Pictures of Maroon 5 concert

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ikmal, Magdalene and Naomi Low
Man I tell you, the response at the Maroon 5 concert last night was simply OVERWHELMING!!! The stadium was about 95% full... and there was madness plus excitement everywhere. Let me start off from the very beginning...


This is the ticket I purchased last month...


These are the Maroon 5 CDs i have...


And this is the shirt that came free with the second album. Too tight for me though...

I had rather late lunch at McDonald's, then I took Bus 80 to Kallang area... and partly due to the fact that a very hot babe sat next to me, I missed the stop opposite the Lorong Geylang bus terminal!!! DOHHHHH... I had to walk quite a distance from that stop that I dropped off from through some construction area to the bus terminal... and when I reached the Indoor Stadium, I realized that I had indeed arrived too early!!! So at the last minute, I decided to go to Leisure Park and watch a movie titled "Be Kind Rewind"... interesting show on declining VHS tapes, I must say (check Thursday's entry for more info on the film).


So the movie ended at around 1710 hrs, and I went to have dinner at KFC... after which I made my way to the Indoor Stadium... at abt 1750 hrs, I saw a familiar-looking guy smoking at the loading bay area, then he went inside... I decided to wait a while more...


Then that guy came out again at abt 1830 hrs... IT'S MATT FLYNN THE DRUMMER!! I had no idea he was the earliest to arrive (or maybe the rest were inside already)... he approached us and signed on our booklets... I got his signature on the Maroon 5 IWBSBL booklet... :-)


I saw the "Indoor Stadium Mao" again (last time I saw her was when I went to watch the WWE Smackdown show last July)... she's still as lazy as ever, lying down on some concrete slates and staring into blank space, and not doing anything. Typical feline...


At 1910 hrs, I decided that I had enough of waiting, and went into the stadium itself. Along the way, I saw Glenn Ong and Jamie Yeo there. The T-shirts at the merchandising store inside the stadium were sold at $35 each... but I so not going to buy any of them. Besides, I already have the "It Won't Be Soon Before Long" t-shirt (see picture at start of this entry), and I'm already contented with what I have. :-)


Each seat has a plastic 'hand' that can be waved about during the show, as well as some card with a number on the lower right hand corner. Whatever the case is, I doubt I'm gonna win the $2,800 from the 987 show... I mean come on, there are about 8000 people in attendance, how to win? The odds are 800000000 to 1.


This was the attendance at 1925 hrs when i entered the stadium...


This was the attendace at 2020 hrs... 10 minutes before the concert started.


The lights went out at 2030 hrs, signifying that the concert was about to start!! Loud screams everywhere...


Matt started beating on the drums, and that furious rhythm could only mean one thing... "HARDER TO BREATHE"!!! :-D

List of songs performed...

1. Harder To Breathe (1st album)
2. Makes Me Wonder (2nd album)
3. If I Never See Your Face Again (2nd album)
4. The Sun (1st album)
5. Can't Stop (2nd album)
6. Nothing Lasts Forever (2nd album)
7. Shiver (1st album)
8. Wake Up Call (2nd album)
9. Sunday Morning (1st album)
10. Won't Go Home Without You (2nd album)
11. This Love (1st album)
12. Little Of Your Time (2nd album)
13. She Will Be Loved (1st album)

People were literally screaming everytime Adam broke into a Barry Gibb-like falsetto and spoke like a middle-aged woman (no offence!). Not to be outdone by one voice, James and Jesse lent their voices for some of the songs. And I cannot stand the two guys sitting next to me... they cannot dance well to the beat of the songs!! I just did my own thing and 'strummed on the guitar furiously' like Adam, James or Mickey.

The guys gathered together and bade everyone farewell, signifying the end of the concert... at 2145 hrs??? Bleah, no encore at all... I was expecting it to end by 10 pm latest. And yeah, everyone had a hard time coming out of the stadium. I straightaway headed to the loading bay region to wait for the band members to come out...


First person to come out was ADAM!!! Immediately the fans (mostly gals) packed like sardines and i was caught in the midst of them... yet I managed to snap a crystal clear picture of Adam!! I tell you, he is really HAWT!! :-p


Up next was Mickey, but the flash and aperture of my camera failed on me again. And although James wanted to approach us, the security guards wouldnt let him do so. Yet the van containing Mickey and James (NOT the WWE Diva) had a hard time driving out into the main road... just check out the huge traffic at the parking lot region!!

