Glam Nation: London

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A Glam Nation virgin up until then, this was the concert that exploded my cherry. Before I start, I'd like to send a huge shout out to Legers and Zyrogoth, whose kindness and generosity made it possible. Thank you.

I managed to rush back after a hectic weekend, but on the morning of the concert, I woke up with a sore throat, loaded nose, congested head and the shivers. I debated whether I should risk making myself feel like death by waiting outside in horrid sub-zero temperatures, the coldest spell in years, but you can guess which voice won that debate in record time. I'd never done much queueing for gigs nor been to any alone, so in making the conscious decision to brave the arctic conditions for six hours, I was shocked by what a rabid fucking cray I'd become. But as soon as I reached the venue with my crystal glove (just in case), small queues of even more rabid fucking crays gave me plenty of reassurance regarding my sanity. Hooray for rabid fucking crays! (I can't believe I just wrote that.)

The majority of fans were female of various ages. Some who I thought must've been northerners wore very little and shivered in the name of glam, others resigned to standing in the most un-glam of black bin liners to try to stay warm. I'm not sure Adam would've approved. There were four different queues in total, where fans exchanged tales of how we fell for Adam, our encounters, concerts, favourite performances and songs, counting the hours down together, even bursting into song. There was a familiarity in the way that we eased into discussions, freely gushing. The affinity between complete strangers with a shared passion was very apparent, the warmth of kindness and chatter taking the edge off the icy weather.

It wasn't all rainbows though, as the cynic in me felt there were ulterior motives too. Little cliques formed, making it easier to keep track of people moving where they shouldn't and tugging on their consciences. I sensed an underlying steely determination and when it boiled down to it, everyone was for themselves. The cold was unbearable and unfortunately it brought out the worst in some. I got further from the front as people had been saving places for others who turned up last-minute, and others who just pushed in. I couldn't summon my inner Bitchy McBastard to complain because getting into an argument would've left a bad feeling hanging over me. Queue-jumpers, you know who you are and you should hang your ugly heads in shame. I'll remind you that for every queue placed jumped, a kitten gets throttled.

I'd taken a gamble to try to get up close as I'd already watched my last concert from the back of the room. When I finally got in, my heart sank because I realised I got shafted by the extra O2 priority queue and the extra Paris VIPs. Even after a six hour wait, I only managed to get into something like the tenth row, sardines squashed against me from all sides and too many heads in front. Faint and you'd still be standing. The result was not worth the endurance test. You had to hope you didn't drop anything as the chance of retrieving it without simulating oral sex with your neighbouring sardine was precisely zero. There was also no point spending time on my appearance as everything turned into a mess after the eye-watering cold. In fact it was so cold I kept most of my layers on. Not that anyone would've been able to see what I was wearing anyway. It's the only time wished I were a yeti with hygiene issues. A brick shithouse build, hairy coat and no one wanting to be within a metre of me would've been ideal.

The warm-up act were very enthusiastic and tried to get the crowd going but they weren't really my cup of tea. In the gap between bands, people shared glitter and glowsticks. The projector guy discovered that when a picture of Adam was shown, the crowd would scream so he started fucking with us by flashing the pictures, amused by the textbook Pavlovian response each time. As the time drew nearer, people started stamping their feet and chanting his name in eager anticipation.

When Adam came on, necks elongated, arms flung into the air and the temperature suddenly rose. I wish that on low stages, Adam would stay close to the front so the angle allows more visibility. I was frustrated by the lack of lighting, and the peacock feathers, arms and cameras obstructed my view. Since I couldn't beat them, I decided to join them with my camera doubling up as a periscope. I couldn't even hear the start of Voodoo through the screaming so missed the first few seconds.

I'd been used to seeing Adam in two dimensions, so seeing him in three was enthralling. His strong other-worldly presence left me awestruck and I felt more than ever that he inhabited a different plane of existence. Everything about him was amplified and much more accentuated. He was bigger, taller, brighter, glitterier, more radiant, more animated and more dramatic than any video can convey. I remember looking on in fascination at his mouth, how big it became and how thick his tongue was as he wailed through RoF. I was a little surprised by how long his hair had grown. It didn't look too healthy and his makeup seemed to be excessive, leaning towards drag but I appreciated its benefit to those at the back of the room who received that heart-stopping moment of eye contact as he scanned the audience. His movements were huge but graceful and sharp. Sometimes it was too much for me and I wanted him to stand still so I could take my time to look at and study his appearance. I wanted to touch him to see if he was real but he was out of my reach in every sense.



Fever started with toreador Adam squaring up to Tommy before going in for the kill. I couldn't hear his voice very clearly during much of the song but it was more than compensated for by those bonus riffs and stratospheric high notes. It turned out that every time he hit one, I gasped and felt a rush rise up and the crowd responded by screaming. I was thrilled that his voice was on top form and as so often happens on the last night of consecutive gigs, he went for it. The surprise ending was magnificent and my fellow sardines, equally amazed, turned to each other as if needing confirmation of what just happened.

