Girls like you have 16 new reasons to catch Maroon 5 at ‘M5LV The Residency’

Maroon 5 is no stranger to Las Vegas. The band played New Year’s Eve weekends on the Strip seven times, so it was a surprise when Maroon 5 spent last Dec. 31 playing a gig in Thousand Palms, Calif. Fans accustomed to making a pilgrimage to Las Vegas at the end of the holiday season already knew what was behind the change: Maroon 5’s

By Matt Kelemen

next appearance in Vegas would be the first show of its new production, M5LV The Residency

It will be the first time Maroon 5 plays Dolby Live at Park MGM as well, with 16 dates scheduled through Aug. 12. The three-time Grammy Award-winning sextet has been together in one form or another for nearly 30 years now, with lead singer

Adam Levine and multi-instrumentalist Jesse Carmichael the sole remaining members from their teenage days as Kara’s Flowers. Guitarist James Valentine has been on board since the band became Maroon 5 in 2001, with founding drummer Ryan Dusick and bassist Mickey Madden rounding out the lineup that would release multiplatinum Songs About Jane

That 2002 album skyrocketed to success on the strength of singles “Harder to Breathe” and “This Love.” A pop-soul sound had supplanted the embryonic alternative rock and Britpop flavors that characterized Kara’s

Flowers. Levine’s falsetto-ready tenor range, strongly influenced by Stevie Wonder, fit comfortably within the new musical direction.

Physical injuries that affected his playing led to Dusick leaving the band in 2006. (Now an associate marriage and family counselor, Dusick released a memoir titled Harder to Breathe in November that details his post-stardom struggles.) He was replaced by current drummer Matt Flynn in what is now essentially Maroon 6, as former touring members Sam Farrar and PJ Morton are officially part of the lineup as bassist and keyboardist, respectively. That lineup was in place for 2021 album Jordi, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard charts and was supported by a North American tour. Former bassist Madden performed on two album tracks.

Levine’s rising visibility as a celebrity has helped keep Maroon 5 alive. His eight-year stint as a coach on The Voice in the 2010s kept him in the spotlight and maintained Maroon 5’s viability as a touring act as tastes changed and compact discs gave way to streaming as the predominant format for recorded music. Levine sounds as if he is influenced by Post Malone on Jordi, the title of which is a dedication to late Maroon 5 manager Jordan Feldstein, who died in 2017.

The tragedy would be followed by a huge 2018 for Maroon 5, with singles such as “What Lovers Do” and “Girls Like You” becoming hits. Both songs were part of the setlists as Maroon 5’s 2022 tour ended, and are likely to be part of M5LV—The Residency

The band began on-site rehearsals in mid-March but have revealed little else. Well, other than fans now have 16 reasons to make pilgrimages to Las Vegas in 2023.