Adele Live 2016 Tour

By: Gladys Luna

Mystical, magical, overwhelming, magnificent and a breathtakingly kind of experience are only a few of the adjectives that may describe the two nights-straight performances that the English singer-songwriter Adele held at El Palacio de los Deportes on November 14^th and 15^th in Mexico City.

Adele opened her North America tour back on July 5^th 2016 at St. Paul, MN giving it a closure on November 21^st in Phoenix, AZ. It´s been ten years since the singer started her musical journey professionally and this is the very first time she included Mexico among her international tour dates. On December 14^th 2015, her couple of concerts in Mexico were announced making her fans going wild over it. The pre-sale was scheduled just three days later on December 17^th and only after a few hours, the tickets were already sold out for both dates. From that time on, her fans were counting the days until the date arrived and after a long wait, the doors at El Palacio de los Deportes were finally opened welcoming this way the thousands of enthusiastic and yearning mass of fans.

On the inside, a large stage and a big screen were patiently awaiting to be shaken by the voices and vibes ready to enjoy the night. In the middle of the place, a circular stage connected to the main one was set and it was also quickly surrounded by the multitude. Four rectangular pieces of fabric were hanging over said stage that also served as a smaller screen to provide a better view of the singer.

The hands of the clock announced 8:45pm and the room went suddenly dark, stating that the singer will show up any minute making the already thrilled crowd scream and shout out of excitement. On the big screen, a video of Adele´s gaze appeared accompanied by the first accords of her first hit single “Hello.”

From the center of the circular stage Adele arose looking stunning, wearing a floor-sweeping sparkling Burberry black dress that seemed to glow even harder along with the bright lights over her. It was a gown that Adele herself confirmed would be the only garment that she will be wearing for her now, 113 performances all across the globe. And with the powerful voice of Adele singing “Hello,” the show had officially begun. Soon, the room was filled with the great vibes of the people gathered there. The singer decided to perform her second song of the night on the main stage and it was how “Hometown Glory” began while a video of Mexico City was played on the screen in the background along with the song. “One and Only” came shifting the mood in the room to a more romantic pace making the audience feel the shivers down the spine wrapping them in a warm embrace by the powerful yet intense lyrics and performance. Followed by this song, we were faced with the upbeat cynical lyrics of “Rumor Has It” blasting the walls of the place and cheering the crowd even more making them dance around led by the cadence and energy of Adele. On the second and last day of her couple of shows in El Palacio de los Deportes Adele took her common break from her performance to share some conversation with the enthusiastic fans and made one of the members of the audience go on stage with her to sing him “Happy Birthday,” requesting her fans to sing along with her turning the night into a very friendly party. The crowd cheered and laughed at Adele´s sassiness in every comment. But the show had to go on and it did, picking up just where it was left followed by the track “Water Under the Bridge” that immediately made the people to fall into the vibes of the tune. After the song was finished, the room went dark again and “I Miss You” was played while the screen was filled with a blue and green combination, mixed with Adele´s ghostly hands and arms. The song ended with a falsetto that resounded in every corner of the precinct causing the audience to shudder at the sound.

“Skyfall” was played as the 7^th song of the night, but not before Adele provided the fans with the story of how she was asked to compose this song for the James Bond’s homonymous movie and how she rejected the offer at first, but then reconsidered it and called herself “A fu***ing idiot” for not taking it the first time. Fortunately, they came back to her and that´s how everything was done. Also, she shared her experience of becoming an Oscar winner for the aforementioned song and how happy she was she said yes.