Jesse and Matt took rather long to come out, so I just left the place soon after... and headed back home. I'm really glad I went for the concert... could have been a bit longer though :-)

Stay tuned videos of 3 songs I recorded during the concert!!

Information on Maroon 5 members

Here's information on all the members of Maroon 5!! :-)

Maroon 5 lead vocalist and guitarist Adam Noah Levine was born on March 18, 1979, in Los Angeles, California. He began playing music with junior-high friends guitarist Jesse Carmichael and bassist Mickey Madden under the influence of groups like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and after the final 1994 addition of Ryan Dusick on drums, the alternative rock band Kara's Flowers were born. The quartet scored a record deal with Reprise, released a mediocre album, and was released from its contract all in a matter of years. Following the termination of its deal, the band went on hiatus and Levine headed to New York with Carmichael to attend Five Towns College on Long Island. While there, he was exposed to a whole new music scene and absorbed new influences like hip-hop, soul, gospel, and R&B that changed Levine's whole perspective on songwriting, even altering the way in which he sang -- from a deeper, grunge-inspired delivery to a higher and more expressive one. Levine and Carmichael dropped out of school after a semester and headed back to California rejuvenated and inspired to add a new groove-based element to their band's rock template. Hooking back up with the rest of the Kara's Flowers guys, Levine began writing a bunch of songs that were directly inspired by his recently failed relationship, which was imploding as the band was entering the studio to record. After adding in new guitarist James Valentine (moving Carmichael over to keyboards) and scoring a new deal with Octone Records, the newly christened Maroon 5 were officially up and running; their debut album, the aptly titled Songs About Jane, was soon completed.

Maroon 5 keyboardist Jesse Royal Carmichael was born on April 2, 1979, in Boulder, Colorado. His family relocated to Los Angeles and Carmichael, initially a guitarist, began playing music with some junior-high friends, singer/guitarist Adam Levine and bassist Mickey Madden, under the influence of groups like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. After the final 1994 addition of Ryan Dusick on drums, the alternative pop/rock band Kara's Flowers were born. The quartet scored a record deal with Reprise, released a mediocre album, and was released from its contract all in a matter of years. Following the termination of its deal, the band went on hiatus and Carmichael headed to New York with Levine to attend Five Towns College on Long Island. While there, the guys were exposed to a whole new music scene and absorbed new influences like hip-hop, soul, gospel, and R&B. Not only did the two friends gain a fresh perspective on songwriting at school, but Carmichael also started playing the keyboards. They only lasted a semester before dropping out and heading back to California rejuvenated and inspired to add a new groove-based element to their band's rock template. All of the Kara's Flowers members eventually met up and formed Maroon 5 with the addition of guitarist James Valentine, moving Carmichael over to keyboards.

Maroon 5 bassist Michael "Mickey" Madden was born on May 13, 1979, in Austin, Texas. He began playing music with junior-high friends guitarist Jesse Carmichael and singer/guitarist Adam Levine under the influence of groups like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, and after the final 1994 addition of Ryan Dusick on drums, the alternative pop/rock band Kara's Flowers were born. The quartet scored a record deal with Reprise, issued a mediocre album, and was released from its contract all in a matter of years. Following the termination of its deal, the band went on hiatus, during which Madden briefly took some classes at UCLA. Before long, however, the guys had reconvened back in Los Angeles to begin writing new songs that featured more groove-based elements than their past songs. The group would reform with the addition of James Valentine (guitar), seeking a new record deal and formed the band Maroon 5.

Maroon 5 guitarist James Burgon Valentine was born on October 5, 1978, in Lincoln, Nebraska into a Mormon family, attending church on a regular basis while growing up. First learning piano as a child, Valentine briefly tried out the drums before finally picking up a guitar and falling in love with it. He was a natural and was invited to play with the University of Nebraska jazz ensemble as a high-school student; in addition, he won plenty of music-related awards over the years and was offered various scholarships upon graduation. Valentine played in a few area bands as a teenager, and eventually relocated to southern California in 2000 with his band, Square. It was around this same time that the band Kara's Flowers were reexamining their musical direction and demoing songs for their new label. Valentine was introduced to the group through mutual friends, and though initially just asked to be their guitar tech during recording sessions, was ultimately extended a formal invitation to join. Valentine subsequently made his exit from Square following personal tensions with the other group members, and thus completed the newly christened Maroon 5.

