When I first heard Adele would be playing at Avalon in October, I got so upset. Of all the weekends of the year, it was the one where I had a trip that I absolutely could not cancel. Luckily, fate threw me a bone. The concert ended up being rescheduled for January 30th and I quickly snatched up a ticket. I first heard of Adele through a free iTunes download early last year and was immediately enchanted with her lovely voice. Tony and I were lucky enough to go to the "Evening with Adele" show back in May and ever since, I have thought about seeing her live again. Adele is one of the very few artists whose voice sounds just as good if not better live than when you listen to the album.
At long last January 30th arrived and I could hardly contain my excitement about the show. I was also really excited to see James Morrison who is another fave Brit import of mine. I managed to squeeze in with a couple of friends on the floor so we had a pretty decent view of the stage. James went on promptly at 8. He mostly performed songs from his new album "Songs For You, Truths For Me" including "Save Yourself", "If You Don't Wanna Love Me" and the song he cowrote with Nelly Furtado "Broken Strings". He also performed a couple of hits from his first album including "Wonderful World" and "You Give Me Something" (my personal favorite). James had great energy and the crowd seemed to think so too. I heard several people around me exclaim that they didn't really know who he was, but they thought he was a great performer (and cute too).
The last time we saw Adele live, we had to wait almost an hour and half for her to take the stage. Not so this time. After a brief lighting check, quick set change, and other minor details, Adele took the stage a mere 20 minutes or so after James exited. She opened with "Cold Shoulder" which is always good to get the crowd in the mood and then moved to "Melt My Heart to Stone" which is my absolute favorite song on "19". She sang a few more songs from "19" and did a new song which I can't remember the name of, and a cover of Etta James' "Fool That I Am" before ending with "Hometown Glory".
Of course she came back for an encore. "Crazy For You", a cover of Sam Cooke's "That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On" and a rousing rendition of "Chasing Pavements" which of course the crowd went wild for. For being so young, Adele is insanely talented. Her voice is so beautiful and at times haunting, but she is also able to charm you with her humbleness. Several times she exclaimed that she couldn't believe that all these people were there to see her and you could see her fiddling with her ponytail during parts of her performance. According the LA Times, Adele is getting ready to spend some extended time in LA recording her second album. She will also be playing at the Hollywood Bowl on June 28th and will be backed up by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. I can't wait to go to that show and I can't wait to see what this talented young artist has in store for us.
STORY & PHOTOS BY: ESI - http://www.dishingupdelights.com/
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