It’s been just under two years since Maroon 5 released their last album but you’d never know it from their Live On Letterman performance last night. Before they even entered the Ed Sullivan Theater the excitement was evident as swarms of fans surrounded the venue. Some even waited outside the backstage door in hopes to meet the band.

Shortly after 8 p.m. Adam Levine and Co. appeared to screams; shaking hands and giving a few lucky fans hugs on their way to the stage. The band then kicked off the night with current hit “Payphone” sans Wiz Khalifa.

“What’s up? Hi!” frontman Adam Levine said acknowledging the crowd for the first time. “Thank you for having us. This is a legendary place and we really appreciate it. If you know this one, sing along,” he added as the band segued into “This Love.”

Throughout their 45-minute set Maroon 5 mixed their former hits alongside songs off their new album Overexposed. Swinging his electric guitar on his back for some of the songs, Adam added some edge to the songs while riffing with lead guitarist James Valentine.

All the while, fans couldn’t get enough of the heartthrob and were heard frequently screaming, “I love you Adam!” The balcony in the theater shook for the majority of the band’s performance as even more fans jumped and danced along.

While their very first single “Harder to Breathe” saw a new intro with hand-clapped rhythms, the familiar “Sunday Morning” slowed things down.

“This is part of the set where we get comfortable and cozy,” Levine said. Throughout the performance his smooth, falsetto vocals had fans in a trance as they sang along word for word.

(Jefrey R. Staab/CBS)

Closing the set with the ever famous “She Will Be Loved,” Levine and Valentine took the stage alone to tell the tale behind the song before the rest of the band joined to end the evening.

Written in a friend’s guest house over two days, Adam explained that after a day of playing bassa nova progression on the guitar it took him 10 minutes to write the song the next day. Conceived over a decade ago, Maroon 5′s “She Will Be Loved” has survived the test of time.

- Annie Reuter CBS Local