2010-08-28 Raleigh, NC (Memorial Auditorium)
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 7:09 pm
islandgirljams' date='Aug 29th 2010, 12:44 PM
BEST REVIEW EVER!!!
http://www.mytimesdispatch.com/index.php/p...t_the_national/
Concert review: Adam Lambert intoxicating at The National
Melissa Ruggieri
August 28, 2010 12:27 PM
What, no “Mad World”?
That is the only quibble with last night’s otherwise exhilarating Adam Lambert show at The National.
The “American Idol” also-ran turned in the kind of star-making performance that guarantees his club days are numbered. No doubt by his second or third album, he’ll be competing with his lesser-talented
Top 40 peers to fill arenas, and he already has the toughest part of that assignment – stage presence – aced.
Lambert has crafted an extraordinarily ambitious club run stuffed with lasers, scantily clad dancers, a visually appealing four-piece band and his own magnetic presence and pipes.
Throughout most of the too-brief 80-minute set, he looked like the result of an Alice Cooper and Cher mating (which is to say, fabulous) and sounded like a Broadway powerhouse.
His opening trio of songs unspooled in quick succession – “Voodoo,” “Down the Rabbit Hole” and his version of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” as moody and ethereal as it was on his “Idol” performance and complemented onstage by red lighting and fog.
Though Lambert immediately had the stuffed-to-the-rafters sold-out crowd mesmerized with his multi-octave voice, his physical presence— glittery black top hat, snug black leather pants and bare feet, with toenails painted black – proved equally alluring.
By performing most of the songs from his debut album, “For Your Entertainment,” Lambert displayed his affection for disco pop and glam rock, as well as his natural ability to recreate it all live, with nary a note of assistance from backup singers or band members. It’s all Lambert, and it’s all a ton of fun.
He’d be a fool not to release the Lady Gaga-penned “Fever” as his next single, given the song’s club stomping catchiness. But what impresses most about this 28-year-old theater vet is his ability to go from a fiery dance number such as “Fever” or “Strut” to a power ballad such as “Sleepwalker” or a lovely acoustic version of his hit, “Whataya Want From Me,” easily maintaining control of that massive
voice.
A highlight among many came on “Soaked,” a layered pop opera on record that Lambert performed live backed only by a quiet synthesizer. His voice reached the stratosphere on some notes, and then dipped to a pretty whisper before an acapella ending that was simply chill-inducing.
“That was his moment,” a nearby fan commented – and the only argument would be that the show was filled with many such “moments.”
Though many in the devoted crowd were likely bummed over the absence of “Mad World,” his star-making performance on “Idol,” that disappointment had to be mitigated by Lambert’s other encore choice – T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy,” the perfect capper for music’s newest glam rock king.
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