Maroon 5 drummer Matthew Flynn was born on May 23, 1970 in Woodstock, New York. Flynn spent time behind the kit with the B-52's and Gavin DeGraw prior to his work with pop/rock outfit Maroon 5. He initially stepped in on a temporary basis in late 2004 to help out the band after original drummer Ryan Dusick injured himself from constant touring and playing and was unable to perform. Flynn was called to learn the band's songs in just a couple of nights, and wound up sitting in with Maroon 5 for over a year before becoming a permanent member of the group in September 2006, after Dusick's injuries did not heal. Flynn is currently a Yamaha Drum Artist, and he currently plays a Yamaha Absolute Maple Nouveau drum set, complete with Sabian and Zildjian Cymbals, and Vater sticks. Flynn's recording debut with the band was on their 2007 sophomore album, It Won't Be Soon Before Long.

I feel I also got to provide some info on the original drummer, even though he won't be coming over to Singapore today... after all, he is one of the founding members of the group.

Ryan Dusick

Born September 19, 1977, in Los Angeles, California, musician Ryan Dusick is best known as the original drummer for Maroon 5. He joined up with teenaged friends Adam Levine, Jesse Carmichael, and Mickey Madden in 1994 -- considered by those guys as one of the best musicians in school -- and together they formed Kara's Flowers. The quartet scored a record deal with Reprise, issued a mediocre album, and was released from their contract all in a matter of years. Following the termination of their deal, the band went on hiatus and everyone went his separate way. Eventually, though, the guys reconvened back in Los Angeles and set to work writing new songs that owned a fresh groove-based element dissimilar from their previous songs. After the addition of new guitarist James Valentine, the newly christened quintet Maroon 5 was officially born. Maroon 5 scored several hit singles, won two Grammy Awards, and toured constantly in support of Octone Records. However, the constant performing proved to be detrimental to Dusick, who wound up hurting his arm so badly from the continuous shows that he was forced to stop playing in late 2004. As he temporarily sat out to undergo tests and attempt to heal, Maroon 5 continued their heavy touring regime with a replacement behind the drum kit. Months passed and what once seemed like a temporary situation eventually, and unfortunately, looked to be more permanent. Drummer Matt Flynn, who had been filling in Dusick for over a year, officially replaced Dusick in September 2006.

Information on Maroon 5 as a whole

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Cynthia Koh

Maroon 5 concert is tonight!! Man I seriously can't wait to see them perform later... here's some info on the history of this amazing and talented quintet...

A mix of polished pop/rock and neo-soul sex appeal made Maroon 5 one of the most popular bands of the 2000s, with such radio-ready songs as "This Love", "She Will Be Loved" and "Makes Me Wonder" all topping the worldwide singles charts. Previously, bandmates Adam Levine (vocals/guitar), Jesse Carmichael (keyboards), Mickey Madden (bass), and Ryan Dusick (drums) had spent the latter half of the '90s playing in the modern rock outfit Kara's Flowers, releasing their debut album for Reprise Records while still attending high school. The record tanked, however, and Kara's Flowers found themselves dropped from the Reprise roster. After briefly attending college, the bandmates regrouped as Maroon 5, added former Square guitarist James Valentine to the lineup, and embraced a more R&B-influenced sound. Several years later, the quintet had officially risen to the forefront of popular music with the multi-platinum releases of Songs About Jane and It Won't Be Soon Before Long.

Songs About Jane propelled the band into the mainstream, but the album was not an immediate hit. Octone Records had signed the newly christened Maroon 5 in 2001, and the debut album appeared to lukewarm response in June 2002. "Harder to Breathe" became a radio staple 17 months later and was soon followed by the omnipresent "This Love", whose steamy video (featuring frontman Levine and a barely clothed girlfriend) effectively wooed the TV-watching crowds at MTV. Songs About Jane entered the Billboard Top Ten in August 2004, more than two years after the album's release, and subsequent singles "She Will Be Loved" and "Sunday Morning" helped the album move over 2.7 million copies by year's end.

Maroon 5 toured exhaustively in support of Jane's slow-developing success, issuing two stopgap recordings -- 2004's 1.22.03.Acoustic and 2005's Live Friday the 13th -- while canvassing the world alongside The Rolling Stones and John Mayer. Their schedule was especially trying on percussionist Dusick, who sustained wrist and shoulder injuries and was often unable to play. By fall 2006, Dusick had been officially replaced by Matt Flynn (the former drummer for Gavin DeGraw), and the revised band released its sophomore effort in May 2007. It Won't Be Soon Before Long proved to be as popular as its predecessor, spinning off the chart-topping single "Makes Me Wonder" and solidifying the band's position as pop/rock heavyweights.