The acoustic moment of the show arrived and the first song of this segment was “A Million Years Ago,” a tune that Adele dedicated to her best friend (whom it should be mentioned was there in the middle of the audience) and her family. She also talked about her son and the experience of becoming a mother. “Don’t You Remember” came as the second acoustic song. A video of Adele pacing around in an empty room all dressed in black was played on the background in the meantime. “Make You Feel My Love” is a Bob Dylan song that Adele covered and included on her album 19. It was played as the third and final element of the acoustic part of the concert in which the singer requested the audience to turn on the lights of their cellphones adding this way a more nostalgic touch to the already filled with a variety of emotions night. The blueness that had covered the atmosphere just a few minutes ago was immediately swept away by the appearance of the guitar chords to the boldness of the tune “Send My Love to Your New Lover” in which the attendees cheered and sang at the top of their lungs as the screen showed the official video to this song. “Sweetest Devotion” came next, but not without Adele providing her fans with a brief introduction about the song and letting them know about the new stage of her life as a mother and how she thought she didn’t have this kind of love in her. The singer also expressed her wishes to love one another this big in any possible way.

At the end of this performance, the lights were turned off leaving the audience expectantly about what was about to happen next. Suddenly, from the middle of the second stage, Adele reappeared causing her fans to shout out in excitement. After another entertaining exchange of laughter and stories about her early beginnings in the music industry, she delighted her fans with her performance of “Chasing Pavements,” which everyone chanted together making the space to rumble once more. After that came “Someone Like You” and the cellphones lights were turned on again enlightening everything around resembling a sky full of stars. On the screen set above the second stage, a mix of black and white images were displayed as the presentation went on. With wide-opened arms, Adele and her gaze fixed on the ceiling of El Palacio de los Deportes, the notes of the piano were the cue for the unexpected curtain of rain to fall surrounding her as she began to perform the energetic and powerful “Set Fire to the Rain” that was received among cheers and enthusiasm. The fans went crazy over the surprise, enjoying every moment of the song. After this astonishing presentation ended, the room went completely dark again and Adele was nowhere to be seen. The crowd remained expectant for a couple of minutes until the silhouette of the singer resurfaced from the shadows, now standing on the main stage surprising the audience when the lights were shed over her and the “Mexican Flag” was seen surrounding her in a tight embrace which earned her an amount of compliments and ovations by the even more excited audience. On the background screen, a number of images commenced to pop up and the crowd soon were met with a collection of photographs showing a very young Adele and all the way until the figure of a very pregnant Adele was displayed as a closure for the video. “When We Were Young” was the melody accompanying this beautiful parade of memories and joy. And, once again, mopping all the melancholy away “Rolling in the Deep” arrived as the final piece to complete this amazing puzzle of a concert where all the sections were fitted perfectly together leaving the fans with one of the most wonderful impressions about a memorable night. In the middle of the song, an explosion of scraps of paper quickly covered each and every soul gathered there and to the fans surprise each piece of paper was printed with an Adele handwritten message. Among the phrases you could read were some bits of her lyrics and notes like: “Thank you for coming, “Hello,” etc. The song came to an end giving space to an instrumental part while Adele said her goodbyes and quickly introduced her band and chorus. Lastly, she disappeared on a movable platform set in the middle of the main stage leaving her band on the stage to perform the final notes of the night. And this is how ten long years of waiting were ended and resumed in two incredible, awe inspiring remarkable nights

On November 14^th, 2016, Adele announced the 3^rd leg of her tour in Australia starting on February 28^th 2017 at the Domain Stadium in Perth and concluding on March 18^th 2017 at the Etihad Stadium on Melbourne. A new date was added to the tour as Adele announced on her official Twitter account (@Adele) on November 17^th, for the Mt. Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. So, see you on the next tour Adele. ¡Hasta la próxima!

Adele´s Concert Trivia:

1. On the first night, her presentation was interrupted by a seemingly “fanatic bat” that came across the stage, a fact that the singer received as a humorously welcome to the city.
2. Adele allowed a fan on the stage and sang him “Happy Birthday”
3. She received a “Mexican Rag Doll” as a gift that she immediately loved and held tight while strolling on the stage
4. Some of her fans requested a selfie with her which she always agreed to, remarking her European fans started to call those selfies as “Adelefies”
5. Adele’s signature humor and wittiness kept the audience laughing all along
6. The outpouring amount of love from her Mexican fans that nearly made her cry