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January 24, 2009
Posted by kramer
Last week was my first concert in a very long time. There had been a huge gap between my shows for a number of reasons: nothing really that good worth paying to see, bands that weren't quite good enough anymore to fork over the hard earned cash or just plain stale feelings that you get from the band in general. It is a sad state of affairs when this occurs. But then you have one of those epiphany moments when everything just seems to click and the stars align. You realize why you enjoy live music so much and why it is a completely different animal to a recording. The show with Adele last Monday was just what the doctor ordered.
Adele is still a relatively unknown act. She has received a lot more media attention and a much greater following after her appearance on Saturday Night Live during the Presidential election. She timed it perfectly with the fact that she was on at the same time as Sarah Palin. This in turn increased her exposure ten fold. My personal theory is that this spurred her Grammy nominations but the jury is still out on that one. Then again, her Grammy nominations also may have increased her emergence as many people still make their musical choices by that antiquated endorsement.
Regardless, the show at the Park West was sold out. The Park West in Chicago is not a huge venue but it definitely doesn't always sell out to many of the artists that play there. Adele has only been around for a brief time. Her debut disc was released back in mid-2008 with little fanfare. I discovered it online one day at work during a "free preview" on one of my Internet radio stations. I was immediately hooked. Her voice has character to it and her songwriting is honest and not overly-complicated. With this said, it still has enough hooks and creativity to make you keep coming back for more.
The sound in Park West is probably one of the best in Chicagoland. Behind Schubas, it is probably my favorite venue to see a show. The thing is that acoustics in a venue are key but the artist's talent is also a big portion of it as well. Many artists today do a masterful work of production on their cd's and create sound that is close to impossible to recreate live. Additionally, many of the vocals are never up to par as well. It is crazy what you can do in a recording studio (I mean, they made us all believe that Britney Spears could sing for a few albums).
Adele is the real deal. Her vocals were strong and on pitch the entire night. She had an experienced stage presence that would have made me believe that she had been touring for decades if I didn't know better. Even though she only had one disc worth of material to perform live, she still created a set of over an hour. She played every song off of her debut disc (minus one) and even did a B-side of a single and a cover of an Etta James. Needless to say, I was impressed. She renewed my belief that there are still bands and performers out there that are just as good live as recorded (and some still that are even BETTER live vs. recorded).
I always get crap from my friends that the show that I saw last was "The best show I had ever seen!" because I'm so enthusiastic after my experiences. I wouldn't go that far on this one but it definitely was far, far away from the worst.
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