It's been quite a while since my last post as I've been busy with real life but the recent EQCA and PFLAG awards Adam has received along with the Advocatearticle have inspired me to get creative again. With a new era upon us, the old graphics feel dated so I wanted to make something new to reflect the less glam, less frivolous vibe I get for the upcoming album while still retaining a little humour.
I've been thinking about how Adam has unintentionally ended up gradually adopting a role in sociopolitical activism. At the start of the journey, it seemed to me that he just wanted to have fun and play dress-up while making music. It might sound somewhat superficial but that period was driven by excitement for the new and eagerness to carve out an identity. The album reflected this energy and optimism. Along came the Out interview and the controversial letter of criticism from its editor Aaron Hicklin accusing Adam of de-gaying himself by turning down the cover and doing a hetero Details photoshoot. Adam has since revealed that the AMA performance was in part an angry response to that criticism. It had been a rocky ride for our formerly reluctant poster-boy.
While it's unfair to expect every gay person in the spotlight to automatically take on the responsibility of leading the charge when all they want to do is go about their business like anyone else, Adam has come to the conclusion that it does play a part in his business, and now that he's in a position to make a difference, he's trying to use it in the fight for equality. Though the way Hicklin attacked Adam and his management in that letter was out of order, he effectively laid down a challenge which Adam has quietly stepped up to, with positive repercussions still making their mark. In an unpleasant and roundabout way, Hicklin got the result he wanted, to the benefit of many.
I felt that Adam's performance of ACIGC in LA signalled a shift in his degree of involvement with politics and we've seen this via the Trevor Project through the "It Gets Better" campaign and the Aftermath Remix. Although he still seems uncomfortable getting up on his soap-box to speak up about issues, I think he's in his element when expressing it through music — not on a political level where he isn't yet at ease but on a personal, emotional level as a consequence of those policies — in Outlaws of Love.
There are four designs here, which I created to reflect the role Adam has adopted. I wanted my illustration to parody a political propaganda poster with him as a stoic revolutionary, regal and exuding power. I went for a slightly ironic and humorous take (depending on how you see him), depicting him as the Gay Messiah / poster boy that some people have demanded of him. Who knows, history could well remove the irony.
The first design is of Adam against the backdrop of the rainbow flag with a simple word: "Proud". It could mean many things; Adam being out and proud and gay enough, thankyouverymuch; his support and contribution towards LGBT rights; pride in him for being publicly out and leading by example; pride for his working hard towards a dream inspiring millions along the way; pride for just being uncompromisingly himself. There was also something in the Advocate article about people being reluctant to admit to liking him as he sees himself as uncool:
“I pick up this kind of energy among young people that it might not be the coolest thing to say you like Adam Lambert’s music. People don’t think that I’m cool.”
Well the design is also a response to that. It's a way of showing that you are an out and proud Glambert, proud to be uncool (and therefore post-cool?) if that's what liking him makes you.
I've used a lyric from Strut as the slogan for the other designs, retaining the informal spelling to keep it light-hearted. The second one has a subtle rainbow flag in Adam's hair for those of you who aren't fond of wearing too much colour, and the last two are variations; one with a vertical flag, the other without any rainbows. It could well be that Adam will grow into a revolutionary figure for equal rights but for now, the revolution is closer to home. How many of us have changed, feel braver, stronger, happier within ourselves? In how many of us has Adam effected a personal revolution? I hope these are designs you'd be proud to wear in support of Adam, whether for counter-protests or as a constant reminder from him that the power for change is in each and every one of us.
Can you believe it? This blog is now celebrating its second year which I think makes it one of the elder statesmen of Adam fan sites! Thank you all for being a part of this! Please also take a peek at my post from this time last year for a summary of everything up to then and my story of The Point of No Return.
It wouldn't be a celebration without presents now, would it? So without further ado here is my latest gift to you all, my edit of Sleepwalker from the penultimate Glam Nation concert at LA's Music Box. I had to sweat that extra bit harder, pulling out all the stops to make something worthwhile, especially since now I'll have to prise you away from the DVD.
Sleepwalker to me is about sadness, it's that pain that hollows you out and renders you numb to everything except that intense feeling of loss. It's what makes you feel that detachment from reality, a floating onlooker onto your own life. Nothing is quite real or comprehensible or possible or tangible in the way that had previously been so familiar and natural. The whole universe and everything in it has shifted and you don't want to be trapped this strange and frightening new reality but instead hope to wake up from it. That is what Sleepwalking in this song means is to me.
If I'm in despair, I'd be too weak to channel any anger and if I felt anger, it would be directed, which would keep reality in focus enough to be fully awake. This makes me curious about Adam's angry interpretation which I find it hard to reconcile with my own. He draws upon something to give us that emotion through clenched teeth, making “always there to haunt me” my favourite part of this intense performance.
I was a little more liberal than usual with the effects in this edit, primarily intending to make it into a haunting dreamscape where things aren't quite as they should be. I wanted the result to be beautiful and something you'd want to watch more than once. It's the edit which has the highest work-to-length ratio so I hope it was worth it!
Ever since hearing that first preview snippet of Sleepwalker, I have always associated it with a powerful visual cinematic element. The staging from Glam Nation is consistent with that and I think he built upon what we saw for the top two performance of MW. For Sleepwalker, he cuts a solitary world-weary figure, wearing an outfit that's part Matrix, part Final Fantasy or anime. The lonely tortured fantasy comic book superhero. That is what I wanted to capture with my attempt at artwork — Adam represented as a character who is regrettably too familiar with sacrifice but stays strong and resiliently optimistic in the face of adversity, continuing to fight. The results aren't quite as stylised or dynamic as I would have liked but I've already spent much longer than I'd care to admit on it as I'm not an artist and am new to this kind of illustration so it's another first for me.