Link to main website: www.maroon5.com

More reference for Maroon 5 (as well as the members): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroon_5

Vote for Cheryl!! U Are The One debuts tonight!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mark Callaway aka The Undertaker, Gurmit Singh and Keisha Castle-Hughes

Wishing you all the best in your match against Edge at WM 24 this Sunday, 'Taker... may you win the World Title and get 16-0!!! ;-)

Yesterday's New Paper featured a familar face from TV, she is now one of 120 beautiful girls for a beauty pageant.

Cheryl Desiree Chan, a young talent from Jack Neo's J-Team productions, was once known as the girl who played Richard Low Qianyi's daughter in the first "I Not Stupid" movie (written and directed by Jack Neo himself) back in 2001, as well as Jeanette Aw's younger sister in "The Champions" in 2004. But now she is better known as Singapore's representative for Miss Tourism International, and man does she truly grown... not only does she stand at 1.72 m tall (Joanne Peh's height!!), she is also looking very hawt right now! Everybody out there, do vote for the lovely and smart Cheryl for Miss Tourism Queen International... she currently ranks no 7 out of 120 contestants!! Go to http://www.tqi.com/ to find out more on the beauty pageant! ;-)

Also... U Are The One debuts TONIGHT at 8 pm on Channel U!! The cuties I am gonna watch out for are Hong Qiuting and Kang Jiaxi!! ;-)

For more info on the upcoming show, go to this link... http://u.mediacorptv.sg/uaretheone/

Jess promoting Kleenex at AMK Hub

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jasmine and Dean
HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

Yesterday Jesseca Liu was at AMK Hub to promote Kleenex Be-U tissues... the response there was overwhelming!! Lots of adults and kids were swarming around the Kleenex booth near the entrance of AMK Hub to get a glance of the beautiful Mediacorp Princess!! :-D


Following an Internet session in the morning, I left the house and arrived at AMK Hub at about 3 pm... I had my (rather-late) lunch there and then waited for Fiona at the bus interchange area. After which, we both headed down to the basement level to wait at the entrance of Fairprice Xtra... later I saw Marcus and Syazali, as well as the Jess fans, some whom I recognised from the K-Box event last month.

There was this cute dog mascot dancing about before Jess arrived at Fairprice Xtra... he was gone as soon as Jess arrived at Fairprice Xtra. Syazali joked that it could be Mas Selamat under the costume!! Joker lah you...

The host for the event (who's quite pretty too, though not as chioh as Jess) kept talking about Jess being at the place and encouraging more people to buy Kleenex to get her autograph and take picture with her, but seriously speaking, is anyone even listening to her in first place?



You can call me crazy all you want, but I'm starting to get 'obsessed' with Jesseca's lips... I think they're quite sexy (and pouty) :-p

As for me, I purposely didn't buy Klennex tissues at all... I mean come on, 3 boxes of Kleenex tissue??? I already have so much tissue at home leh!! And I want her autograph on the LiveWell magazine, not on the tissue boxes. And also take picture with Jess for free. Those are my 2 main objectives.


So we (the fans and myself) waited til the event ended at 5.50 pm, then we all followed Jess all the way to the taxi stand (with Syaz standing in front!! Brilliant strategy!)... and it was at the travellators that I managed to get Jess' autograph on the LiveWell magazine (objective #1), and then take pic with her (objective #2)!! You know what that means??? Me and the other fans don't even need to go to RG at all!! MISSIONS ACCOMPLISHED :-D

After Jess left the Hub by taxi, I nearly wanted to do the Shawn Michaels thing again (you know, kneel down, raise arms high and praise God), but decided not to, given the many people around the place. I mean, they'll all think I've gone crazy ya? Anyway, I joined Syaz and Marcus for dinner at the foodcourt located at the 3rd level, chatting abt Mediacorp artistes, wrestling, backstabbers, egomaniacs and so on. After that, I bade the 2 guys farewell and took a bus back home. And yes, I lost a lot of sleep once more!! :-p

Jess' next event will be at West Mall Atrium on 5th April (Saturday)... but I'm not sure whether I can go for it. But one thing's for sure... I think I can safely declare Jess as Number 2 in my Mediacorp Princess list... sorry, Rui En!! I hope you understand...

Christ's resurrection is the bud of promise- our resurrection is the flower of fulfillment!