I couldn't see much of the dancers during the interlude, I just remember Terrance who I'd describe as beautifully big and round, moving very fluidly. There was an extended intro to Sleepwalker which sounded great. We were all very excited, wondering if it was intentional and whether any surprises awaited. The images of the stone angel and lightning stayed up for a while before Adam came on but without drifting down the steps and without the long sweeping overcoat. I think the coat adds quite a lot to the performance, completing the image of the tortured lone comic-book hero so I missed it. He explained about the sound difficulties and when he spoke there was a strange effect. He sounded really high, lacking in depth and richness. Something wasn't quite right with the sound but it was eventually corrected.

He was very relaxed and uninhibited when it came to the banter at the start of WWFM, potty-mouthed and swearing freely as he spoke about the sound issues and how he considered this to be the last show of the tour. We sang along but it was over so quickly. Sometimes I think it's better that we don't know the lyrics off by heart so we don't sing over Adam. I felt this especially during Soaked, a spine-tingling version where the crowd was mercifully quiet for much of it but unfortunately a whistle opened the floodgates. I appreciated the effort Adam made in using Brit English when he talked about being "pissed drunk". My reflex was he was saying it wrong by following it with "drunk" but later realised he was clarifying it for large number of non-Brits present.

I didn't see Aftermath. He was too far back from the front of the stage and there weren't enough gaps between heads, so to watch it I had to follow the many camera-periscopes. The videos were the first I saw of it. The whole venue was once again united in song and I was surprised at preferring the sweeter tone of his voice here to that of the powerful Soaked. Much of SFW was done away from the front of the stage so I watched the lasers, jumping and fist-pumping with the rest of the room. Adam shouted something in a high voice loaded with impatience which I assumed was aimed at the sound engineer. His voice was a little drowned out during Strut but I loved the stompy bassline so just danced (i.e. shuffled on the spot because that was the only thing possible). The ending was unusual because he missed out all the "Strut for me..." but it was another stellar vocal. As I couldn't see much, I decided to film MA as it's one that's often missing. The crowd went wild when he used Tommy as his plaything. The ear-piercing screams got louder as the night progressed. IIHY was one of the most enjoyable performances as I gave up trying to see, just enjoyed the buzz, jumping about and singing with abandon. There was a massive note just before the dancer intros that we all went crazy for and I was grateful he stood on top of the plinths for some of the time. He really went for it at the end so I was entertaining thoughts of a bonus encore.

I was happy after hearing the opening chords of TCB that we didn't get MW. It was an electrifying performance which involved some titillating tongue-tickling with Tommy. I tried my best to tiptoe that little bit higher to see Floorbert but my frostbitten legs still hadn't completely thawed out. My joy fell by a few notches when it struck me that the concert was finished as the band relinquished their instruments to leave. Damn my fucking sore throat which stopped me making enough noise to help us get a double encore! I thought during the course of the evening that we might as it was the last one, Adam was cheekily unfiltered and the atmosphere was awesome. I was dearly hoping for WLL but perhaps the sound issues had already ruled it out. Time had whizzed by and the end seemed so abrupt. The crowd scarpered to the barricades but by the time I got there it was already about six deep. The reunification of gloves would not be happening this time.

For me, the highlight of the concert was that extraordinary marvel of a voice, so in that respect, it was the best I'd heard in a long time. Fever — usually one for visuals — showcased it to staggering effect. Whenever a superhuman high note was hit, mouths were agape in astonishment. But it wasn't all about the glory notes as I really came to appreciate the stunning soft timbre of the more subtle performances, soothing and caressing. I feel thankful to have experienced Glam Nation as I know that the scramble to see Adam in future will only get more challenging. I wrongly thought there'd be a fair chance of seeing Adam up close if I got there six hours early. It was the closest I'd been but the effort was wasted as I would've had a better view from the back of the room. A week later I'm still ill so unless guaranteed a place in the first couple of rows, I'll never put myself through queueing that long again. But the things we do for Adam never stop surprising us. Feel free to taunt me with that statement the next time Adam returns for a concert.

In Heaven with Adam

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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.

Prior to going to the gig, I'd expected it would be a little less risqué than the G-A-Y one because it was for a 14+ crowd instead of 18+. As I stepped into the club, I saw a very wide range of people. From the concerts in the US, I'd expected there to be lots of middle-aged ladies. But there were so many more excited teenagers and trendy twenty-somethings. There were some older people who looked like they thought they were in a hospital waiting room and some who turned up in striking costumes. The crowd was more female than male but there were plenty of pretty gay boys surrounded by 'fruit flies' and a couple of all-male groups.

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.