroon 5’s new cd “Hands All Over” will be released Sept. 21.
- Photo provided
A month before the Sept. 21 release date of the new Maroon 5 album, “Hands All Over,” Chattanooga fans got to hear snippets from the album along with other favorites at the concert event of the summer hosted by radio station 96.5 “The Mountain” at UTC’s McKenzie Arena. Joining Maroon 5 were openers “American Idol” Kris Allen and V.V. Brown, a relative newcomer to the U.S. music business.
Brown, an English singer, songwriter and producer, started the set on this first extensive North American tour for her. The Los Angeles Times and UK newspaper The Independent have both named Brown an artist to watch. Songs from her first CD, “Traveling Like the Light,” have been featured in several movies and television shows including “Degrassi,” “Ugly Betty” and “Desperate Housewives.”
Watching Brown perform, I was reminded of the fierce angry girl rockers of the late ’80s and ’90s, and the glamorous music divas of today. Brown is a little bit of both of these with searing vocal strength like Pat Benatar and Shirley Manson to M.I.A. style beats and Alicia Keys crooning. Her songs “Shark in the Water” and “L.O.V.E.” were full of rich sound that flowed beautifully with her accent.
Kris Allen, the winner of the eighth season of “American Idol,” came next in the line-up. During the show, he played a mix off of his two cds and a few of the folksy covers for which he gained praise from the infamous Simon Cowell on “Idol.”
Covers of “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson and “Come Together” by The Beatles resonated through his acoustic guitar and throughout the crowd as he enlisted their help in singing parts of these and many other songs. His most notable single, “Live Like We Were Dying,” was a crowd favorite and the women and girls that had been screaming and running forward to give him a high five increased their volume and hip shaking during this number.
The screaming reverberation of hundreds of women fans was most pronounced though when Adam Levine and the rest of the Maroon 5 crew took the stage. The six players of this band were warmly received by the city, and vocalist Levine thanked and praised the crowd for their enthusiasm and effort in keeping live music alive during tight income times.
The band opened with their electrifying new single “Misery,” a tale of heartbreak with the promise of later vengeance.
For those who have never heard the band, the theme of sour romance, and, well, the “miseries” of unrequited or unfruitful relationships are common. Their new video for the song shows a woman doing everything to the band members, avoiding throwing knives at them, head butting, setting them on fire and pushing them off buildings. This could be a comparison of the pain of heartbreak to these unpleasant experiences, but also fans of Maroon 5 know that sometimes it just feels good to be all wrapped up in angst.
Our Maroon boys played three more tracks off the new album called “Give a Little More,” “Stutter” and an amazing live cover of Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You,” with the piano and Levine’s sultry high pitched voice for accompaniment.
The band didn’t neglect the crowd favorites, either. They played hit after hit, filling up the rest of their set with radio and award winning favorites like “She Will Be Loved,” “Sunday Morning,” “Wake Up Call” and “Makes Me Wonder.” The song that started their road to fame, “Harder to Breathe,” was also there to make what seemed like all the pre-teen girls in Chattanooga jump up and down and sing along.
This tour was only a month long endeavor to a select few areas to promote the upcoming cd produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who has worked with other groups including AC/DC, Foreigner and The Cars. The album has already been hailed as “a killer hybrid of rock, pop, funk and R&B” that “showcases the band’s considerable strengths: buoyant, unforgettable melodies, sleek, stylish grooves, charged lyrics about turbulent relationships and crisp, dynamic performances. Sounds about right to me.” (Amazon.com)
The band is stepping out of the box on this album and even including a country ballad called “Out of Goodbyes,” that features Lady Antebellum.
The band finished with an energy filled encore that included the appropriately titled “Goodnight Goodnight” and “Sweetest Goodbye,” a track off their first album, that Levine said they had not played at any venue of their tour so far, but was for Chattanooga in appreciation of the crowd’s energy.
The band headed to Memphis for its next tour stop and from there will continue the pre “Hands All Over” tour with lots of fine tunes and a little bit of “Misery.”
Email Erica Tuggle at reporter@hamiltoncountyherald.com.
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