Fireworks over Palm Jumeirah – think chrysanthemums and Roman candles galore. A Winter Palace theme – think Russian royal court meets Garden of Eden. A gala dinner at the original Atlantis – think lobster, Wagyu and good old shawarma. An intimate concert by one of the world’s most popular bands – think Maroon 5 playing to a crowd of 4,000.
As far as New Year’s Eve parties go, it does not get more upscale than that. Even before frontman Adam Levine kick-started the Maroon 5 concert on Wednesday night, the stage had been set for a scintillating start to the New Year.
The night opened with a lively set from a 30-piece band, belting out the best of Madonna, Rihanna, even Frozen's Elsa, much to the delight of younger guests. At 10.30pm, Levine burst on to stage, dressed in a studded leather jacket, diving straight into the band’s breakout 2002 single Harder to Breathe. More than 20 years later, the fast-paced rock anthem remains timeless as Levine’s bright vocals offset the intense, almost exasperated lyrics.
On the other end of the spectrum from the band’s debut studio album Songs About Jane, Sunday Morning is soulful without being cheesy, and delivered on the Dubai stage with a maturity that was perhaps missing when the music video was released in the early noughties.
This Love, also from the same album, is as catchy – if not more so – on stage as it is in the studio. As a Daily Lobo review noted: “It might make a foot tap, a head nod or even a booty shake if played at a loud volume.” And that’s exactly what happened here, with the well-heeled crowd singing and swaying along to its mid-tempo balladry.
From then on, it was hit after hit, from the dark but popular Animals to the emotional Memories, dedicated to the band’s late manager and Levine’s childhood friend Jordie, who passed away in 2017. Pop ballad Payphone, for all its anguish over unrequited love (a common thread in several Maroon 5 songs), was delivered with aplomb, with Levine putting on his best prance-jump combo, dressed in a tattoo-popping vest by now.
The audience was rapt by this point, and they were in for a treat. After all, Mick Jagger himself once described Maroon 5’s ode to him as very flattering. In addition to showcasing Levine’s vocal range, from croon to falsetto, Moves Like Jagger was exactly the type of foot-tapping number a New Year’s Eve concert needs – and lapped up.
Another flamboyant example of Levine’s high-pitched prowess came by way of One More Night from the band’s fourth studio album, Overexposed. An international success that topped the charts across the US and Europe, the pop tune is at once silky and sophisticated. That is, when Levine sang it. The crowd trying to keep up with his falsetto? Not so much.
The multi-remixed pop tune Girls Like You is something of a Maroon 5 concert staple, and it hits home every time. Levine’s sage advice to collaborator Cardi B about showing her fierceness as a woman carries through no matter who is behind the mic.
For 90 minutes, the band took the crowd back and forth through its admirable oeuvre, going from cheery and bright to low-key and brooding, yet always with a sense of thrumming vibrancy in the air.
Maroon 5 were last in the UAE for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after-race concert series in 2024. The National’s review of that show noted: “At Etihad Park, 30,000 people witnessed their greatest hit set with all the sleekness and professionalism of a Las Vegas show. Fine-tuned and barely breaking a sweat, the band makes this whole pop stardom thing look quite effortless.”
This still holds for the Atlantis performance despite that was a smidge more intimate.
Saving the best for last, the band ended the show with the undeniably popular Sugar followed by the countdown to midnight. As sparklers lit up the night sky, with the last strains of the song still echoing in the air, what started as a fancy New Year’s Eve concert ended up adding a little sweetness to all our lives.