I have made two pieces using my illustration of Adam, both available as T-shirt designs (links to T-shirts at bottom of page). One is the original dark moody version with a backdrop of turbulent clouds, the other is a charity Japan version that I would like to dedicate to my Japanese friends. $5 (£3) from each shirt featuring this red design will go to the Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Tsunami appeal. Alternatively, you can donate directly to the UK Red Cross or US Red Cross sites. I decided to make this version because that's where the inspiration behind the style originated. I feel that my description of the character could also represent the qualities shown by the Japanese people in light of recent events. With the blossoms and warmer colours, I hoped it would have an uplifting and positive feel. Click to view the bigger versions. I'm afraid I've had to add a watermark as my other artwork has ended up on various pieces of tat on eBay.
UPDATE: Thank you all for your support through the purchases. As promised, I have donated £3 for each item sold bearing the design towards the Japan Tsunami Appeal and will continue to do so until it ends. After that, the donations will go to the Red Cross's most pressing appeal.
With your help, I won one half of a pair of crystal gloves, the other half of which is in Adam's possession. I tried to get a campaign going to reunite the gloves but unfortuntely this didn't happen when I went to my second Adam concert. The year has has its fair share of controversy with AI snub-gate, pap-confrontingfugly hat-gate, teen mom-gate and Gaga-gate. Almost everything he tweeted ended up trending. There was some gentle wrist-slapping whenever his followers got a bit out of hand and we enjoyed some classic rumour control tweets and twitter rants. Adam seemed to gradually gain confidence to step up to the challenge of discussing political issues, but still wanted to champion them in his own way.
We partied along with Adam to IIHY and its music video and were overjoyed at news of an acoustic EP. After such a long wait, we were relieved to finally be able to get our hands on a live CD/DVD from Glam Nation, sales of which have exceeded expectations. We got a remix of Aftermath supporting the Trevor Project, one of a number of charities supported by Adam. Well over half a million dollars has been raised for DonorsChoose.org and $320,000 for his Charity Water birthday campaign. We celebrated TVspecials, news of Adam's Grammy nomination and his appearance at their social media summit.
The summary wouldn't be complete without a commentary on Adam's chameleonic looks, where shaving a side of his head hit the headlines. There was the long hair with and without goatee and let's not forget the fashion choices, the memorable ones being the Glammer trousers, glittery zebra and lace-up trousers amongst others. The year ended neatly with a return to AI as Adam works on the second album and we are left speculating over the intriguing collaborations and eager to to hear anything new.
Another year on and the Adam Lambert Effect is still very much thriving as he continues to inspire us in many ways. The contents of this post sum up where it's taken me, which is to be creative, strive for perfection and to give something back. Thank you all for being a part of this, and thank you Adam.
This Whataya Want From Me? edit of mine was meant to coincide with the celebrations for Adam's Grammy win for best male pop vocal. I can't help but wonder if his chances would have been better if the record production did more justice to his voice. After listening to so many renditions of the song and even though the sound quality is lower, I'd take a live version every time. The vocals have the edge with the extra dynamism that's not flattened by meddlesome production, and a raw vitality that comes from the buzz of singing to a live audience.
I've watched about 95% of all concerts from start to finish and this acoustic WWFM from the final stop at Club Nokia is my favourite. Why? Aptly, it's because of the vocals. Before we get to those though, there's banter at the start, where Adam's charm is at work and he gives us a glimpse as to what he would be like as an evil villain with his sadistic little laugh. I noticed that he started singing a little lop-sidedly with a wonky mouth at times towards the end of the tour, but nevertheless it's impossible not to fall for his gritty belts and soaring improvisations at the end. Amazing.
I've got the results of some crude polls taken by you. The one on the left was taken soon after the album was released and the one on the right taken soon after the end of the tour (where were you all for this one?!). I've only taken the songs included in both. The complete album poll included a total of 16 songs and the Glam Nation poll included a total of 20 songs including some classics, which may explain why overall percentages have generally declined. Users were allowed to select multiple answers.
It's not the most scientific study (especially as participation was fairly low on 2nd poll), but if we compare the percentages, I think it's an indicator of a number of things:
Song's ability to stand the test of time
Difference between album production and live experience
Comparison of different arrangements
Results
Contrary to my opinion above, WWFM, the song whose sound Adam wants to base his second album around, has suffered a significant drop between polls. It could be that the acoustic arrangement performed on the tour is less popular than the original (I'm doubtful of this because of the popularity of acoustic Aftermath), but I'm inclined to believe that fans have become tired of hearing the song. I don't think it bodes well if he decides to continue down this route.
The biggest loss has been from Music Again, which has continued with the same arrangement. I think it has suffered from its change in order too, from being the album opener to one near the end of the set. Performance-wise, it had a lot of energy but there was little that stood out or made us keep tuning in to see what Adam would do differently each time. Without any tricks, the popularity of this OTT song has fallen so I think the decision to include "Less rhinestones, more leather" is a good call on Adam's part.
FYE and Broken Open have also suffered considerable drops and I think their results were partially due to their scarcity. FYE had a different arrangement which I feel was lacking in melody and punch, and was also buried within a medley which didn't help. Broken Open came in two different varieties during Glam Nation. In its initial form at the start of the tour it seemed too long and sleepy, sucking the life out of the set. It later re-appeared with an acoustic arrangement. There are too many differing factors to conclusively explain why they fell in popularity.
DTRH has held steady, but SFW and Strut with the same arrangements have fallen a little in popularity. As well as the dilution effect of more songs in the second poll, I think this is due to their attention-lull position in the set after a long interlude. They tended to go by in a blur, maybe because they're not the strongest of songs.
On the positive side, the biggest gain has been from Aftermath, which was our least favourite on the album (and I reckon one of Adam's too, who describes it as "Heartland, adult contemporary rock" and admits to always having heard it as a dance-pop anthem), but its debut on the tour through an acoustic re-arrangement has become one of the highlights. I think the acoustic version is better placed to showcase his vocals and sheds the outdated feel of the original. It'll be interesting to see how its message will be received after being re-packaged as dance-pop.
And now we come to arguably the most important part for deciding future direction - the songs that have scored consistently high. For a song to achieve lasting success, it needs to be well-written to stand the test of time, and Adam needs to be able to perform it well live. I think the latter contributed to FYE not taking off - the key is too low for him.
