Time for true confessions – I don’t watch television. I don’t even have cable. So when my twenty-something girlfriend Samantha phoned me in a frenzy of excitement to say that Adam Lambert was coming I had no idea of whom she was speaking. She asked if I wanted to join her , her mum and her brother to go. I confessed nothing. I acted surprised and excited about the offer and accepted immediately.
Then I got onto the phone and called one of my other twenty something girlfriends and asked her about Adam Lambert- runner up on American Idol, rigged result, good singer, she said. Okay then. I was a bit worried as I had just been to see a double bill of the Dixie Chicks and The Eagles which may have been one of the best concerts I’ve seen. Tough acts to follow.
Unfortunately he was singing at the Molson Amphitheatre with terrible acoustics. Surprising the crowd was mixed in every way – every decade and hair colour were represented, every sexual orientation, every sex, every colour. I sat two seats down from a fifties something Asian woman who looked as if she had gotten off the wrong stop on the bus tour and beside a young woman who I would guess to be lesbian- very cute too.
The show started out badly for me. Adam’s most well known song “ For your Entertainment” was the first song of the set. For reasons I cannot imagine they played the song with a huge picture of him at the back of the stage rather than have him sing it live. It was weird and a waste of his talent and my money.
Then he came out. He reminded me of a mix of Prince ( who I adore) and KISS ( who I don’t). I could go either way. He sang a Johnny Cash song” Ring of Fire” and I felt this evening was doomed.
Then he began to sing some good rock music and two great ballads . He also spoke to the audience and spoke of love being more important than fame, sex, money. Easy for him to say, I thought. He’s young and going places. One day he will put health first on that list and consider swapping good sex for ( fill in the blank of your choice.)
He really started get loose by then and end the set on a very high note with “If I had you”.
Adam Lambert can definitely sing; he has stage presence and great costumes. He has good dancers and very good musicians. He is definitely a contender. Unfortunately he doesn’t write his own music and that could be his downfall. I heard that he turned down travelling with KISS which gives me hope. He will have to decide exactly how he wants his career to go and he will need a good songwriter. It was a pleasure to watch him and to hear him and that’s a good sign.
P.S. I also saw Rufus Wainwright’s Opera this week . Poor boredom. Enough said.
