7.3.13 AT&T Live Proud Concert, more from Del Mar

Ali K ‏@alikat1323 3h
Hahahahahaha @adamlambert posin around :-P
11:54 PM (PDT) - 2 Jul 13
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Adam Lambert at Home in Del Mar

Everything you want from an Adam concert
7.3.13 by Q3

Last night's concert was perfect. It was everything I expect and hope for in an Adam concert -- and a bit more.

**

Earlier today, I left the Hilton del Mar at the un-godly hour of 4:45AM and headed to the airport. Dan, my 60-something, semi-retired, Indian American cabdriver chatted for a few minutes. Then he said, "Did you happen to be at the concert last night?"

"Yes," I replied. "It was great."

"Who was performing? I have been taking people to the airport who came to this concert since 2:00AM. So many people came here for this. Some people he drove to the hotel came from Africa."

I told him that I had flown in from Ohio, other had come from Canada, Mexico, UK and Canada. I could tell he did not understand. I tried to explain about Adam and covered the main bio points. He seemed most interested in the odd fact that there were people in the Hilton del Mar bar at 2:00AM. Apparently, nothing ever happens at the Hilton del Mar bar.

Dan asked me for the singer's name again. I pulled out a business card, wrote Adam's name on the back side and quickly copied the link to a couple excellent YouTube videos. I handed Dan my credit card to pay for the ride, gave him two tips -- one in cash and the other to go home and play the video for his wife and 3 granddaughters. Perhaps they could "interpret" the Adam experience for him.

Then in a bit of a daze, I headed into the San Diego International Airport Terminal and started my return to real life.

**

Monday, June 1, 2013. The adventure began as many Adam concert trips have begun. I drove to the airport, boarded a plane and flew cross country on a not-too-direct flight across the country. During the long, thankfully uneventful trip to San Diege, I thought a bit about what was ahead.

Monday night and Tuesday I met many old friends and made a few new ones. Everything was relaxed and fell in place. By 4:00PM Tuesday afternoon, I was ready for the concert pre-game to really begin. My ticket came with dinner in the Del Mar Turf Club. I was not hungry but looked forward to it. It meant we were closer to Adam taking the stage.

The fairgrounds were packed with people, the traffic was a bit of a challenge and finding the Turf Club required three stops for directions. I honestly thing the San Diego Country Fair may have more kinds of junk food in one place than any fair in the world. It looks like they fry everything from the traditional elephant ears to deep fried corn on the cob. And then you can top that off with salt water taffy and cotton candy in about 1,000 different flavors.

We arrived at the Turf Club which is located on the top level of the grandstand a bit early and had to wait. We could hear Adam doing soundcheck. He sounded marvelous. The event personnel were sending the early arrivals out onto a patio deck to wait. We headed out for a moment, realized we could not hear Adam and left.

JustKaren and I tried find a way to watch the soundcheck and found one of the doors to the Grand Stand on Level 3 was unlocked. We went in and walk down toward the stage – we could hear the soundcheck. We walked down the long, long aisle to get a view of the stage but a red-shirted event security "guard" stopped us and would not let us proceed I tried to talk my way in. We were denied and headed back up to the Turf Club. We were finally seated for dinner at some tables that overlooked the soundcheck. We could see Adam off in the distance and hear the everything.

Standing at the top of the grandstand, listening to Adam sing, sipping a cranberry and vodka with a twist, looking up at the blue sky with bits of clouds – does life get better than this?

There were three interesting things about soundcheck -- which was more like a rehearsal and encompassed over half of the concert set.

- Adam did a couple songs two times including starting WWFM, stopping and then doing it in a slightly different way.

- Most of the songs they rehearsed were from his standard setlist -- but there was one exception, he sang Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love". They did not perform this in the concert but I would not be surprised to see it included on a future setlist because after the soundcheck/rehearsal the band replayed parts of it a couple of times, and seemed to be working on the arrangement.

- The red-shirted event security personnel provided some unexpected entertainment with their silly rules and restrictions. "No pictures or video of the soundcheck" one young man informed us. He was getting instructions from some higher-up red-shirted security guy over a walkie talkie. Then he stopped someone from using binoculars to watch the soundcheck. (We were 4 levels up and about 200 yards from the state, binoculars were really quite useful. ) I asked why we couldn’t take pictures and he informed me, "Adam's people are the ones who requested this. Nothing we can do about it. I am just following orders.” That was too much for me to believe, "Adam's people? What people? He lets fans watch soundchecks. He often talks to fans afterwords.” He ignored me. We continued to stand and watch the soundcheck. “You need to sit down,” he said. I could see the boss red-shirt telling him to get us to stop watching. “This is a pre-concert dinner not a soundcheck dinner.” We mostly ignored him. Finally, the soundcheck ended and we sat and ate dinner. Everyone was happy.