Fever was on top by some margin in both polls. I'm sure the kissing antics made a significant contribution to the Glam Nation poll but nevertheless, it's a superb disco-dance-pop song. Catchy but evidently not annoying because we still love this arrangement, it has an addictive bassline hook and oozes sass. And we know Adam does wonders with it live. It's just a shame it hasn't been released as a single.
IIHY has had an appreciable increase after already scoring well on the album. The live performances were less dance-pop, and being the last song incorporated the band and dancer introductions to keep up interest. The audiences were also very familiar with it, generating a lively atmosphere. Its success is down to both the quality of the song and the interactive live performances.
Sleepwalker still has the same arrangement so seems to have stood the test of time as a well-written song. It's atmospheric and engaging but it's Adam's voice that really makes this. The live performances have been electrifying, leaving audiences in awe.
Soaked is another song which puts the focus on the voice. Both the aggressive original and the gentler tour instrumentals take a back seat for a timelessly rousing experience.
So how do the results of these opinions fit in with what we know about the second album so far?
The results show no predilection towards songs that Adam was involved in writing but that shouldn't discourage him, especially as two of the top performers are songs that had been written by established artists some time ago and had already made it to the demo stage. I think there was a lot of promise shown on the album and with more time in which to perfect the songs, the results could be impressive.
"Personal and honest" immediately translates as self-absorbed and serious, even soppy to me, so it rings a few alarm bells. I hope Adam avoids extolling the virtues of love or getting emotionally over-indulgent with the dark. At times during the tour, the way he worked backwards to fit the set neatly into an unnecessary box labelled "Love" made me cringe a bit. It's like he tried too hard to create a flowing theme out of the material so the result felt rather crude and inelegant. When he was explaining it to the audience, it seemed like he was also trying to convince himself at the same time. It's probably a result of having followed everything too closely but I'm afraid to say that for me, it missed the mark and felt contrived. But that is a niggle over how he tried to find a common theme to link the set, not his songwriting, which I believe won't follow that style. I'm not a fan of the direct and overt like Aftermath and WWFM when it comes to emotional songs. I prefer something a bit more oblique, leaving the listeners with something to interpret.
To know that the production will do more justice to Adam's voice must be music to our ears. Since I prefer the live recordings, I hope they'll leave it well alone this time round.
With the the decline of MA, it looks like time's up for glam rock, but should we really be swapping rhinestones for leather? I'd say the top songs are a mix of clubwear and leather. We can group them into two categories. One is dance-pop with a strong melody, a driving bassline and a rock edge, the other is big vocally-driven dramatic power-ballads. Adam seems to counter-intuitively be wanting to back away from camp favourite Fever. Could it be the wrong decision to ignore the former to focus on the latter? Let's not forget that the poll was taken by fans and one of the aims is to win over new ones. My guess is this second album is geared towards the US market where WWFM did better than IIHY and Fever was deemed unsuitable for release as a single.
So what's the point of this post? Well I've learned recently that Adam is more easily influenced by fans than I expected, from an interview where he said he kept kissing Tommy because he thought it was what we wanted, to the social media summit where he said he has used ideas from fans. It's evident from his recent blog post that he's interested in our opinions and we know he lurks a lot around this fandom, so I thought it might be useful to do a bit of market research for him using stats. Also, maybe now is a good time to express our opinions when the second album is still in its embryonic stages. Please help out by completing and sharing these simple polls:
What type of music do you think Adam should record for his second album?
If achieving commercial success were not an issue, would your choice be different? If so, ideally what type of music would you like to hear from him?
WHAT DO I WANT?
I prefer the bonus tracks on the last album so wasn't keen when Adam said he'd be basing the next album on the safe pop-rock sound of WWFM. I'm hoping to see him push things, be more adventurous, experiment a little, but I also understand the need to turn in a profit so he's better placed to do this in future. There has always and will always be this balancing act between artistic integrity and commercial success. He's managed it quite well so far and I expect it to continue.
If I could decide what to have on the second album I'd have a funk-rock core, especially after having been teased by a few licks from Monte during the tour. I'd put some soulful vocals on top of it, and to add variety but keep it cohesive, there'd be elements of acid jazz, electrofunk and disco thrown in. The lyrics would be witty and have a little humour in them. The voice would take centre stage and there'd be a stripped-down jazz/blues track or two just to kill a few people. And there'd be a crazy-as-fuck bonus track that I don't even have the imagination to describe.
Adam thought that on his first album he tried too hard to stamp his identity, but could it be that on this second album he'll try too hard to please the masses? Something that one of the AI mentors said comes to mind and that is the aim shouldn't be to make music that's popular, but to make music that you like and work on it so that it becomes popular. Even though this whole post has been about what we want, ultimately I don't want Adam to over-think things and pander to what he thinks other people want, but to follow his musical instincts. The advice I'd give to him comes from his own mouth and is the reason why he has won over so many of us in such a big way. That is to stick to his promise of surprising us and to stay ahead of the curve, giving us what we didn't know we wanted.
Happy new year to you all! We've come such a long way since last year's Gridlock and I decided it was about time to do a sentimental post. You can listen to and watch my latest improved edit of Adam's LA Music Box performance of A Change Is Gonna Come and reflect on the journey of Adam and this song, and also our personal journeys that have run in parallel. It's an assured performance although not quite flawless towards the end. I think the serene look of accomplishment as he surveys the crowd after he finishes the song captures the mood perfectly.
Adam references both his earlier performances in his speech at the start, the angry Zodiac one spurred on after having been on the receiving end of homophobia, and the one performed during the AI finale. It could be said that they are all seminal moments in Adam's life, one paving the way for the next. I see that first one as giving him the fire and drive to unapologetically be himself and perform as he chooses and it's those bold, out-of-the-box choices that got us gripped in time for the second, completing the first full circle. I still wonder whether Simon Fuller's choice was influenced by that Zodiac performance. At the time, it was the biggest audience Adam had ever performed to on the most important night of his life. It was the platform that gave him the exposure required to build enough of a following to complete a sell-out international tour of 100+ dates, at the end of which came this second full-circle moment in the place where the circle started.
