Adele Live 2016

Adele Live 2016 (titled as Adele Live 2017 for the shows in 2017) is the third concert tour by British singer Adele in support of her third studio album, 25. It began on 29 February 2016, in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the SSE Arena and will continue throughout Western Europe, North America and Oceania before concluding on 2 July 2017, in London, England, at Wembley Stadium.^[2][3][4]

Background and commercial reception

Adele announced the Western European headlining dates on 26 November 2015. After tickets went on sale on December 4, many venues reported sell-outs, resulting in extra dates being added in multiple cities on the itinerary.^[5]

Tickets sold out nearly instantaneously, with promoters for Glasgow's SSE Hydro reporting tickets for the 13,000 venue sold out within two minutes. Due to the high demand, online queues were set up, which resulted in queues of over 50,000 people for venues only seating a quarter of that.^[6]

On 14 December 2015, Adele announced the North American leg of the tour. The leg will include six nights at Madison Square Garden^[7] and eight nights at Staples Center. Adele broke Taylor Swift's five-show record for most consecutive sold-out shows at Staples Center.^[8] However, she didn't break Swift's lifetime record of 16 sold-out shows.^[9]

Ten million people tried to buy tickets to the North American leg of Adele's world tour. Only 750,000 tickets were available.^[10]

On 18 March 2016, Adele confirmed rumours that she would be headlining Glastonbury Festival 2016, on 25 June. She was the fourth solo female to perform a headline set at the festival, and the first on a Saturday. Adele confirmed the news live on stage at the O2 Arena, in London.^[11]

In July 2016, Pollstar released its 2016 Mid Year Special featuring the top-grossing tours of the year so far. Adele was announced as the sixth highest-grossing worldwide act of 2016 so far, with ticket sales of $75.9 million and 709,498 tickets sold from the 49 shows of the European leg of her tour.^[12][13] Billboard reported that overall based on tickets sold through the first week of October 2016 the tour had sold in the $150 million range and that the total gross from the first 15 venues of the North American leg of tour was $67,599,098 with 601,195 tickets sold from July 5 to October 7, 2016. ^[14]

Her tour influenced lots of people, writers A.I.Alyaseer and R.I.Alyaseer wrote a novel titled (My Trip to Adele) that takes place in one of her tour concerts in Verona, the novel connects Adele's music lyrics with the story.^[15]

The tour's Australian dates were announced on 15 November 2016. Adele will perform a series of special stadium concerts in market’s five big cities in February and March 2017.^[16] New Zealand show was announced on 18 November 2016.^[17] Her first two shows in New Zealand sold out in record-breaking 23 minutes, and a third show was announced, with all tickets sold in under 30 minutes.^[18]

Critical reception

Opening night

Adele at the Genting Arena, March 2016

The UK tour received mostly very positive reviews. Bernadette McNulty of The Daily Telegraph gave the opening show at The SSE Arena Belfast five stars. She referenced the expensive secondary market ticket prices for the tour, saying that "Adele is worth every penny". McNulty states that "Adele undoubtedly has the popularity to fill endless arenas, but maintaining the attention of thousands of people used to the hi-tech extravaganzas laid on by the likes of Taylor Swift and Beyoncé can demand more flashing lights, dance routines and hydraulics than any natural talent. Her entrance was certainly theatrical, emerging from the centre of the arena underneath a main stage flanked by an Orwellian projection of her giant eyes blinking. But between that and some virtual, or possibly in Belfast real, rain, Adele kept it remarkably and effectively simple, letting nothing get in the way of what was almost a religious communion with her fans."^[19] BBC News music reporter Mark Savage said that "Adele enjoyed a rapturous reception as she opened her world tour with an intimate arena show in Belfast."

Continuing his positive review, he said "even the steeliest of hearts would have been forced to concede she had brought the goods."^[20] Amanda Ferguson from the Belfast Telegraph said that "Adele is fun, charismatic and exceptionally talented" in her four star review.^[21] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian opened her review by saying that Adele "delivers a solid - if unsurprising - show on the first night of her tour". In her four star review, Petridis noted Adele saying "I know some of you have been dragged along here tonight but I'm going to win you over", before concluding that "judging by the reaction as she finally disappears - on the same platform on which she appeared - she has managed it."^[22] Nick Hasted of The Independent gave the show three stars, saying that "she tries soul moves over gospel piano, but owes more to Shirley Bassey than Aretha". Giving a mostly positive review, Hasted concluded the review by saying "Adele needs the nerve to make a defining leap, to become the bawdy, ballsy she is on stage when she writes. Pop is dying for it."^[23]

London residency

Adele sings "Set Fire to the Rain" at the Genting Arena, March 2016

The critical response was overwhelmingly positive when Adele performed six shows at The O2 Arena in her hometown, London. The Huffington Post's Ashley Percival gave one of the shows five stars: "By her own admission, most of her back catalogue is "fucking miserable", and I questioned quite how the Tottenham-born songstress would hold the attention of the packed O2 Arena without being able to rely on exhaustive dance routines or belting out some pop bangers to boost the energy. But the second she emerged through the floor of a small B-stage uttering those immortal words "Hello, it's me", any concerns just evaporated — every single person in the room was in complete awe, and would stay that way for the entirety of the 18-song set."^[24] David Smyth from the London Evening Standard said that "Adele shifted constantly from being a lightning rod for emotion to a light entertainer" in his four star review. He also complimented the show's opening performance of "Hello", saying that "isolated, with her large band hidden behind the screen, [Adele] held the room without trickery — just one of the great singing voices."^[25] Ludovic Hunter-Tilney from the Financial Times stated in his four star review that the show "had an old-school air of professionalism, sumptuously mounted and impeccably rehearsed." Hunter-Tilney also said that "Flashy special effects were kept to a minimum, such as the downfall of water that surrounded her for "Set Fire to the Rain" towards the end. The absence of high-tech arena spectacle helped the show. It allowed Adele's personality to gain the upper hand over her professionalism."^[26]

Genting Arena

Adele performed in the Genting Arena, Birmingham on 29, 30 March and 1, 2 April 2016. On the opening night she paid tribute to the victims of the recent Pakistan bombing in a performance described as "mesmerizing".^[27]

Set list

This setlist is representative of the 29 February 2016 concert, in Belfast.^[28]

Shows

Notes

Personnel

• Adele – vocals
• Tim Van Der Kuil – guitars & musical director
• Amanda Brown – backing vocals
• Martine Celisca – backing vocals
• Katie Holmes-Smith – backing vocals
• Ben Thomas – guitars
• Aaron Draper – percussion
• Peter Randall – bass guitars
• Eric Wortham II – piano & keyboards
• Derrick Wright – drums
• Rosie Danvers – cello, leader of the Wired Strings & horns
• Wired Strings – strings

References

External links

• Official website