While we were eating, Adam got to do a massive meet and greet. I heard that there were over 300 people at the M&Gs – event VIPs, a radio station promo and the Fan Club M&Gs. I am not sure if that was the correct number, but there were a lot of people in the lines and the M&Gs were very rushed – essentially a photo with Adam, next.

**

We headed to our seats. The venue was very large, but very wide and steep. My guess is that there were about 5,000 people in the audience but the show felt very intimate and most seats had an unobstructed view of the stage. The first few rows of the center floor were filled with Adam’s family and friends including Leila and Eber. There were a lot of fans from all over the world in attendance but most of the audience was local.

The band took the stage with a bit of dramatic music – then a cheer broke out as Adam took the stage and sang the intro to “If I Had You” at a very slowly. His voice was clear, powerful and filled the entire venue.

He looked great – happy, confident and completely in control. He wore a leopard print top, gray pants that actually fit him (no saggy bottom), the black cut-out back vest and high, black, lace-up boots. Once again, he appeared with almost no make-up and clear nail polish. He seemed to be completely at ease with who he is and what he was doing right now. No mask, no costume, not playing a character, just Adam being Adam.

I was seated (well my chair was seated and I was standing) in the 11th row, 1 seat off center so the sound was completely undistorted and balanced. Considering this venue was designed for horse racing, it was surprising how great it is for a concert.



The performance was peppered with Adam talking about how good it was to be in San Diego, about attending the fair when he was growing up, about music and a bit of silliness. Some of the intros were standard, like the introduction to Chokehold, but embellished with a bit of humor.

The performance lasted about 80 minutes. Just Adam and the band. I do not believe anyone missed the dancers or back-up singers. There was no need for them as Adam prowled and pranced and joyfully danced across the stage.

I am hard pressed to find anything wrong with this concert. If I was a professional concert reviewer, I would be stumped trying to do anything but praise Adam and the band. Here are a few highlights:

- Adam performed two new mini medleys – the first of two Queen songs, “Dragon Attack” with a sample of “We Will Rock You”, and the second started with Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” followed by Lenny Kravitz’ “Are You Gonna Go My Way”. The cover of ARGGMW was as good as I have ever seen it.

- They performed a different funky arrangement of “For Your Entertainment”. Adam played around with it a bit. I liked the general direction and hope they do a bit more with this song. The original version is not the best live song and this funked up arrangement really showed some promise of being fun.

- The performance of “Outlaws of Love” is a must watch. Adam started off with a somewhat tentative intro about equality, the audience loudly responded with support. SandySVA who was in front of me turned and said, “It’s amazing how much has changed in the two years since we first heard this song.” I agreed. The intro was nice but the best part of this song was the vocals, particularly the ending of the song which had a soft, slow run of notes that were glorious.

- Adam performed a couple reggae style songs, “Never Close Our Eyes” and “Is This Love”. He told a story that many fans have heard before about spending one summer as an “adolescent” when his parents drank margaritas and listened to Bob Marley. He ended this section with a self-deprecating comment about being a “poser” doing reggae. He really did not need to apologize at all. I am sure that Bob Marley was watching from somewhere and smiling that someone was singing his song with such a spirit of love and understanding.

- Trespassing was great. Just when I thought Adam could not pull out any surprises, he wrapped up the concert with a slightly altered version of Trespassing. It started with Adam standing on stage holding the mike and just the backing track of his vocal playing. Then he took over. I do not know if this was planned or just happened by accident but it was great and he should just do it this way. He sounds best singing with his own recorded voice. So whether it was planned or accidental, I hope he does it this way again.

The first time I saw Adam perform, he was a pro. His power and personal magnetism has always been unreal. But in the last few concerts, he has a new confidence and seems to be in total control.

This 3-day mini-break including so many great moments I cannot include them in this recap. Once again, an Adam concert surrounded by meeting so many fans, and the gracious hospitality of friends I have come to know in “digital space” has been an energizing start to my Summer. I just wonder what new fun is in store over the coming months!

Upcoming Events
Check the Adamtopia calendar for more events and links to more info.

July 3, 2013: Adam performs at the AT&T Live Proud Concert. This concert is for people who won tickets and invited guests.

July 19, 2012 California Mid-State Fair concert 7:00PM PDT.
Purchase tickets here: ev12.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventList?groupCode=FAI&linkID=twvali-msf&RSRC=web&RDAT=msf

Radio Links

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Every Saturday from New Zealand -- Adam Lambert Hour -- Live 5:00PM EDT US.