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Celebrating 25 Years Of The West Wing

Adele Live In New York City (NBC)

Tara Ariano

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27bored

27bored

(edited)

Overall, I loved it.

 

Can't say I was feeling Adele's look. She looked like she borrowed one of her mom's dresses for a wedding. It was her big night; it would've been nice to see her really done up. With the weight loss and the big album and whatnot, I wish she had gone more bold. Worn color with her hair down.

 

Adele's voice has an interesting live quality. On record her voice sounds like it will blow you over if you stand too long. Not a lot of punch, but strong all the same. I think I remember someone saying her voice sounds like a whale's song. But live, her voice isn't bad by any means, but it is raw. You can hear the pitch and key changes. Slightly less precision. She sounds more human, which gives her songs something and takes something away at the same time. I think it partially has something to do with the venue. Adele's delivery is that of a diva, but her songs have a certain singer-songwriter quality that don't entirely work for large venues like Radio City Music Hall. Mid-sized auditoriums and theaters, maybe. When the song works, as most of Adele's do, she sounds ten feet tall. During the rare moments that it doesn't, she sounds like she could be an anonymous Broadway performer doing selections from a musical she's currently in. Like, she's singing to the song and of the character she's playing and not as an artist. It's good, it works, but it's not particularly memorable after it's over.

 

For me, the moment of the evening came early on "Set Fire to the Rain". She usually never goes for that high note at the end, so when she did this time I started applauding. I kind of wish she'd saved that performance for later on in the set. I actually think "Set Fire to the Rain" is probably her best song on any record. For me it's more impacting than "Rolling in the Deep" and "Chasing Pavements" and "Someone Like You". Speaking of "Rolling in the Deep", did anybody catch that the censors didn't catch the "lay your shit bare" line? Maybe because it was almost 11 that they let her have that one, but I was surprised.

 

The entire thing felt like a PBS concert to a big extent -- not a lot of fluff or theatrics -- but good performances by Adele. I love that she seems genuine, I love her regular girl mien (swearing and all), and I love that someone with real talent is being celebrated.

Edited by 27bored
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Eliz

Eliz

It's so classic: I'm just going to stand here in a floor-length gown and belt it out. Sure, I have some frills like an all-girl orchestra floating in the sky, but basically it's just stand and deliver.

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

Did I miss this??? When was this on??

I love Adele.

It was on last night at 10, on NBC. I missed it too--fell asleep before 10 (but, to be fair, I'm still sort of recovering from 2 hospitalizations in the last 15 months, both of which started in the ICU & resulted in pretty major surgeries; the last of which was an infection which also resulted in kidney failure, so...).

Maybe we'll both get lucky & NBC will repeat it, like they're gonna do with The Wiz Live!. I'm not a huge fan of hers, yet, but I have her version of To Make You Feel My Love, so far, & would like to see her special if I still can.

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Rosieroo

Rosieroo

(edited)

 

It was on last night at 10, on NBC. I missed it too--fell asleep before 10 (but, to be fair, I'm still sort of recovering from 2 hospitalizations in the last 15 months, both of which started in the ICU & resulted in pretty major surgeries; the last of which was an infection which also resulted in kidney failure, so...).

Me? Is that you? I'll see your two hospitalizations, two surgeries and a nasty staph infection and raise you one wheelchair.  

 

I knew it was coming on and made every effort to stay up and watch but only made it through two songs before pain meds kicked in and I was out.  I did record it though and will watch with my cheerios.

 

eta: I hope you feel better soon.   

Edited by Rosieroo
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EDeck24

EDeck24

I set the DVR because I intended to go to bed (the littles have bad colds, gotta sleep when they do), but when I returned from brushing my teeth, but DVR had tuned to that channel and I watched the entire thing. She is seriously a force a nature! Also she gives me unreasonable expectations about the practicality of inch-long fake eyelashes in a real world setting. ("Maybe on Christmas....")

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gaileygirl

gaileygirl

 

Det. Lenny Briscoe: "Hello" (now I'm crying)

 

Oh, Jerry Orbach, how I miss you so.

 

This concert game me such feels. My husband got up to leave the room just before "Rolling In The Deep" to watch the Giant game so "his man card wouldn't get revoked." I think he was going to cry alone.

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

(edited)

Me? Is that you? I'll see your two hospitalizations, two surgeries and a nasty staph infection and raise you one wheelchair.

I knew it was coming on and made every effort to stay up and watch but only made it through two songs before pain meds kicked in and I was out. I did record it though and will watch with my cheerios.

eta: I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks. It wasn't a staph infection though--more like urinary tract, thanks to a kidney stone I didn't know I had in a ureter (born with Spina Bifida so I don't have a lotta feeling where I'd normally feel the stone), & somehow the whole thing blew up into kidney failure &, of course, I had to have the stone surgically & laser lithotripsy removed & a stent put in to keep the formerly blocked ureter open. That was in the whole last half of October & I'm still trying to get my energy back. And that whole paragraph, beyond like the 1st 2 sentences, was TMI. Sorry. But thanks again.

I'm gonna be scanning the listings for a rerun of the show, like I said. If I find anything, I'll post. Of course I'll probably fall asleep when that's on too.

Edited by BW Manilowe
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CaughtOnTape

CaughtOnTape

It amazes me that she just opens her mouth and sounds like that.

 

It looks like it takes her no effort.  When she said singing was hard I was like...really?  Because you don't look like it's hard.