It's easy to see that it's a proud moment for Adam. A feeling of celebration and fulfilment pervades the performance in the way that it was felt when Adam got up on stage for his performance of Beth. Returning home after touring for months I think it only just hit him how far he has come. Unusually for him, Adam's speech touches on the political whereas he's shied away from it in the past. With increased confidence he's more comfortable talking about it and I think he realises he has made a difference, feeling the change as he connects it back to the other ACIGCs. I believe he's now accepted he'll inevitably be looked upon as a political figure and is perhaps on his way to stepping up to the challenge, knowing he can make a difference for the better. It's bittersweet having to say farewell to Glam Nation but I'm looking forward to the next phase and the excitement of not knowing what changes are gonna come.
Original post 05/05/10 22:50 - I'm so far behind with this media blitz at the moment I'm just going to post the performances with minimal comments, otherwise I'll never manage to catch up. The full review for this concert will follow soon, I promise, so please bear with me for now. He was spectacularly dazzling, freakily sparkly, very slickly sculpted, not quite on the human plane of existence in looks, moves or voice. The videos don't manage to fully capture this so I feel privileged to have seen him live. He was completely mesmerising.
Here is the playlist of the best YouTubes:
*Update* - Well after a quiet few days I've finally managed to get all up to date and write something, so here's my very long review:
After a year of waiting to see a live performance, I was ecstatic to have won tickets for what was going to be the pinnacle of this obsession. I enthusiastically got tickets for some of my friends to go but was a little taken aback when some refused them. I'd been inhabiting a different world to them and had forgotten the musical snobbery that I myself had been guilty of. This reality show stigma is a serious disadvantage here because of the history of identikit manufactured balladeers doing bland material. Yes, they may be good singers and have a #1 single or two, but more often than not they don't make the jump into being artists and as a result, end up singing indistinctive rubbish. No one can give enough of a shit to prop up their album and we soon forget about them. The backlash against these reality shows was best demonstrated by last year's campaign to prevent the X-Factor winner from getting an Xmas #1. Many of my friends had no idea who Adam Lambert was but as soon as they found out about the Idol association, they gave me a WTF? look that said 'I thought you had decent taste in music' because my tastes are usually much more obscure. I tried explaining that Adam is very far removed from typical Idol fare but they weren't swayed. The friends who accepted did so because they wanted a cheesy night out or were just curious as to my choice of gig.
Musical snobbery is an obstacle that's difficult to overcome here as people can be very dismissive of anyone from TV talent shows. We regularly deny ourselves pleasures we enjoy because it doesn't fit in with the image we want to project. This applies to our media too, where there's so much intellectualisation of music from magazines such as NME who are downright disdainful of pop and its audience. There's an elitist attitude where the mainstream is associated with uncool teenyboppers, girls, and those who don't know any better. You won't come across many people here, especially guys, who'll openly admit to being fans of pop, though it's just about acceptable to like rock or dance or hip-hop etc. that become popular. It's an unfortunate fact that we equate Idolesque music with crap cover versions of boring pop ballads and quickly turn our noses up, even before we've heard a thing. I think the AMA controversy actually works well in Adam's favour here as he can be marketed as the anti-AI guy who was too much for backwards puritannical America to handle. We love to mock them, and any artist who causes them to be outraged can only be doing good in our eyes.
Much of my day was spent waiting in the hope of meeting Adam but I had no such luck because he was so far behind schedule in a very packed day. I was a little disappointed but my priority was always to see him perform. I think that his meeting so many fans here in the UK had bumped up my hopes. Stalking was a last-minute decision that would've just been an added bonus but left me with very little time to queue for a good vantage point at the gig. I told two of my favourite people to amass all their karmic points together and meet at the gates of Heaven. They came with an open mind knowing very little about Adam but felt slightly disturbed by a plastic-looking photo of him. Even though I'd told them to dress up in a glam-kitsch style, I still had to reassure them that they weren't going to see Gareth Gates. One dressed up a little, one didn't have time, but I made quite an effort. I thought about whether I'd enjoy it more going with fans but I tried not to let that dampen my enthusiasm. There were people to make Glamverts out of.
I tried hard to remember the last pop concert I'd been to and I couldn't. I usually head to hip-hop, soul or indie gigs where the demographic and atmosphere are very different. The crowd is much more relaxed and there's room to dance. Small people get ushered to the front and you can usually get your place back if you pop to the bar for a drink. Here there was none of that. In its place was a single-minded intensity and steely-eyed determination to get a good view, which I'd never encountered before. There were no concessions, it was everyone for themselves. Even at over an hour before Adam was due on, the crowd was so densely packed, faint and you'd still be on your feet. Even the Large Hadron Collider had nothing on its potential to create a black hole. My inner Bitchy McBastard would usually have come out to play and found a way of wriggling through the gaps into a prime spot to the annoyance of everyone around. But even Bitchy McBastard felt the hostile vibe and didn't fancy being on the receiving end of hundreds of elbows and thousands of stomps. It would have been the first time for many fanatics to see Adam in concert after following him for a year, and I could understand that they were very serious about seeing him. So I headed to a spot right behind the sound controller. I couldn't see a lot and was very far from the stage but it was better than the view from the middle and there was actually room to dance.
The countdown progressed and the bar area was deserted as no one was taking any chances with their spot. Bored staff stood idle at what I'm guessing were record low takings for the night. 9PM passed and there was still no Adam. There'd been no supporting acts and every time a song finished on the speakers, there was a wave of expectant cheering. People started chanting his name. My friend said he'd heard a couple of girls saying that Adam was always late and he asked me whether he was a diva. We recalled a uni event we'd been to many years ago where the main popstrel was very late and the announcer failed to gauge the audience correctly and pissed off the crowd. He overstayed his welcome trying to get us to cheer her on for so long that she ended up entering the stage to a chant of 'Get your tits out for the lads!' and plenty of boos and jeers. The timing of that conversation was funny because the announcer immediately came on stage and said that Adam, by this point half an hour late, had a diva demand that we needed to cheer loud enough otherwise he wouldn't come on. It was met with my facepalm and eyerolls from my friends followed by cheers, but luckily he didn't draw it out.
