Maroon 5 to perform at Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix after-race concert

The US band is the second act to be revealed for the four-night concert series

Maroon 5 will perform at at Etihad Park on December 6. AFP
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Maroon 5 will perform at the 2024 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The American pop group will play second in the after-race concert series at Etihad Park on December 6.

They join the already-announced British rock group Muse. Organisers have now confirmed they will perform the race day concert on December 8.

The after-race concerts take place from December 5 to 8, and access to all concerts is exclusive to Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix ticket holders.

This will be Maroon 5's second Abu Dhabi show, having performed at the Etihad Arena in 2022.

Formed in 2002 from the ashes of their previous group, the Britpop-sounding Kara's Flowers (featuring four of the band's six members, including lead singer Adam Levine), Maroon 5 has been a mainstay in the charts courtesy of singles such as This Love, Harder to Breathe and Moves Like Jagger, showcasing a breadth of influences ranging from funk to rock.

Levine previously told The National he is surprised at the band's consistent success.

"It has been more peaks than valleys,” he said at the time. “I mean, I was very cocky and I was too confident when I was young that we would be successful, but where we are now is so far beyond what I thought would happen that I am very humbled by that. I am still constantly in shock."

It's a sentiment shared by keyboardist PJ Morton, who said the region is home to one of the group's most passionate fanbases. He saw this first hand when more than 20,000 people saw the group perform at Egypt's Giza Pyramids in 2022.

“In my opinion, I have to say that it was bigger than playing at the Super Bowl,” he told The National, referring to the group’s 2019 Super Bowl 53 half-time show, which was broadcast to more than 100 million viewers.

"I have to say that the Pyramids was better because the Super Bowl show goes so fast. It's about 12 minutes, and it feels like a blur.

"But over there in Egypt, we had the whole show, so we took it all in. I didn’t know where to look, either at the Pyramids behind me or the audience. It is something I'll remember forever; it was really deep for me."’

The other artists for the concert series will be revealed at a later date.

Updated: June 25, 2024, 6:56 AM