Pop
Live Review: Maroon 5 deliver wall-to-wall bangers at BST Hyde Park
OneRepublic and Maroon 5 packed Hyde Park with big vocals, fan‑favourite throwbacks and high‑energy finales that kept the crowd locked in throughout.
Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine barely made it to the mic at American Express presents BST Hyde Park before thousands of women erupted into a wall of screams.
Walking on stage to The Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations, the electric guitar riffs created a heavier atmosphere than you might expect from the American group.
Dispensing of generational classic This Love as track three in a 20‑song setlist was a bold move, but this band’s discography has no shortage of bangers.
After taking everyone on a chatty trip down memory lane, Stereo Hearts, Animals and One More Night came in quick succession.
After fan favourite Sunday Morning, the band’s keyboardist was given the spotlight at the show’s halfway point. PJ Morton certainly seized his moment, performing his funk‑driven earworm Heavy.
Back to normal programming and friends and strangers hugged before a moving Memories which was dedicated to those no longer here (some of whom showed up in polaroids on screen).
The tribute flowed nicely into the bossa nova of arguably Maroon 5’s biggest smash, She Will Be Loved, which united the entire park like a choir.
As if that wasn’t enough, Girls Like You, Moves Like Jagger and a well‑paired encore of Payphone and Sugar completed a nostalgia‑filled night of greatest hits.
Earlier on, OneRepublic bounded on stage and jumped straight into their 2023 single RUNAWAY.
Charismatic frontman Ryan Tedder’s impressive vocal range was clear from the off, while Good Life had plenty of arms up in the air.
“We’ve been a band for 19 years, which is longer than a lot of marriages,” he joked before a succession of singalong throwbacks, including a huge guitar‑led Stop and Stare that ended with some seriously impressive a capella acrobatics.
After a brief diversion to sing some of the hits he’s written for other pop stars – including Beyoncé’s Halo and Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love – a big instrumental build up led to set highlight Apologize.
After a poignant rendition of I Lived, which was dedicated to Tedder’s now‑teenage son, the show switched gears.
Love Runs Out saw him jump from the top of the piano and he bounced with those upfront during a rapturous Counting Stars. But it was the final two songs – David Guetta‑collab I Don’t Wanna Wait and the EDM‑blasting If I Lose Myself – that had everyone dancing most.
It was an energetic ending to a genre‑spanning performance that not only proved OneRepublic’s range as a band but just how many hits they have.
Rating: 4/5