Then Adam walked onto the stage.
On tiptoes, I tried to get a better look but couldn't see because it was dark. I caught a glimpse of the back of his pompadour from camera flashes as he got into position, then the whip cracks signalled the start of FYE. The excitement had been building up for a while and now it was time to explode.
What hit me before anything else was the awe-inspiring visual element, and throughout this first song I managed to process little else as I tried (and failed) to video it. Adam looked magnificent as a beautiful, captivating, brilliantly dazzling android. This description is so far from what I was expecting from everything I'd seen of him up until then, but it's meant in the best possible sense. His presence was powerful and it made him into a giant commanding figure on stage. Everything about his appearance seemed almost too precise, from his facial expressions to the sculpting of the sleek glossy contour for his hair, to a luminously smooth complexion. I didn't feel that he occupied the human plane of existence. The movements for FYE perhaps contributed to the android description, being swifter, much sharper and too amplified to come from such a statuesque figure. He sparkled from head-to-toe, emanating so much glitter that he had a glowing aura around him. I was far away but even his spats noticeably twinkled at me. Everything about his visual presentation seemed too full-on freakishly perfect to be human and that's something that the videos don't manage to capture in full.
I recognised the clothes as being from the morning's GMTV, smart, resplendent and glittery. Adam's penchant for the three piece suit made me think that perhaps this was his modern glammed-up take on the eccentric aristocratic English gent. The stage was small and seemed a little too crowded with him, the band, and the dancers all sharing it together. The kooky dancers didn't do much to detract from the focus of our attention, shadowing and lurking like feral creatures from the glam underworld. FYE passed me by in what was mostly a blur as I was processing all this. It sounded much better live with the band, which delivered a version that was a little more rock and less electronic. Throughout the song, Adam's voice boomed but it was the glory notes I'd been most excited about. I'd wanted to hear them for so long so when they came, it was like a release. They sounded full and startlingly strong and I was floored. This performance was somewhat contradictorily both very camp and very fierce as we all turned into his bitches.
Next up was a little banter and I love that his sets are sprinkled with it because it makes him more real and personable. It's always a pleasure to be killed by his charmicide. What surprised me about his velvety speaking voice was that its pitch was much higher than I expected, perhaps a little in the Michael Jackson sense. He introduced Music Again, which I'd been a big fan of since the Gridlock performance. It was a punchy stompfest that I couldn't resist but sing along to. I held my breath for the falsetto part as it's sometimes been a little off, but he nailed it. The guitar solo rocked and included a little Tommy moment which outed all the Adommy/Lambliff shippers with their loud screams. This was a really fun one to be outrageous to, with air guitar firmly in hand.
The jacket came off for Strut, revealing rolled-up sleeves which signalled that Adam was ready for action. This turned out to be one of my favourites from the set. There was something so sexy about the way he handled the cane for the dancing, it was very domineering which maybe subconsciously induced some kinky fantasies. Strangely, it also made me envisage Adam as a golfer, especially with those gloves. The bassline had a good groove and I really enjoyed the choreography where he committed to strutting and thrusting himself about on stage. All that movement didn't have any adverse effect on the singing, which was again top-notch and those glory notes were just incredible.
I cracked up when the tit banter came up, because of the earlier conversation I'd had with my friends. I had no idea what was really going on as I couldn't hear that people wanted to see his teeth. The charmicide was out again, and another one of my favourite moments came when he gave us a shoulder shimmy. He did this so quickly and so well that I was convinced that he'd had prior experience of shaking nipple tassles. I'd gotten a little bored of hearing so much of WWFM but this perfomance made me fall in love with it all over again. The club being flooded with the song was a moving experience as we all sang it back to Adam in unison. His voice was much more affecting live than in any recording, having a grainy and tender texture to it. There was a huge cheer from the crowd as Adam gave thanks in the lyrics. Being so familiar with the song, it was easy to notice all the changes and the belting at the end was nothing short of spectacular. The final note, though not particularly remarkable in Adam terms, marked the moment I was really blown away. It was the closest I'd gotten to hearing him a cappella and I was surprised at how effortless it was for him. It seemed so easy, the vibrato so controlled, and it was backed with power and volume without even a trace of strain. I was awestruck.
After a little more banter, the introduction and a thin shaft of spotlight abruptly shifted the mood for Sleepwalker. The instrumentals made this a very atmospheric one and is up there with my favourites. Adam came in early with the most honeyed of tones, and sang the hell out of it. I yelped with joy as Adam swapped the falsetto with full belt and continued to riff. I was mightily impressed by the band and by Monte's amazing solo. It seems that Adam, not wanting to be outdone by the guitar, went into a spot of improvisation, giving us some of the most mind-blowing notes and staggering runs. Surely he couldn't be human.
Fever exploded with energy and was the one most likely to get people's dancing legs on. Adam was so dramatically fabulous and it was infectious. He worked the stage with over-accentuated moves and left no doubt as to what a showman he was. His cuteness was on full display at the end where he was fanning his dancers. He put the spotlight on and showed his appreciation of the people behind him. Sadly, IIHY would be the last song and the bassline finally got my friend to get his dancing legs on. I concentrated on absorbing the last song and and it was I who wanted to explode with the rush generated by it. The band were fantastic and Adam's soaring voice made it brilliant.
When it finished, I had an urge to grab Adam and make him perform some more. I felt slightly stunned by the whole thing, not quite believing that it was the end and wanting much more. It was disappointingly shorter than expected and I hoped that we'd get an encore or at least I'd get to hear DTRH but that wasn't the case. Everyone hurried off and the club was cleared soon after. My friends were pleasantly surprised because Adam was far from what they'd expected. One of them commented that his trousers were indecently tight but they both thought Adam had huge stage presence and made a charismatic frontman. They compared him to Freddie Mercury without any prompting from me. They also thought that the band were a tight and talented bunch. They're not quite fans yet, but they do have a newfound appreciation of Adam.
