Maroon 5 and Train: My Favorite Summer Concert Experience ~

The one thing that Dawn and I have done the most of since we met is to go to concerts. I admit that I never saw myself as a huge concert goer when I was younger. I am not a huge fan of crowds, so I avoided them. But Dawn introduced me to the joys of summer concerts, and we have been to several of them since we have been together. Geesh, if I were to list them all here it would take up the entire post! We have seen so many talented artists in so many different venues, from bars and nightclubs to outdoor arenas. It has been fun.

Maroon 5 and Train: 2011

The concert that stands out as my favorite summer concert experience would have to be the Maroon 5 and Train concert we saw at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Charlotte a couple of years ago. Let me say first that neither of these bands are my favorite bands, although they do have some good songs. I was looking forward to seeing them, but not overly anxious like I was when we saw my favorite band, KISS, the year before.

Concerts In August

The concert took place in August, so I was expecting it to be hotter than the fires of Hades, plus Charlotte is an hour or two drive from where we live, so those two things combined put two strikes against the concert to begin with as far as I was concerned. My daughter and wife were both super excited to see Maroon 5. However, fate dealt this show a winning hand. The night of the concert temperatures were in the lower 70s and the humidity level (which is what gets you here in the south) was low – a rarity during the month of August in North Carolina. This made for prime weather for a summer concert. When we arrived we found the concert not overly packed, but a decent crowd. So much for the huge crowds that I despise. I could tell already that this was going to be one of my favorite summer concert experiences.

About The Concert

Train took the stage first, and they were amazing! They played many of their hits like “Meet Virginia”, “Calling All Angels”,” Hey Soul Sister”, plus their newest single at the time, “Drive By”. But it was their rendition of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” that cracked us up! It was really good – and shocking to see them do it! Then they did some of their unreleased music, and it was awesome! We really had no idea that we would like them so much. We left that concert converted Train fans.

Then came Maroon 5. Adam Levine was on his A-game that night, and when they opened up with “Moves Like Jagger”, well that just made the evening perfect! I will cherish this concert memory until my dying days. I had good company and lots of fun! Definitely my favorite summer concert experience.

What Was Your Favorite Summer Concert Experience?