Please excuse my lateness, it's been the most annoying time to have internet failure as it means I've been unable to watch all the videos for what has arguably been one of the best concerts yet. And there are a heck of a lot of beautiful videos. Here's my selection:
Adam is on fire in Paris, the Fever glory notes are astonishing and the way he jumps up into them is so effortlessly seamless. There's a bit of lyric fail in Sleepwalker as he sings 'I'm not awake but I'm not afraid'. This concert though, is all about the debut of a new encore, Purple Haze. With the lyrics on the floor, he sings with a powerful rock timbre and plays with the lyric 'Excuse me, while I kiss some guy'. As it's a Jimi Hendrix cover, I wasn't expecting it to showcase the voice with the focus to be on Monte (whose birthday was fast approaching), so it was a pleasant surprise when I first heard it. It seems that Adam loves Paris and decides to give a double encore. Asking the crowd what they want as a second, I'm surprised by the number of French-accented shouts for MW, so maybe the choice of songs on the acoustic EP isn't so ill-considered after all. It's an impromptu decision to do a fully electric WLL starting off quite slowly then cranking up the heat for a blazing performance. He sucks off the mic which is immediately followed by the most cartoonish expression of innocence and proceeds to finish on top of the steps in his back-bending rock star pose.
Monday, 22 November 2010
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Unplugged in Paris
This performance, which came as a complete surprise this morning, made me realise how long it's been since we last had a professional quality recording and what a beauty it is. As great as some of the concert videos have been, they're no comparison and it makes me even more eager to get my hands on that acoustic EP. Freakin' hell, that voice! It's best appreciated through headphones so put them on, sit back and enjoy.
We get to hear Adam attempt some French before that soothing velvety voice works its magic and seduces us. The voice is so close I can almost feel the breath on my neck and my hair stand on end. The breathiness, the drawn-out notes and the way he works in that vibrato are agonisingly tender. There are a number of change-ups and the guitar is bouncier than the previous NRJ version from Berlin. The studio audience feels it and ends up clapping along, even providing a backing vocal at one point. I think I can see him lift just a little with that energy exchange. Simply beautiful.
We get to hear Adam attempt some French before that soothing velvety voice works its magic and seduces us. The voice is so close I can almost feel the breath on my neck and my hair stand on end. The breathiness, the drawn-out notes and the way he works in that vibrato are agonisingly tender. There are a number of change-ups and the guitar is bouncier than the previous NRJ version from Berlin. The studio audience feels it and ends up clapping along, even providing a backing vocal at one point. I think I can see him lift just a little with that energy exchange. Simply beautiful.
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Glam Nation: Stuttgart
Mercifully there don't seem to be major sound issues, no off-key moments and Adam's voice is on top form. He also seems to be in a mischievous mood, repeating the finger-sucking crowd fondle of Fever and humping Tommy during the band intro. Other moments setting the crowd alight are the Tommy-by-the-crotchular-region and the wild writhing and crawling floorgasm during the TCB encore which is not to be missed! Here are my video picks:
Tuesday, 16 November 2010
Uncle Sam-Bert
I was hanging around on Twitter today when the news arrived of Adam's acoustic EP. I was left bemused by the track listing, which consists of WWFM, MA, Aftermath, Soaked and MW. I expected that MW would be consigned to history and we'd get an acoustic Sleepwalker. Judging by the reactions, I'm not the only one. I hope it's not the jazzed up version of MW (which I've never thought of as befitting the lyrics), and that the production does his voice justice. Among my favourite acoustic versions of the above songs are the NRJ WWFM, MetMichiel MA, Regis and Kelly MW and any tour versions of Soaked and Aftermath.
This news was shortly followed by the release of the EP cover:
It's a Lee Cherry creation and funnily enough, just like the original FYE cover, I initially thought it was a Photoshopped fan art job and tried to place the photos from they came. The jewellery is from the Frontiers shoot, the hand could be from any number of photos... then I realised it was the real cover.
I found it a surprising choice for an acoustic EP and wondered whether he was being packaged up with stars and stripes to re-invent him as a good ole all-American boy. But it's Adam, and one of the things I love most about him is his slightly sneaky subversive streak. The colours might be patriotic but I see in it a nod to punk, especially with the eroded typeface. The black-and-white shirtless photo shows Adam as full of attitude with a proud but slightly disdainful expression. His fingers could easily be facing the other way and it would still be entirely appropriate. With the halo around his head, he flirts with religious imagery. Gay messiah, rock god, rebel against American religious nuts, whatever you wish to interpret from it, the choice of lyrics from Music Again in the background is telling — a reminder of what it is and should always be about. It's a very bold, striking cover and I'm glad he steered away from the ordinary. Love it!
This news was shortly followed by the release of the EP cover:
It's a Lee Cherry creation and funnily enough, just like the original FYE cover, I initially thought it was a Photoshopped fan art job and tried to place the photos from they came. The jewellery is from the Frontiers shoot, the hand could be from any number of photos... then I realised it was the real cover.
I found it a surprising choice for an acoustic EP and wondered whether he was being packaged up with stars and stripes to re-invent him as a good ole all-American boy. But it's Adam, and one of the things I love most about him is his slightly sneaky subversive streak. The colours might be patriotic but I see in it a nod to punk, especially with the eroded typeface. The black-and-white shirtless photo shows Adam as full of attitude with a proud but slightly disdainful expression. His fingers could easily be facing the other way and it would still be entirely appropriate. With the halo around his head, he flirts with religious imagery. Gay messiah, rock god, rebel against American religious nuts, whatever you wish to interpret from it, the choice of lyrics from Music Again in the background is telling — a reminder of what it is and should always be about. It's a very bold, striking cover and I'm glad he steered away from the ordinary. Love it!
Glam Nation: Berlin
At this concert, I find myself staring at Adam's wayward tuft of hair and it reflects his wild energy. He's on fire and frisky for Fever, where he brings the mic right up to the sloppy kiss and spanks Taylor. There's plenty of crotch grabbing, finger-sucking and fingering the crowd. He gets down on his knees for a brilliant Sleepwalker then sings along to the intro for Soaked. He gets audience to scream out in Aftermath. For Strut, he starts with a bandy-legged dance and I start to realise something is very wrong as he sounds low — way off-key and seems unable to correct it. It must be the worst I've ever heard him sound. In the middle of the performance, he struts off stage while the dancers continue and the crowd sings in Adam's place. He comes back to apologise at the end and explains that he was choking. The conspiracy theorist in me doesn't believe he was choking, only that he wanted to avoid criticising the sound engineering. I have to feel for him as he must've had a horrid time to abandon the performance like that. It doesn't affect the energy and I think Adam puts even more into performing to make up for it. There are a lot of small melodic differences in this set which I think are a result of sound issues. IIHY has him spanking Tommy and leaping into the air and it finishes with a crotch-grabbing TCB encore.
Monday, 15 November 2010
Glam Nation: Hamburg
This is an unusual concert that stands out for many different reasons. The most notable of which is the lack of encore. Adam isn't too liberal with his high notes, there's no pause during Soaked and he takes off the long coat straight after Sleepwalker. The Hamburg audience also isn't treated to Broken Open. Apparently it was a bit rushed due to a curfew on the tiny venue. Here's my video selection:
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