Although the sound mix was good throughout, the instrumentals did somewhat mask the quality of Adam's freak-of-nature vocals. I'd been a bit of a sceptic when people had said that the videos made Adam seem a little out-of-tune. I thought they were rabid fans who were in denial that Adam could sing anything imperfectly but now I take it back. I listened carefully and prepared myself for when I was expecting an iffy note but I must emphasise that there was not a single dud note that came from Adam. I've watched the videos and there are a few that didn't quite hit the spot, but live in the club, he sounded pitch perfect throughout. He is truly exceptional. I wish I'd managed to get up close so I could've heard his pure voice unprocessed by the mic and speakers. It's something I've wanted to do ever since being dumbfounded after hearing it on the RoF mentor session. Adam hasn't even made it here in the UK, yet it was already so difficult to get close. He incites such passion, his demand is only going to increase over time, making him even less accessible. I don't believe it'll ever be possible to experience him from a front row spot with drink in hand and space to dance. Being squashed in the front will only be the reserve of those hardcore fans who have earned it through all-day queueing and being parched. So I left feeling slightly wistful but also very relieved to have finally been able to see him after following him all this time. I also felt privileged to have been able to experience Adam's rise and witness him in one of his first UK concerts, before he becomes a huge phenomenon.
The feel of this concert was one that was highly glammed-up compared to the other recent ones, being very slick and polished. The set list was energetic with a considerable share of upbeat dance numbers. As Adam is so multi-faceted it's difficult to experience all of him as it would mean an acoustic interlude and multiple costume, hair and make-up changes within the set. This choreographed production, though an exciting sensory spectacle, came at the expense of the loose, free-spirited, spontaneous hippy Adam of Indio. What's exciting is that I'm sure there are so many more facets he has yet to reveal. I left the gig having had a little slice of Heaven but greedily want much more, resolving to make it my next mission to see every side of him.
This blog is now a year old (plus a few days because I've been too busy flailing-celebrating winning tickets to see Adam in Heaven) and what a year it's been. For me it's bittersweet as it will always be tainted with sadness. I'd still choose complete ignorance of Adam over the circumstances in which I ended up discovering him. I would otherwise never have watched AI and would've been dismissive of anything that came out of it. Well, we all know how that turned out. The first thing that inspired me to want to write was RoF, and it was Googling him that pushed me over the edge into alien territory and I just had to describe this curious condition that many others seem to have shared.
It all started during Adam's stint on AI where we'd been hooked and stunned by performances like RoF and MW, then outraged and disappointed with the result. We were then relieved to have gotten the gay question out of the way, thrilled when his raunchier side came out playing with mic stands and whips while we listened intently through ear-bleeding static on the live streams for 'baby', 'woman' or 'honey'. Then we waited and waited for the faintest trace of new material as TfM was released, followed by the controversial album cover, the single, then and surprisingly eclectic album. We were shocked and hurt by the fall-out following the AMAs and showed solidarity as we made our support for Adam known during various campaigns while he went through a period of reflection. He gradually rebuilt his confidence as he went about damage control and FYE was scrapped for WWFM.
We started the decade on a high with Adam's first full set at Gridlock, followed by steady promo and performances and we cheered for every TV slot he landed. Then came that momentous WLL at Indio, wresting us from the comfort of fandom right back into the maelstrom of obsession. As he embarked on his promo tour, we stayed up until stupid o'clock glued to our computer screens following him and marvelling at his codpiece/no codpiece and his overwhelmingly positive reception from passionate fans all around the world. We whooped and celebrated Adam's majestic return to Idol as it became glaringly obvious how exceptional he is as he was awarded universal praise. Which brings us to now, where I'm looking forward to seeing him perform live for the first time, waiting for a miscreant volcano to start behaving.
Adam's list of achievements for the year is impressive and here I've listed only those I believe are most significant:
This year has also brought many firsts for me, and these include:
Writing for an audience and maintaining a blog
Experiencing fandom
Voting for a reality show contestant
Joining forums, live streams and twitter to cyberstalk
Making videos
There is so much I have learned in the past year. Windows Movie Maker had sat on my computer unused and I just decided one day to see what I could do with it. If you look at my oldest video edits, they started off as simple replacements of audio tracks and then grew into something much more complicated as I learned how to make the most of the tools available to me. The learning hasn't only been confined to video editing but also audio and image editing, scripting and so much more about marketing and the online world which will equip me well for the future.
Much has been written about the Adam Lambert Effect by various people but right now, I think one of the things that resonates is this: In almost every one of us I believe there's a battle between who we are, who we want to be and how we want to be seen. It takes so much effort to constantly keep up every aspect of what we do in order to portray ourselves in a certain way. It may be something as simple as wanting to appear stronger than who we really are or it could be as severe as being so fearful of being disliked that we remain completely closed. Adam has reconciled the battle by making us believe we can be whoever we want by following our true selves, and that what others think is irrelevant. By laying his true self open to scrutiny to a vast audience knowing full well he'd be hated by some, he's shown that the risk can be very rewarding. We've seen his extreme transformation from Apple Pie Adam, giving us hope that we too could be as fabulous if we believed and tried. The end of the battle and ceasing to give a shit about how others see us is liberating. He makes us feel that it's OK to freely express ourselves and has given us courage, paving the way for us. The effect is much further-reaching than just temporary escapism to weird and wonderful destinations with each performance, because he has allowed many of us to feel that little bit braver and has fired our imaginations to get our dormant creativity flowing. This has led to personal growth, newfound confidence and skills, and art that in turn inspires and puts us in touch with others who share this passion. I think this is the core of the Adam Lambert Effect, and as a result, our lives have been significantly enriched.
