Maroon 5 Kick Off Summer Tour on Friday

Maroon 5's new album Hands All Over won't be out until the end of September, but that isn't stopping them from kicking off a major tour.  The first leg gets underway Friday in Saratoga Springs, New York, and will wrap up September 1st.  But don't worry -- lead singer Adam Levine says that the band won't be making their fans sit through a bunch of new songs they've never heard before.  He says, "We're going to ease our fans into it...we're definitely going to play about three or four new songs, [but] not overwhelm them with material they don't know."  Of course, when the tour's second leg starts, in October, the band will be playing more new songs.

Adam says that touring before Hands All Over comes out is mostly a way to let Maroon 5's fans know that the band is still around.  He says, "It's nice to build anticipation, to get ourselves out there again and just kinda remind everyone that we still exist...it's kind of a nice thing, y'know?

Maroon 5 has joined the ranks of The Backstreet Boys, Lady Gaga and Korn as one of the acts who have banned the use of BP oil and gas products on their summer tour, in protest over the oil spill in the Gulf.  Adam says that sometimes it's hard to take bands seriously when they "take a stance on something," but he explains, "It's important to us.  It doesn't feel right what they're doing over there...we're against it. We don't think it's very American and it's just something we feel right about." 

Opening acts on this first leg of Maroon 5's tour include Kris Allen and Owl City.

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