A while ago, I went to the Robin Thicke and Maroon 5 concert in Amsterdam. Over the years, I’d seen both artists perform live on TV – and perform poorly too – but I got my ticket in the height of the “Blurred Lines” frenzy and the addition of mr. Thicke to the night’s line up became irresistible. I was guaranteed a good time by the combo of the two, so I took the chance. This was what my night was like!
PJ Morton opening for Robin Thicke and Maroon 5 in Amsterdam.
PJ Morton
The gamble paid off, as the night kicked off with support act PJ Morton. Never heard of him either? Join the club! But he was a pleasant surprise.
There have been shows I’ve seen, where I found myself wondering why someone got to support a major artist. However, in this case, it was clear from the start PJ Morton has some serious skills on keyboard, vocals and in songwriting. It was no surprise to find out, later, that he wrote a Grammy nominated song sung by Stevie Wonder.
PJ’s songs are slightly unexpected, but very easy to catch on too. You find yourself singing along the chorus pretty quickly. And then the kicker, PJ Morton is also a Maroon 5 member! Had I just failed fan test? Oops! Oh well…
Robin Thicke
Robin Thick while performing “Blurred Lines”
Robin Thicke was up next. Now, he is an interesting story. Does anyone remember his original break through song, “When I Get You Alone”? No? Yes, you do! Remember a video with a long haired delivery dude, who’s riding his bike through the busy streets of New York? That’s the one! How long ago was that?!
Still, you can’t really call him a one hit wonder, because Robin Thicke popped up in the charts a few times, since. However, he never made it big, until he knew you wanted it in 2013. He mentions his long journey in his show too, while leading into the personal song “Dreamworld”.
His sultry set missed “When I Get You Alone” – i wonder what the story is behind that. Maybe I was the only one, who still remembered the song and wanted to hear it live.
In his set, Thicke showcased his talents as a singer, songwriter and musician. The comparison to Justin Timberlake is always easily made, but he’s not the showman that Timberlake is. Instead, Thicke likes to take the seat behind the piano and let the music speak for itself. And it does! There’s more to Robin Thicke than meets the eye.
Maroon 5 building a party on stageand showing their moves like Jagger
Maroon 5
There also appears to be more to Maroon 5. Over the years, the band has explored various styles of music. Usually, they’re border lining between a pop rock sound with a soul feel. Nevertheless, they sometime step out with a bit of electro and dance (‘Moves Like Jagger’). Therefore, the group has attracted a variety of people as their audience.
For someone like me – who loves so many styles of music anyway – is that I was on my feet throughout the whole show, while others had parts of the show they couldn’t connect with.
The diversity of the band was enhanced when they mashed songs up with other well known songs. Lead singer, Adam Levine, seems to be able to pull everything off and has a surprising vocal range. He actually seemed to even talk a few octaves higher as the show progressed.
I didn’t know what to expect. I’m a showgirl, who loves dance, light shows and a full blown party on stage, so you don’t know where to look as there’s so much going on. Would a band like Maroon 5 do it for me? Surprisingly, yes! The video screen provided a little satisfaction for my visually driven side, but the music and the live performance definitely worked well for me. I would go a second time.