Wishful thinking often morphs into rumours through Chinese Whispers and I thought this was the case when it came to Adam being touted as a mentor on AI. He dispelled it during the Heat chat only for it to rear its head again yesterday via a DJ who claimed to have received an official notice. Many dismissed this but it was confirmed later to plenty of excitement and flailing. To mark the occasion, I've put together a video of all the mentor sessions from last season. Slash was the only one to have given Adam any advice and I remember wondering at the time how they would have been able to mentor him as I felt that the student had already overtaken the master.
I've always thought Adam would make an excellent mentor on AI for so many reasons. He is extremely articulate in expressing relevant opinions in a tactful manner. He doesn't mumble or babble self-indulgent shit and instinctively knows on what level to communicate in order to engage his audience. Although he says he doesn't have a filter, I think there is one in place that only allows interesting and useful stuff through. That's why we so often find ourselves hanging onto his every word. As far as I'm concerned, he's peerless when it comes to mastering the Idol game so no one is better to equipped to advise on it.
It's been a year since Adam was introduced to the world on AI, and I've wondered whether it would ever be able to recover. I thought that in the best-case scenario post-Adam, the judges may become more adventurous in their choices, or after having studied him we might have seen people be a little more daring. It's glaringly evident now how exceptional a talent he is by the absence of any excitement or comparable vocal quality from the current contestants. Adam has changed it and there is no going back as the bar requires intergalactic travel to get over. It will never be enough to be able to sing like an angel, to able to belt like a diva, to be a likeable personality, to have stage presence, to be visually compelling, to have a signature trait, to choose good songs, to be able to perform, to be able to interpret and rearrange songs, to be versatile, to be exciting and unpredictable. We need all that and much more to sustain interest because that is what Adam consistently gave us week after week without fail. Anything less is a serious disappointment. We saw how much the camera loved Adam for being such a fascinating subject and this year, despite there being some talent, no one comes even remotely close to generating as much interest or inspiration.
The show is broken and withered without Adam and is the embodiment of 'Meh'. The judges have had little patience, giving out confused and garbled advice after enduring one predictably lacklustre performance after another. I think it may be a consequence of Adam kicking out the rulebook as to what should or shouldn't work. I'll bet they wish there were someone similar this season but no one is able to pull it off. Ratings haven't been good so I'm guessing that the producers are trying to resuscitate the show with an injection of glitter-adrenaline to give it some pizzazz. I think it says a lot about their regard for their prized alumnus. Apart from the obvious draw of having him appear on the show, I would assume they thought he could have a lasting effect on the quality of performances. Last year, Adam expertly navigated his way through the rounds giving us a thrilling and varied collection of surprises. I think he's well qualified to advise on how to play AI to make it fit around the contestants, starting with how to get the most out of the available resources, song choice, vocal styling and arrangement from week-to-week. I also think he'd have plenty of valuable input on the performance aspect in the look, staging, mood, camera engagement and visual presentation which could help them all up their game. I don't expect him to work miracles as none have voices with the staggering range, power, control or dynamism that allows him to sing anything, but I think he'll provide plenty of ideas and inspiration. I look forward to Adam's return but it's a shame I'll have to tolerate all the rubbish to watch the Adam parts. Well, I'm glad I don't have to worry about voting this time round. If only they could dispense with the contestants and give the whole show to Adam so the master is free demonstrate his craft, then I'd be very happy.
During Adam's brief visit to Scotland, there was plenty of excitement over whether he would wear it like a true Scotsman, i.e. commando. Well, he was kind enough to tweet us a photo of him rocking the #glamkilt and spiky sporran “It's like having a cactus - a little pet cactus” over tartan leggings. For those of you who'd never heard of it, a sporran is a little manbag to make up for the kilt's lack of pockets, and this spiky one was a gift from some of his fans. I love the hair, which is my favourite effortless-looking style so far. The only thing I would change about his outfit are his boots. The leather on them looks to be beautiful in quality but I think he would have done better to go with something heavier and clunkier because when I look at his lower half, it reminds me of a schoolgirl's uniform!
It may seem like a huge contrast, seeing a handful of dedicated fans as opposed to the scores who lined up on the previous stops to greet Adam, but there are a number of reasons for this. The tour takes in many cities, information revealing his schedule has been last-minute, but the main reason is he's still a relative unknown. Let me tell you about the exposure Adam has had so far. In the UK (population 60 million), we have five terrestrial channels; BBC1, ITV, Channel4, BBC2 and Five, (in order of audience size) which virtually everyone has access to. There are regional variations but altogether, they make up well over half the viewing share. American Idol is shown on ITV2 which has less than a 2% share. To put things into perspective, our most popular soaps draw in regular audiences of 10 million. Last year's X-Factor consistently drew in 10-15 million each week with the final peaking at 16 million. Last year's American Idol regularly drew in less than half a million, with the final at less than 850,000. We can see therefore, that the size of the AI audience is less than 5% of that of the X-Factor. 2012 was a box office success but the audience reach of cinema is comparatively small. So along with a couple of written articles, this was the only exposure Adam has had prior to now. His first single and first album are yet to be released.
Adam's music has now been featured on 4Music, the music channel with the biggest viewing share (though this stands at only 0.3%). Its most popular artists are spotlighted on Channel4 in the 4Music series where they have their own dedicated slots (we need to make this happen). Other popular music channels here include The Box, MTV, VH1 and Smash Hits, each with less than 0.1% share. It goes without saying that the aim for anyone wanting exposure to the biggest possible audience is to appear on prime-time terrestrial TV on shows like X-Factor, Strictly Come Dancing, Britain's Got Talent, Dancing on Ice or any charity telethon. Out of these, I believe only Britain's Got Talent will be on but in the audition stages during Adam's next visit. Over The Rainbow could well be a possibility, though ratings-wise it won't be high as those listed above.
When I first heard about Adam heading to Boy George's party, my first thought was WTF? I hadn't heard much about Boy George in recent years apart from tabloid stories about his seriously bizarre (and somewhat hilarious) offence of imprisoning a gigolo and threatening him with sex toys. He hasn't had the best publicity of late but I think Adam would have found it really interesting to meet one of his visual muses and to talk about their shared experience of being heavily influenced by David Bowie.
