CONCERT REVIEW: Adele @ the Electric Factory 5/13

But at 23, the British vocalist with the number one album (21) and hit ("Rolling in the Deep") on the respective Billboard charts is no ordinary singer.

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CONCERT REVIEW: Adele @ the Electric Factory 5/13

POSTED: Monday, May 16, 2011, 3:00 PM

Filed Under: Music Concert Review

Between the Dad Vail Regatta traffic and the Arrow Swim Club opening you thought I had been wading in water high enough to make me late for Adele’s way sold-out show at Electric Factory on Friday night. While I might usually not feel so terrible strolling into a show mere minutes past its opening, never have I been shushed while walking in to a large room filled with such passionately devoted listeners.

But at 23, the British vocalist with the number one album (21) and hit (“Rolling in the Deep”) on the respective Billboard charts is no ordinary singer. Touched equally by the spirits of the late Jeff Buckley and the living Etta James, Adele seems to have found (or forged) so deep an emotional bond between herself and her throng of fans (at least in Philadelphia) that my interruption of their moment with the inheritor of the Dusty Springfield tiara was a major faux pas on my part (Comedian Wanda Sykes and director M. Night Shyamalan were there but didn’t quiet me)

It’s not so much the tense lyrics to Adele’s self-penned best like "Rumour Has It," or covers like a spare and carefully haunting take on Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" that were her calling card. It was the clever but un-coy rendering of those lyrics that was so perfect, ably reaching into your heart with each careful gulp she took and each ragged yelp she made. Rarely have I witnessed this sort of communion with a crowd, let alone a mostly female one.

Wearing a high-sash black dress, no shoes, and her rich auburn hair done up in a sweep and a tail like she did on Dancing with the Stars just days previous to this show, Adele barely bobbed and slowly weaved while standing in front of dozens of vintage lampshades. From where I stood (eventually) toward the back of the stage, you could see her feet planted hard as she dug into the likes of the charmed and tortured “Chasing Pavements.” Regrets? She’s had a few. Each self-revealing fault and flaw sounds painfully entrenched in her vocal DNA on every love song, such as her own “Someone like You,” and the Cure's "Lovesong". By the time she got to the encore and the hit single, the thumping "Rolling in the Deep," it was as if every song had been a smash and this was but a lovely cool denouement. When was the last time everyone around you knew and felt every lyric to every song on a single new-ish album and the concert devoted to such? It’s been a while Adele. Thanks.

Posted by A.D. Amorosi @ 3:00 PM Permalink | 1 comment

Comments (1)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:16 PM, 05/16/2011

I think I really missed a moment in music history at the Electric Factory. Great review.

— HughE

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