“People like us” went to SPAC

Kathrin Moser, Staff Reporter
September 22, 2013

Who could ever imagine that I, a German exchange-student, would be at my first American concert on my fifth day in the country? Or that I would ever have the chance to go to one that featured BOTH Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson?

Kelly Clarkson and Maroon 5 (lead-singer and rhythm-guitar Adam Levine, Mickey Madden at the e-bass, background-singer lead-guitar by James Valentine, Matt Flynn at the drums and percussion, background singer and Keyboard) entertained over 25,000 people at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs at September 5th. 

I have already been to a few concerts such as David Guetta, Justin Bieber, Swedish House Mafia in Germany. Compared to those concerts, this concert had more people and it was an outdoor amphitheater. In addition to that, in Saratoga was more than one singer performing, besides the opening act.  However, just like in my home country, every show had their special features like lightning balls, which were suddenly dropped from the plateau over the stage while M5 was performing. They also sold merchandise like t-shirts to the visitors and the performers talked a couple of times to their fans. Once again I also had to wait a long time to get in to the concert venue and for the show to start.

Susan Wright, my host mother, had a lot of opinions about the concert: 

“What special things happened?”
Mrs. W: “At the end of the concert, Adam Levine gave his guitar to a girl who stayed in front of the stage. The strange thing about it is, she had to know the first song of the band, but she didn’t and got the guitar because she was so cute. ‘Kind of strange, that the people with the best tickets at the concert even don’t know anything about the band!’, said Adam Levine after that. A special thing was also that when nobody expected it and the band came back to the stage and performed a couple more songs like ‘Payphone’ and ‘She will be loved’.”
 
“What was good and what was bad and why?”
Mrs. W: “There was a fight near us which wasn’t good. But the music, the shows and the lightning balls were good.”
 
“What was the fight about?”
Mrs. W:”The two fans  fought because one of them was blocking the other’s view after the one fan had been sitting there for two hours, waiting to have that view. They pushed each other around.”
 
“Which show did you prefer and why?”
Mrs. W: ”I preferred Maroon 5, because they had more effects, a better show and more involvement.”

Victoria Wright, a senior at Galway High School, works at the Saratoga Arts and Performing Center as a event staff. She offered a different perspective of the concert:

“Though you are working, can you enjoy the concert?”
Victoria: “Yes you can, because you can always listen to the music as you’re working and we have a 30-minute break.”
 
“How long do you work on average?”
Victoria: “8 hours.”
 
“What was good and what was bad at this concert?”
Victoria: “It was kind of bad that I had to work, but I got paid to be at a good concert.”
 

Some female fans were disappointed.  They expected Adam Levine (described as “hot-as-hell” by many) to take his t-shirt off, he didn’t do that because of the cold temperature.

My personal conclusion of the concert is it was an amazing event and the climate of the public was enthusiastic. Everyone danced and sang along.   My favorite songs were “People like us” from Kelly Clarkson and “Love somebody” performed by Maroon 5.