After some pondering, it seems to make more sense that Adam was there for networking. Most of us remember Boy George for his Culture Club days but he also achieved considerable success as a big-name club DJ, only he was less visible. He did a series of best-selling house remix albums for Ministry of Sound, perhaps the biggest global dance music franchise. I'm not sure whether he still has much clout with that scene, but turning Adam's songs into club remixes and getting them spun along with his dancier numbers could acquire him quite a following. I hope Adam will be marketed more as an electropop-dance artist over here because I don't believe his straight-up rock will do particularly well. Having a club hit before the TV promo circuit reveals his AI connection would certainly be to his advantage for sustaining commercial success. It's prevalent because of the backlash against reality shows' stranglehold over the charts, as demonstrated by our Christmas campaign against the X-Factor winner. The current timescales for Adam's single and album releases rule this out, but maybe it's something to consider further down the line. But what do I know? I don't follow Boy George or the pop charts, but sometimes it's fun to just speculate.
This is a post mainly aimed at my international friends to tell you a little bit about the UK through my eyes and ears. It's by no means definitive and does contain some affectionate stereotypes. Many people equate the UK with England, but it is made up of more than one country. There is Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales who each have their own self-governing political systems. There is a fair amount of piss-taking between them. For example, Scots are branded as drunks who live off deep-fried Mars bars, the Welsh as singers with a penchant for bestiality with sheep. There is also a North-South divide in England. Southerners are ponces, Merseysiders are small-time crooks, those in the West Country are country bumpkin farmers and Geordie girls are famed for dressing like slappers (easy women) in little more than skimpy underwear, even in the depths of winter. It's all part of our banter.
The majority of musical influences Adam has cited are British, so I see this visit as a return to his musical home. I hope he's taking the opportunity to delve into the music scene while he's here and find even more inspiration. I'm more of a gigger/clubber so I'm not particularly knowledgable about British pop music and rarely follow the British pop charts. I do know that the singles chart is extremely fickle with songs often entering at the top spot before dropping away rapidly. The album chart provides a much better indicator of what's popular. Both of these charts are released every Sunday afternoon and can be found here: 1.Official singles chart2.Official album chart
We have plenty of local radio stations but the channels with most listeners are the nationwide radio channels provided by state broadcaster BBC. The music channels with the biggest audiences are BBC Radio 2 (adult contemporary), BBC Radio 1 (pop), and Heart FM (adult contemporary).
Pop acts receiving a lot of media coverage at the moment include Florence and the Machine, JLS, Cheryl Cole, Ellie Goulding and Pixie Lott. The closest we have to male artists who would be in direct competion with Adam are Mika in terms of sound, and Robbie Williams in terms of showmanship. EDIT: I've had some additional thoughts since posting and discussing this with some of you so I'm jotting them down. According to my unknowledgeable opinion, the songs I think that have most potential to take off are the electropoppy ones like FYE, Fever, IIHY and DTRH. I don't think straight-up rock such as WWFM can cut it, unless he's already established or it's boosted by use in film or TV. If Adam can get DJs to play his music and remixes in clubs, it will help to earn him cred before he does his TV promo and music snobs realise he's an AI alumnus. His music doesn't get released until late April so for most people here, he's still a relative unknown. It'll be interesting to see how he's marketed as a celebrity here. So far we only really have the NOTW article and the SuBo misquote, which have painted him out to be an edgy and outspoken rebel. Although the references to drug use may have put many off, attitudes here are quite liberal when it comes its recreational use. Celebrities + drugs = eyeroll.
The TV slots where music acts do their usual promotional performances are on shows such X-Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing On Ice. It's also common to have performances on chat shows like Jonathan Ross, Graham Norton and Alan Carr. There are music programmes such as T4, 4Music and Jools Holland that show live studio sets, concerts, or highlight specific artists. Artists also get exposure through quiz shows such as the music-oriented Never Mind the Buzzcocks. I'd love to see the exchange of smut between Adam and Norton and Carr, an acoustic set on Jools Holland and Adam headlining a festival on T4. Another wish would be for him to do the intros round on Buzzcocks, where contestants use their voices to reacreate the instrumentals of songs but aren't allowed to sing them. One thing I'd love even more though, is for Adam to make an appearance on Doctor Who as a singing rockstar alien with a fabulously freaky costume.
The British tabloid press is vicious, intrusive and thrives on sensationalist scandal but we know to read it with a huge dose of cynicism. Here's a brief summary of our print media:
Trashiest papers: The News of the World, The People, The Daily Star.
Informative papers: The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph.
Most popular papers: The Sun, Daily Mail, The Mirror, Metro.
Popular music magazines: NME, Q, Kerrang!, Mojo, Mixmag.
Popular celebrity gossip magazines: OK, Hello!, Heat, Closer, Now.
Popular men's magazines: FHM, GQ, Maxim, Nuts, Zoo.
The country is multicultural with London being the hub. I tend to think of it as a mini world in a city because of the number of nationalities represented. I think Adam would enjoy shopping for OTT rocker accessories in Camden with all its fashion-bold goths and punks. We are a nation of binge-drinkers and drink to get drunk with bars being the venue of choice rather than pubs or clubs. I'm partial to heading to Shoreditch's bars to check out the fashion of arty and new-media types, often ending up at quirky venues for after-parties. And I think Adam might like to take a trip to Soho to check out the abundant prettiness and friendly atmosphere amongst the many gay bars. But he should smooch carefully because tabloid kiss-and-tells are quite lucrative with careers having been built around them. Homophobia is fairly uncommon though the word 'gay' is still used as a mildly derogatory insult. Brighton is our gay capital and same-sex civil partnerships were made legal in 2005. We have plenty of public figures who are openly gay, ranging from politicians to TV personalities to musicians, so Adam's orientation should be a complete non-issue.
Well I hope this is a useful introduction to get you started as you come over here to follow Adam's visit. Please feel free to ask questions and make yourselves at home while I make you a cup of tea!