She's insanely cute.  So shocked that people still wanted to see her and hear her voice.

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rcc

rcc

I thought Adele was so endearing last night. She sang as only she can, cried and admitted to being nervous because she hadn't done a show in four years.

 

I'm glad NBC will air it again as I will watch her again. Loved it.

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Steph619

Steph619

(edited)

I simply love Adele! wish I had been there at Radio City to hear her live. Her voice is just amazing and effortless.

My favorite moment was when she hit that high note towards the end of "Set Fire to the Rain" and the audience went wild. She rarely goes for that note so it was a lovely surprise.

"Hello" was great and I loved "When We Were Young."

Edited by Steph619
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Archery

Archery

Normally I roll my eyes at all the Adele hysteria ("and in other news, Adele just invented music. . ."), but this concert was really stunning. I really liked the relieved smile she gave when she finished "Hello." Very endearing. This concert reminded me of Barbra Streisand's latter-day performances (just stand and sing), and Whitney Houston's live HBO concert from back in the day. There is something so amazing about a singer's singer just using her instrument without a zillion background dancers and bling.

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

I thought Adele was so endearing last night. She sang as only she can, cried and admitted to being nervous because she hadn't done a show in four years.

I'm glad NBC will air it again as I will watch her again. Loved it.

Has NBC actually announced a repeat date? I haven't seen anything except it's apparently streaming somewhere--which was said on Twitter earlier today, except they didn't say where it was streaming.

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rcc

rcc

Has NBC actually announced a repeat date? I haven't seen anything except it's apparently streaming somewhere--which was said on Twitter earlier today, except they didn't say where it was streaming.

Wednesday, Dec. 23 at 9 p.m. ET. I had read they were going to repeat it and looked it up on my online tv guide.

I only wish they hadn't cut "Hometown Glory" from the broadcast.

Thanks for posting this.

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truthaboutluv

truthaboutluv

No idea there was a thread for this but I guess that should have been obvious. So I'll just copy and paste the comment I made in her thread in the Music board. 

 

I loved the special and Adele sounded amazing. I could tell she was nervous when she first came out because you could sort of hear it in her voice. The first couple notes of Hello were a bit shaky but she really picked it up by the end and she nailed these songs, especially All I Ask and When We Were Young. However, if I'm going to be critical, three things bugged me.

One, no crowd shots. I know the show was directed by Lorne Michaels and I'm not sure that was a good idea because it felt like watching an SNL performance, where the camera focuses solely on the performer and you never see the audience. And that's fine for SNL. But when you're watching a concert like this was, I want to see the crowd reactions and enthusiasm and singing along.

Two, Adele's two female backup singers sound amazing but um, could they seem more lifeless? I know Adele's the star but I couldn't help noticing them and it just stood out how lackluster and kind of bland they seemed. There was like no energy coming from these two women.

Finally and this really bugged me because it is one of my favorite songs of Adele's but I can't believe they didn't show her performing Hometown Glory. Especially because I heard she dedicated the song to Paris and the victims, since she filmed the show a few days after the attack. Also, it means that they didn't show her performing any songs from her first album. I was really looking forward to that performance and bummed that they didn't show it. But all in all, pretty awesome show.

 

I only wish they hadn't cut "Hometown Glory" from the broadcast.

 

Thanks so much for the link and see my comment above for how I feel about them cutting it. I don't even understand why NBC just didn't make this a two hour special and show more of the songs. All or most of their shows are done until the new year, so it's not like they really have anything super important to show and I think Adele has proven she's like Midas right now. She touches it and it turns to gold. So why not fully capitalize on that?

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Quof

Quof

 

She sang as only she can, cried and admitted to being nervous because she hadn't done a show in four years.

Not to nitpick, but didn't she do Live at the BBC before this show?

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SimoneS

SimoneS

(edited)

I finally got around to watching Adele in concert. I am a new Adele fan so this was the first time that I have seen her in a live concert. I agree that she should have waited until she was less nervous to sing Hello. However, I enjoyed every song. She has a lovely voice. I see why she is so popular with her fans, she is such a "real person" in a time of fake celebrities. 

Edited by SimoneS
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Quof

Quof

I have seen Adele live twice, once in a small club when she was touring "19" and no one knew who she was, and once in a large venue when she was touring "21" (and I scored tickets to see her "25" tour in the fall).    As amazing as her voice is live and unenhanced, I could also just listen to her talk and tell stories.  She's a riot.  I recommend YouTubing her appearance on the Graham Norton show a few years ago.

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BW Manilowe

BW Manilowe

(edited)

The ratings were good, too, at 11.2M total viewers. For comparison, Kelly Clarkson's special was 3.53M total viewers.

To be fair, Kelly Clarkson's special was a rebroadcast & I think most viewers knew it; Adele's special was a first-run this year, though it also was rebroadcast on December 23rd. Kelly Clarkson's special first aired, like, last year (or in whichever year she released her Christmas CD, Wrapped in Red).

Edited by BW Manilowe
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Shades of Red

Shades of Red

Not to nitpick, but didn't she do Live at the BBC before this show?

She did and it was a special that CTV ran up here in Canada.  It was her singing and being interviewed by Graham Norton.  It was the equivalent of a one hour Graham Norton special focused on Adele.  I think the venue was smaller and it was "at home" vs overseas.  There must have been a comfort level performing before a smaller hometown crowd and having someone to talk to in between songs, vs all on your own in a large international venue.  Just my two cents.

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