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Adele is the powerhouse success story of 2011. Her sophomore effort 21 has received an overwhelming, but well deserved, amount of praise and commercial attention. Her soulful sound is a welcomed change in a market saturated by auto tune. Her presence is certainly having an impact, including inspiring mega-star Beyonce on her new album, announcing collaborations with Amy Winehouse, Aloe Blacc and Tinie Tempah, and being sampled by Tyga, and remixed by Jamie xx and Future the Prince. It seems that Adele is finally getting recognized as the star she is, and for all the right reasons.

The British songstress took on her first arena show at the Air Canada Center on Wednesday in Toronto. Adele captivated the audience from the very beginning, teasing the crowd behind the stage curtain as she belted the first verse and chorus from Hometown Glory. Having stated in the past that she gets serious bouts of stage fright, I was worried for a moment that the show would continue behind the curtain – after all, performing in front of a sold-out audience of over 6,000 people is no small task.

But even if she had a mild freak out backstage, you wouldn’t have been able to tell. Adele made her way to the stage to continue her opening number, greeting the audience with a smile and set the tone for what was a personal and incredible night. Everything about her show called for intimacy. From a stage decorated with lampshades and rugs, to a variety of acoustic performances, to the personal narrative over the use of pyrotechnics and other frills. Granted, everything was designed for smaller venues, but she took on the challenge like a champ.

As she ran through her set, which mainly consisted of new tracks like I’ll Be Waiting and Set Fire to the Rain, spliced with the occasional old favourite, like Right as Rain and chart topper Chasing Pavements, Adele provided personal anecdotes of how the songs came to be. They were coloured with curse words and jokes about the infamous boyfriends who have inspired her material. By hearing these tales, you would want to be best friends with the carefree but emotionally conscious artist and her cheeky laughs made her all the more adorable. She even gave Toronto-based singer The Weeknd a shout out, saying he’s “f***ing amazing”, which makes her all the more cooler in my books.

Though she claimed a round of karaoke the night before made her voice rough, the flaws were not recognizable. Her lyrics alone speak to millions, as they touch on universal emotions like heartbreak, loneliness, love and jealousy. That, combined with her voice? Shivers. As silence covered the audience, the consensus was clear – Adele is a force to be reckoned with.

Sadly, the night had to come to the end – but not before Adele slipped backstage for a moment to remove her shoes, sharing that performing standing on a rug in heels was not comfortable. She then brought the house down with her lead singles from 21, including Someone Like You and the roaring Rolling in the Deep, which brought the crowd to their feet as we danced, clapped, and hailed the anthem that has gained her so much attention in recent months. But unlike the lyrics in that song, many are going to wish that they met Adele the same way we all did that night.

Setlist
Hometown Glory
I’ll Be Waiting
Don’t You Remember
Turning Tables
Set Fire to the Rain
If It Hadn’t Been for Love
My Same
Take It All
Rumor Has It
Right as Rain
One and Only
Lovesong
Chasing Pavements
Make You Feel My Love

Encore
Someone Like You
Rolling in the Deep

Tags: adele, concert reviews, Review

Posted on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 at 11:00 am by Mehek - Correspondent and is filed under Blog, Celebrities & Pop Culture, Concert Reviews.

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