OK, I'm delurking to post my thoughts about the Mt. Pleasant concert. I really enjoy reading others' recaps, but feel free to scroll since I'm new at this and it seems long to me...
I am not terribly connected to pop culture, but happened to hear Adam on AI and fell in love with his voice and creativity. It is the only season of AI that I watched, honestly. I had found CTMBTM and was mesmerized by his ability to sing. After the AMA’s I admit I am one that lost interest, however, because like every other pop singer it seemed like creating a sensation was more important than making good music, which is my interest. I’ve never been into glam, so I moved on. I rediscovered Adam one day last year when I revisited CTMBTM on a whim, and found out he was touring with Queen. I had just missed their Detroit show and was so disappointed. I found concerts on YouTube and was blown away by his growth and how good he was. Then I started watching the streams of the European QAL tour, found Atop, and was hooked...
When the TOH tour was announced there were 2 shows in Michigan! When I heard Adam was singing Runnin’ I knew I wanted to take my 11-year-old son. He is a developing soloist, and we have recently been studying Adam’s singing technique together. Before my son performs we often will say, “sing it like Adam!” Runnin’ and AOBTD are his favorites. I chose to go to the Mt. Pleasant concert because it was about an hour closer than Detroit and I could spend the day at the Waterpark with my son for a treat. Then when the casino shows were abbreviated and Runnin’ wasn’t being sung as well as other favorites. I began worrying. But it was our one chance to see Adam live and we were really looking forward to it.
Odd was the only way I can describe the actual concert experience. I’ve been to many different concerts of all types and in many venues, but I had never been to a casino concert before. Soaring Eagle has concerts advertised all of the time, so I just assumed they had an auditorium. Instead, I was shocked when I walked in. Instead of a small auditorium, as I was expecting, this was a large conference room with a stage. It never dawned on me that the seating chart sections were all on one level in a large carpeted room. Instead of being in the front of a balcony with the ability to see and hear, we were halfway back on a slightly sloping floor with people standing the entire concert. But we made the best of it and found a spot where my son could see even though the audience stood through the entire concert (if they could).
Almost immediately I could tell something was wrong. I’ve read other recaps where people write about how amazing Adam’s voice is live, but as I listened instead of hearing the soaring sounds and beautiful complexities I was expecting, I was hearing these odd lower tones that I had never heard on any recordings. He was putting on a great show and had a great stage presence, but something was off. Then he said he woke up with a frog in his throat and things made sense. Looking at the photos posted I think he does look tired, but on stage he certainly didn't seem ill - he just didn't have a voice. Unfortunately, for me in many ways this basically became a good show. THAT VOICE that I was so hoping to hear just wasn’t there. My son was really bummed that he didn’t get to hear AOBTD live (I was more bummed about Runnin’), but said also he thought it was a good show. I know there are those who had shows cancelled and who can’t see him at all, so I'm not ungrateful, but I was so hoping to experience his voice and he just couldn’t sing the way he normally does. It was a bummer, but I still enjoyed the concert.
Here are my thoughts about the show.
1) Adam commands the stage as good as or better than anyone I’ve ever seen, no matter if he is just standing in one spot during After Hours or Mad World, or dancing to Lay Me Down.
2) Adam does a good job of protecting his voice. He expended a ton of energy to sing through this concert even without most of the high notes and he had given everything he had by the end. I entertained the idea of being a singer once upon a time, but had so many voice problems it never worked out. So I could see that he was doing what he needed to do to protect his voice, and he knew exactly what he could and couldn't do. He wasn't pushing his voice to see how far it would go; he was in control. He knows what he is doing, but he was clearly exhausted from the effort by the last couple of songs.
3) I am amazed he did this caliber of show in basically a large hotel conference room. This really is an arena show. I feel lucky to have seen it, but what an amazing production for such a small venue. Yes the screens were omitted, but I think they would have overpowered the stage and I was happy not to have them. I loved the lighting.
4) Having said that, everyone on stage seemed to be treating this concert as if it were in front of 300,000 people, not 3,000. I was in awe of their professionalism and dedication to putting on an incredible show.
5) Can we talk about the Band??? Adam is a different singer when singing with Chic, Queen, and this band than what I saw of earlier concerts. He needs top notch musicians and he certainly has them with this band. Their playing after Lucy was AWESOME. I could have listened to them for much longer. I hadn’t heard much of the keyboard on streams during this section so I loved that, and Adam Ross was amazing. Terrance and Holly were giving 110% right along with Adam.
6) I now totally understand how people talk about the connection Adam has with the audience. I admit I’m not a fangirl. I enjoy watching others flail, but it isn’t in my personality. I was there to enjoy the show not meet Adam or get him to notice me. But at one point near the beginning of the show I could have sworn he made eye contact with me. It took me by surprise and was a long enough sensation for me to think, “Does he actually see me?” Then I thought, “I hope not, I just came from the water park!” (GrinSmiley)
I have just enough stage experience to know how difficult it is to see into the audience when you are performing, so even though my son and I may have stood out a bit (not that many kids in the audience), we were over halfway back on this giant floor and the logical part of me said it wasn’t possible. So, assuming he really didn’t make eye contact, how does he create that sensation? Does he pause to look at different locations when performing so that gives people even way back in the audience the sensation that he’s looking right at them? It happened only once and was really fascinating.
So all in all, I enjoyed the concert. It was such a bummer not to hear Runnin' and AOBTD, but we got LMD, ALN, TL and GT which are also favorites. Frogs happen and he and his people still put on an amazing show. Next time he comes around I hope he will be in the arenas that will really show off what he can do. Meanwhile, we are hoping against hope that QAL comes back to NA so those of us hopping on the ride late can still get a chance to experience the phenomenon.
