Adele at The Roxy 5/21/08

We went up to LA last night to catch the incomparable ADELE on the first date of her American tour. She was here about 6 weeks ago at Hotel Cafe, but we could not get tix. This time we were in luck, and as luck would have it, we were 2nd in line. Adele's sound check went over by an hour, we could hear "Right as Rain" and "Cold Shoulder" from outside as she tried to get the sound mix done. We had a great position at front/center stage, were practically 3 ft from her. She was wonderful, but a little nervous. The thing we love about Adele is that she is a humble artist, very down to earth. Not sure she is aware how great she is. That voice is incredible when you hear it live. If you listen to "Cold Shoulder" on the CD when she sings the chorus, the line "When you look at me I wish that I was her" it sounds like the mix on the CD did something unusual with her vocal, there are semi tones in a very high pitch, it's the most unusual thing. So, I was listening closely when we got to that song, and what do ya know, it isn't an effect, it's the natural sound of her vocal chords.

Problem PA System notwithstanding, Adele played a short set of 13 songs, "Right as Rain", "Daydreamer", "Melt My Heart To Stone", "Hometown Glory", "To Make You Feel My Love" (a Bob Dylan tune which I would love to hear Rachel sing), "First Love" some covers which included an Etta James song I can't recall ending with "Chasing Pavements". She came out to meet fans afterword, posed for pictures and spent time with us. I told her we had been fans since her appearance on "In The Attic" to which she laughed lovingly as if to recall a wonderful day. I showed her the poster and told her I conned the guy at Tower Records in Dublin into giving it to me. She autographed the poster, CD and posed for a picture with Stephani and I. Asked me why I was living in America now, to which Stephani piped in "Meeeee!!!" she was a doll.

We left the Roxy walking on air. Before we walked away, I leaned in and said to her "You are going to win a Grammy for that album", in typical Adele fashion, she laughed in disbelief.