“We love to be in places like colleges where people love music,” Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine told the sold-out crowd in Barton on Sunday night. “That’s how we started our whole career.”

The concert marked the group’s fourth stop on their Back to School Tour of college campuses with opener Fitz and the Tantrums.

Although they haven’t released a new album since 2007, the band seemed excited to be back on stage again, getting the night started with a powerful rendition of the group’s first-ever single “Harder to Breathe.”

Tap on my window: A few thousand hearts were broken on Sunday night as Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine strutted his stuff for the girlies in Barton Hall.Maroon 5 stuck mostly to songs from their first and most popular album Songs About Jane, yet, even during their B-sides such as “Through With You” and “The Sun,” the audience danced along, able to sing all of the lyrics.

Despite the fact that the band is on break from recording a new album in Switzerland, they didn’t give any sneak peaks to their new music.

This may have been due to a slightly unusual line-up. Tommy King joined the band as an additional keyboardist, and No Doubt’s Adrian Young subbed in for drummer Matt Flynn who had to go home suddenly to attend to a family emergency. (Guitarist James Valentine told The Sun that by Sunday evening all was well, and Flynn is expected to rejoin the tour in the coming days).

To go along with these changes, the band was game for a bit of experimenting, breaking up the concert with a set of acoustic songs in the middle of the show, beginning with a stripped down version of “Wake Up Call.”

Knock on my door: Rock the Hall.After covering Alica Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You,” Levine revealed to the crowd that he once recorded with Keys and can vouch for her naturally beautiful voice.

“I fell madly, madly, madly in love with her that day,” he told the audience.

The covers continued as the band’s version of their song “Secret” subtly morphed into first Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” and finally The Police’s “Roxanne.”

While the songs may seem like an odd match for the pop-rock band, Maroon 5 managed to pull it off with style.

Levine was also keen on connecting with the crowd, asking an audience member to keep tempo for “She Will Be Loved,” and reading signs from fans.

One sign asked the singer if he would give her the stool he sits on during slower songs.

After making a joke about the word’s double meaning, Levine invited the girl up on stage and had her sit on the stool while he sang to her.

With the slower, emotional songs taken care of, Maroon 5 kicked back into high gear, energizing the crowd with their hits “Sunday Morning” and “This Love.”

Thanks to guitarist James Valentine’s boisterous guitar skills and Young’s frenetic drumming, the audience resumed their dancing, closing the concert on a high note.

When the band returned for the encore, the mood of the audience could best be measured by the title of the song Maroon 5 played last: “The Sweetest Goodbye.”