Adele at The Roxy, 5/21/08
Adele played a sold out show at The Roxy last Wednesday, and if it had been anywhere else, it probably would've been a fantastic night. Don't get me wrong, it was a great show, but my ticket and that of the girl next to me in line said doors were at 8pm, and we stood outside in the wind in a massive line until 9:30. Then we were finally let in, only to have the band not come on until almost 10, which I had decided was my cut-off point for walking out, (as I stood there with my $10 crappy Tanqueray and tonic that tasted suspiciously like house gin), if nothing had happened by then!
(Before standing in line, I was also forced to sit in my car and dig for change even though I was only one dollar short for the parking lot across the street, after which the guy made me reverse into my parking spot, and then reprimanded me for not parking exactly between the lines, and made me do it again!) By the way, a bottle of water at The Roxy is $4.50. Discuss.
But the curtains did finally go up right before 10 o'clock, and Adele's backing band played a little warm-up groove before she came out, to deafening cheering, looking quite adorable in a peasant-style blouse and her hair grown out longer since the music videos.
They launched into "Right As Rain" and it sounded really good - Adele's vocals are just as impressive live and her delivery is so sophisticated, it can make you forget she's only 19. Until she talked between songs, that is, and commenced giggling, over-apologizing, and claiming that she can't hear her vocals. But she still managed to exude charm, and make everyone laugh, with quips like "Normally we have a string section up here with us, but I'm not big enough here yet, so we can't afford it, frankly…Maybe next time!". She scored big points with me right away for apologizing for the long wait, blaming a difficult soundcheck, but then she did bely that excuse by repeatedly requesting changes in the monitor mix, so that I had to wonder if there were really technical difficulties or if she is just a tad picky.
She played the acoustic guitar unaccompanied on "Daydreamer", 19's opening track, and held her own on the stage without the band. (Although she stopped in the first line and asked them to turn the snare off, which appeared to piss off her drummer.) She owned "Melt My Heart To Stone", defying my reference to it as a droopy ballad, and "Time" was fantastic. "Hometown Glory" brought a sing-a-long from the crowd on the chorus: "(It) shows that we ain't gonna stand shit, shows that we are united, shows that we ain't gonna take it". Adele first broke into a grin at this and then a big laugh, mid lyric, which was infectious; she told us afterwards that it was better than any singing from the crowd that she'd heard in London.
The crowd was a considerable mix of age groups and styles, and everyone seemed to be quite familiar with the album, so it is obvious she's doing well over here already. (Also made obvious by the length of the line outside.) The album is available on iTunes, but it will also be in stores in the U.S. next month so look out for it!
Hopefully, when she comes back to town, they'll book her at the Troubadour.
Image from a different show by Overview, courtesy of Adele's myspace