On the Scene: Maroon 5's album release party
May 23, 2007, 12:44 PM | by Shirley Halperin
Categories: 'American Idol', Music
I've gotta hand it to the Maroon 5 guys — they sure know how to throw a party. To celebrate the long-awaited release of their new album, the appropriately titled It Won't Be Soon Before Long, the band invited several hundred L.A. friends to a space called the Lot (no relation to the Fox show) on Tuesday night. The tone: black and sleek, fitting with the band's updated designer suits-with-scarves look. The crowd? Unquestionably Hollywood cool.
Naturally, there were plenty of celebrities and musicians making the scene, like Adam Brody, Bill Maher, Seth Green, B.J. Novak from The Office, Samaire Armstrong, Lil' Jon, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Six Feet Under's Jeremy Sisto, Paul Banks from Interpol, Butch Walker, and Gavin DeGraw. All, with the exception of the inexplicably grouchy Maher, were ready to rage.
But none more so than Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine (pictured) who had his entire family (mom, dad, stepmom, grandma, cousins) there to lend their support and plant many, many kisses on his cheek. I imagine this is what Adam's bar mitzvah was like, though he was likely less inebriated... Or maybe not.
Of course, Adam and bandmates Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden, James Valentine, and Matt Flynn had every right to get a little sloshed last night. The band's been on a non-stop promo tour for months, hoping to see the payoff next week when their album charts. And it was only 24 hours earlier that they were leaving New York City after playing Saturday Night Live, which was preceded by a set at the Z100 Zootopia concert on Long Island on Friday and a performance back in L.A. on Idol a week ago.
And speaking of Idol, Blake Lewis performed the Maroon 5 hit "She Will Be Loved" on last night's finale show, but when he made his way to the party around midnight, he couldn't get in. That's because the fire marshal called capacity and Blake, rolling six people deep, was on the wrong side of the velvet rope. Seemingly peeved, Blake took off only to return a few minutes later when fellow season 6-ers Chris Richardson and Brandon Rogers, who were already inside, came to his rescue.
Okay, so maybe the fire marshal doesn't watch Idol, but what does Maroon 5 make of Blake? Well, it turns out they've met him before. Some three years ago, back when Blake was B-Shorty, he beatboxed for the band on their bus during an Oregon tour stop. Which made me think: was it this brush with fame that prompted Blake to give Idol a shot? Did he see himself riding that tour bus? I posed the question to Adam. His response: "If you're saying I was partially responsible for Blake's success, then good luck to him!"
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