Slowly but surely I'm finally managing to catch up on the glut of performances we got out of Adam's Promo rounds. I'm afraid if I don't add some notes, some absolute gems might end up being overlooked and lost in the pile. I'm splitting the posts up by date and location, so first up is the Denver-Dallas-Houston week. Here's a playlist of those performances:
Alice 105.9
WWFM - The guitar here still sounds a bit out-of-tune to me but the quality of the recording is horrendous. In spite of this, Adam's fluttery sweet voice stands out. The vocal runs before and just after the bridge are lower and a bit different here.
BTIKM - It sounds like the key here has been lowered again. It's smooth with lots of light and shade at the end with some startling glory notes.
Mix 102.9 Dallas
OOL - This is the song's US debut. Adam's voice is gorgeous, quiet and tender and I could drink it in all day long. He seems to lose control a little at the climax with an iffy note. It ends with his hard scrapey tone and a beautiful touch with the sobby "lo-o-ove" at the end.
WWFM - Adam's voice is grainy and rich with some nice changes at the end. I'm still not keen on the guitar though.
BTIKM - This has a quick tempo. Another solid performance with echoey voice and no backing vocals.
103.7 Lite FM
BTIKM - The sound quality here is great, again without the backing vocals and a lovely gentle finish.
WWFM - Adam comments about how some fans can keep winning competitions. His voice has that tone I go nuts for and there's a very satisfying belter of a climax.
i93
BTIKM - This is fast and bouncy, but unfortunately the skipping sound is a distraction. Adam seems to enjoy himself here, smiling and laughing during the performance.
WWFM - Adam uses his hard voice here that I think at times sounds a touch harsh and strained.
Kidd Kraddick
BTIKM - The quality of this recording is great. It's quite a soft version, again without backing vocals. There's too much echo in it for my liking but it has a delightful ending
OOL - I'm not keen on the guitar picking at the intro, the sliding and clipped note sounding unpleasant. It's also too loud as this is one of the quietest and most doleful of renditions, Adam's voice a mere whisper at the start. It's sounds like there's a little error in the guitar at the end of the first chorus. The way Adam howls his way through this is beautiful, though just after the climax there's a tense note. Again, I love that sobbing "lo-o-ove" where he puts a break in his voice.
Mix 96.5
BTIKM - I love the crescendo in this powerful vocal.
WWFM - Adam sings this with his glorious full voice.
Fever - The guitar doesn't sound quite right here and we don't get the glory note but it's an entertaining and cheeky performance.
I was fortunate enough to have won tickets (after calling hour upon hour) for the one oh two point nine Dallas show.
ReplyDeleteDuring the show, my focus was so lasered in on Adam that I barely noticed Kevin. Although from his first note I and the other guitarists with me shared a glance about the odd sound of the chords he played.
OOL was performed for the first time here I believe because my friend, who is a psychologist, spent a great deal of our question and answer time talking about how hard it is for gay people to know how to act in a long-term relationship. It was a very serious conversation which was unfortunately not posted on the web, though the wonderful DJ Christopher verified that it was recorded. I tried everything to get a copy of that recording as we had no ninjas available apparently.
She spoke about many of the issues and also told him, "to take care of his heart."
Adam said, "oh, I do. And so does Sauli."
She said, "I hope it lasts forever."
And he said, "so do I."
The atmosphere in the studio was almost reverent.
It kind of reminded me of an opera recital!(You can see my head on the first row, right side.) That whole first row was made up of gay people and who knows, maybe he appreciated that. The four of us on the front row, right side are all musicians, and I think that was obvious to both Kevin and Adam.
It was an amazing experience. WWFM is a song that I'm sick of really, and I was disappointed that he started with that until he looked me right in the eye and sang the line WWFM. I teared up immediately with the sincerity he manages to conjure up no matter how many times he has sung a song. I didn't cry because I didn't want one moment to be blurred. And needless to say, it's one of my favorite songs now.
Still one of the best days of my life. When he sang outlaws of love, I grabbed my drummer's hand on the line, "scars make us who we are".
So in spite of Kevin's weird chord voicings, it was a completely magical experience. Despite having the Q&A and the vocal performances recorded and only available in lower resolution or not at all, I cherish those recordings that were made available to the public.
On a side note, when I got up to meet Adam for three seconds, all I could do was say "thank you." And we hugged quite spontaneously. He also squeezed me twice with his right arm.
Later on, much to my surprise, I would get to meet him again after the Texas tango concert and actually speak to him about Queen (I sold nearly everything to get to England and got to see the first two shows-I told him they were two of the greatest nights of my life and he said with such tenderness, "They were great, weren't they?" I also told him how much joy his music has brought to my life. On the spur of the moment, I also got him to sign my arm. He did this in such an artistic (not to mention large!)way that I had to get it tattooed. You can see the tattoo on my twitter page as well as my Facebook. And you can even see him signing me on YouTube. Some glamberts I didn't even know captured a lot of it on film and sent me two videos which I edited together.(The video is called meeting Adam Lambert after Texas tango if you want to check it out. I'm the one in the leather jacket and sporting a terrible Texas accent.)
Every day I look down at that piece of art he created on my arm, and no matter how depressed I get, it fills my life with color.
Much like his music and the positive energy and sheer genius he brings to the world.