Adele’s First Las Vegas Residency: Jitters, Apologies, and a ‘walking Dead’ Shout-out!

By Willie Neal On Nov 20, 2022

The much anticipated two-hour debut performance of “Weekends With Adele” at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace was punctuated by tears, apologies, screaming fans, a shout-out to Céline Dion, and more than 30 minutes of banter…

Adele had a historic week before she walked the stage at The Colosseum at precisely 8:15 p.m. on Friday night. Adele garnered seven Grammy nominations. But she admitted on stage that Sunday’s main event will be the season finale of her favorite show, The Walking Dead.

I have a lot to share with you. I’ve had a bloody huge week. Can you believe that Sunday is the Walking Dead finale? Is anyone here a fan of The Walking Dead? Sunday marks the end of my more than ten-year obsession with The Walking Dead, and it’s also the opening night of the Grammys and the World Cup.

The singer’s set consisted of 20 songs, and this note was a lighter moment among the ones that were harsher than others. The evening was filled with apologies for the unexpected cancellation of “Weekends With Adele” in January of last year, just hours before the show was scheduled to begin its run. She explained to her fans in a video message earlier this year that the show “wasn’t ready.” Nobody in attendance seemed to care about that topic any longer nearly eleven months to the day after it had been brought up. Fans are happy to pay record amounts for tickets despite the skyrocketing prices, which have reached into the five-figure level for the five-month run.

When the throng of more than 4,000 people entered The Colosseum, they saw a single white piano on stage that was enclosed within a lit A-frame. Adele walked out right on time with her piano player Eric, dressed in a black gown with a design feature that resembled a constellation and, judging by how it looked, a custom-made Schiaparelli gown. She also had a firm policy that no one would be sitting while she was singing.

As soon as the music for “Hello” started, she gave off the impression that she was extremely anxious. “I’m shitting myself,” was the first thing she said to the audience when she was confronted. The venue was surrounded by four gigantic projected images of Adele as the space became enveloped by 180-degree floor-to-ceiling screens as the booming chorus began. This provided the audience with an up-close glimpse of the singer.

She was reduced to tears by the time “Hello” came to a close, at which point she stated, “I should be giving you a standing ovation, thank you so much for coming back to me.” You look fantastic, and it looks just like what I anticipated it would look like. Absolutely flawless. Thank you. Due to the fact that I won’t be able to leave the stage for around half an hour, I’m going to spend the first portion of the performance with smeared and streaked face makeup.

The song “Easy On Me,” which came second on the set list for the evening, was positioned in the most appropriate manner. Adele began the song by promising herself and the audience, “Hopefully, with time my nerves will leave.”

They did so quite swiftly. Soon enough, it appeared as though the singer was just as thrilled to be there as everyone else. She gushed with excitement as she paid homage to the goddess who “built” The Colosseum and said, “I’m not going to lie, I feel like Céline Dion… was the only reason why I wanted to sing in here.” Céline Dion was the goddess who “built” The Colosseum. It was because of her that it happened. ”

After she had finished taking care of all of that business, she devised a strategy for the evening. “This show, which we are all currently participating in, is one that expands, and I wanted to begin it on a modest scale. Because I want everything to be about me, I decided to come on and perform “Hello” with only the other person listening. I want to recreate for you the atmosphere that exists in the recording studio when I’m there.

When I want to start creating a song, the first thing I do is find a piano, sit down at it, and start messing around with it until I come up with something that I like. After that, I just start generating some sort of noise, and ultimately, a good number of the songs that you have hopefully already heard begin to take shape. Because my nerves are all over the place tonight, the performance might be a touch unsteady.”
She overcame her stage fright by putting herself in close proximity to the spectators, making multiple passes through the audience, and occupying a spot on the front of the stage that was designed just for her use. At one point, she asked, “Do you like my classy socks?” while showing off the fact that she wasn’t even wearing shoes but rather just a pair of athletic socks. The audience seems to lap up these experiences that they could relate to. She grabbed a T-shirt gun and shot it into the crowd, showering them with gifts that included some new apparel, a handwritten letter, and “$50 to have a drink.”

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Adele continues by saying, “So I was able to come to production rehearsals, and I had that very top balcony up there.” She moved some of the audience members from that section, which she referred to as “the two worst seats in the house,” to the front row as a sign of goodwill.

Her performance also included the song “Rumor Has It,” as well as “Skyfall,” which had a string section of 24 musicians performing behind her in the style of Hollywood Squares, with eight musicians seated in each row of three.
Adele was offstage during a pre-recorded presentation of her song “Cry Your Heart Out,” which included vaporous-like video images of her singing. Presumably taking a break to touch up that makeup, Adele was offstage during the performance of her song.

In addition, the show wowed the audience with even more stage effects. During the song “Hold On,” the venue seemed to transform into a lantern festival as synchronistically programmed lighted orbs danced above the audience. While Adele sang “Set Fire to the Rain,” the stage seemed to fill with cascading drops even as her piano and part of the stage lit up in flames. During “Hold On,” the venue felt like a festival of lanterns.

Before beginning “When We Were Young,” she went through the audience and asked everyone about their favorite childhood memories before beginning the song.

After she had finished performing “Hold On,” she, at last, gave her opinion on the rumors that had been circulating in the months since the postponement.

“There was so much crap written about me since and I tell you it is absolutely, completely made up. There have been rumors that I moved hotels and I was moving theatres and all this and never once did [Caesars] ask questions. “There was so much crap written about me since and I tell you it is absolutely, completely made up. She bemoaned, “They’ve been incredible; therefore, I am grateful to you for having me.” “It was the worst feeling I have ever had, but it was the best decision I have ever made,” said the person.

During the songs “Someone Like You” and “Rolling in the Deep,” the lights were turned up, the cameras were turned around, and the audience was projected onto the screens. This transformed the concert hall into a sing-along and dance-along party. During the final song, the piano momentarily floated in the air and gave the impression that it was breaking up, all while a dense confetti storm rained down from above, making it difficult to see the stage. During the final number, “Love Is a Game,” an additional shower of confetti was showered down from the ceiling while images of hearts on the screens displayed motivational messages.