On October 27th, people of all ages gathered outside of the UIC Pavilion in the cold Chicago weather anticipating the amazing performances by Maroon 5, OneRepublic, and Ry Cuming.

Australian singer, Ry Cuming, began the show on a positive note with a beautiful rendition of ‘Hallelujah’ which got the crowd warmed up and ready for more. Ry continued to one of his songs ‘Chemistry’ and then slowed it down with ‘Always Remember Me’. After telling the crowd how this was his biggest Chicago show, Ry introduced his next song ‘Confessions of a Girl’ which did not make the cut for his record but it will be on an episode of One Tree Hill. With this song, Ry loosens up on stage and gets the crowd to tap their feet to the upbeat tempo. Ry finished up with ‘Some Kind of Love’ and the crowd cheered, letting Ry know that it was a great set.

Before I go into detail about the next opening act, I have to state that out of all the live performances that I have seen – and I have seen quite a lot in different genres – this band put on the greatest show I have ever seen. OneRepublic left not only me but the whole audience speechless and full of energy. Everything blended together so well: the vocals, the energy, the instruments, the set up, and the performance. After their set came to an end, I sat in my seat and pondered over if I have ever seen a better performance and the only band that came close to comparison would be The Cab.

The first big hit of OneRepublic’s set was when they slowed down and got into ‘Stop and Stare’ where Ryan Tedder’s voice overpowered the crowd and blew them away. As soon as the song ended, we all knew that we were in for an amazing set. They continued on to ‘Good Life’ and everyone began to dance and forget about reality for a little while. Ryan Tedder made the stage his home as he switched from tambourine to piano to guitar. “We never had a bad show in Chicago,” Ryan told the crowd right before going into a beautiful cover of ‘Stand By Me’. The way that Ryan was able to stay true to the song and his talented vocals at the same time was mesmerizing. The band slowed down as Ryan spoke to the crowd, “This is a very important song to us. It was the last song we wrote on the album. …There is an interesting thing about human beings: no matter what hits us, we keep marching on. We keep marching on”, as they began their song ‘Marching On’. I have never heard that song before but the beautiful performance made me fall in love with it. One of the many high points in the set was when the music faded away to just a single beautiful violin part and they transitioned to their very well-known song, ‘Apologize’.  The way that OneRepublic portrayed the song on stage made the crowd feel alive. It also did help that Ryan went into the crowd to sing some of the song. Along with ‘Waking Up’, it was definitely a memorable ending to an amazing set. Even though I am personally a big fan of Maroon 5, I was indeed nervous for them because their opening acts raised the bar very high for them.

All of my worries went away as soon as that single spotlight was on the stage and Adam Levine began to sing ‘Misery’. The crowd screamed and jumped in excitement and all the fans knew they were in for a tremendous show. As Adam danced around the stage to ‘Harder to Breathe’, I realized that even though Maroon 5 doesn’t put on a spectacular glitz and glam show – they don’t need to because through their energy and music they put on the best show for their fans, there wasn’t a non-smiling face in sight.

Adam then gets going with ‘Won’t Go Home Without You’ and that loosens him up. So now he is dancing and jumping all over the stage. He looks so comfortable on stage, as if it’s his home, which connects the crowd even more with the band. Fans always love it when they feel on the same level as their favorite band. For the next song, if you have Maroon 5’s new album called ‘Hands All Over’ then I am sure you had the cover of Alicia Keys song ‘If I Ain’t Got You’ on repeat. A grand piano was wheeled out and Adam complimented the amazing singer right before going into the beautiful cover. Everyone sang along with Adam throughout the entire song and transitioned to an eruption of cheers as it came to an end.

A crowd favorite, ‘She Will Be Loved’, was one of the best songs of the night. Adam decided he wanted to make “the cheap seats the expensive seats” and he went out to the back of the crowd on a platform and sang ‘She Will Be Loved’. To get the crowd more involved, he split up the audience in half and made each side sing a different part of the song. One side sang the line “she will be loved” as the other sang “I don’t mind spending every day out on the corner in the pouring rain…” over and over as Adam stood in the middle conducting the two sides. That was definitely a moment that every Maroon 5 fan in the audience will not forget: no music, no thoughts, no worries, just hearing every voice come together perfectly. That type of moment could never be captured or duplicated.

Before getting off stage, they introduced a new song off of their album called ‘Stutter’ that the crowd took in so well that even Adam was shocked at the overwhelming response. Then of course with their very well-known song, ‘This Love’, they left the crowd buzzing from so much energy and excitement. The fans weren’t done with them yet, they wanted more and each fan knew exactly what songs were left. As the crowd chanted “One more!” or “Encore!”, everyone was impatiently waiting for the band to come back on stage. After a few minutes that seemed to last an hour, a single disco ball lit up the venue and the audience was buzzing from anticipation. Maroon 5 finished up their amazing set with ‘Makes Me Wonder’ and ‘Sunday Morning’ that had everyone singing along and dancing in their seats and with the strangers around them.

As the show came to an end and everyone was exiting the venue, on lookers could definitely tell that they missed out on a good show with everyone still singing ‘Sunday Morning’ to each other and dancing in the middle of the street. After seeing the amazing sets of Ry Cuming, OneRepublic, and Maroon 5 – I am begging you to go out to one of their shows, especially an OneRepublic show, because they will blow your mind. I know that Maroon 5 has a few shows in the United States in December before they go overseas – but if they are coming to a city near you, make sure to go check them out. They have been around for quite some time now, but they are better than ever. As for OneRepublic, for an opening act they completely knocked it out of the park and you need to at least see them live once in your life. I am only eighteen years old, so what do I know right? But I will tell you that I have never been so overwhelmed with positive emotion after a concert. I could only hope that this review reflects what I felt and what I hope you feel after seeing a show.