DVD Review: Adele – Live At The Royal Albert Hall
Live At The Royal Albert Hall
Released 28th November 2011
Having been a fan of Adele since day dot it’s so great to finally see this; a collection of beautifully performed songs that are punctuated so honestly and humorously. That right there could have been the entire review in a nutshell. Everyone knows that love her or hate her (how could you hate her?) that Adele is the hottest thing on the planet when it comes to music. Even if it’s not your usual style of music, you can’t seriously say that she can’t sing or that she isn’t one of the UKs best songwriters. It was inevitable then that this DVD would be made and also that you’d find it here amoungst the reviews of up and coming bands and a few already established ones. I wouldn’t be doing my job properly if I failed to share with you something that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge.
The thing about Adele is that she looks stunning and she sings beautifully but as soon as she opens her mouth she’s just like everyone else, and that is oh so endearing. This DVD really shows that, it shows more than that. This shows a typical show for Adele, she likes to include and involve her audience, she cracks jokes about herself, she embarrasses her friends and most of all she is humble. She also has a mouth like a toilet and quite frankly, though usually I’m not too keen on that, there’s something about her that hearing her swear whilst looking so elegant that makes me smile from ear to ear.
With the majority of Adele’s songs being quite slow and heartbreaking it needs her quirkiness and her wit to lift the overall viewing experience. It’s a little like chalk and cheese in a way but she makes them go together as if it was always supposed to be that way. I guess I should say something about the performances, but really what is there to say? Each word rings true, and when she plays Make You Feel My Love and says she won’t sing until everyone has their phones out I’m sat both laughing and crying, because she dedicates it so beautifully to her friend Amy Winehouse. For that reason that has to be the performance of the DVD. I find myself almost holding my breath watching this because she seems to emotional but her vocal doesn’t crack or show even a hint of doing so. Anyone that can do that is a true performer, and if you think that was emotional there’s more emotion in store for you when she finally plays Someone Like You.
So Adele has broken all kinds of records and in doing so basically broken her voice too. She is recovering now from an operation and thankfully her voice will be fixed. To sweeten the terrible blow that must have been she has sold over 10 million copies of her second album, 21.To add to that she has 6 Grammy nominations for the same album and her tours will always be sold out and everyone, myself included, will clamber over hot coals to get tickets to see her play live. This DVD only gives a small glimpse into how much hard work Adele puts in and how much talent she has. She has already become one of the UK’s biggest music stars and I can’t see that changing any time in the future either. So this is my last review of 2011 and I can’t think of anything more perfect to review last. Popped Music salutes you Adele! Happy 2012 everyone.
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