In the town where Elvis will forever be the king of rock and roll, Adam Lambert strolled out from behind the stage at the FedEx Forum in Downtown Memphis looking and sounding like someone ready to take his place if not as the new king most decidedly as the newest superstar of his generation.
That there were nine other American Idols also there to perform was, well, I'm so sorry guys we do love you too but facts are facts, rather incidental. The star we were there to see did not disappoint, and even had his hairstyle in the Elvis pompadour he also sported in San Jose -- perhaps as much a tribute to the late great king and the Idols' visit to Graceland as a testament to his own sense of humor and panache. Adam loves to keep us guessing and we love that about him.
So here we are in Memphis, gateway to the mid-south, where the Pyramid Arena erected in 1991 along the banks of the Mississippi River stands in tribute to its sister in Egypt. It's a fitting city in which to greet our Glittery Alien from the Planet Fierce sporting Elvis hair and an Eye of Horus tattoo on this, the 15th stop of a 52-city tour.
Incredibly it seemed at first to be a fairly low key crowd in Memphis, with many people remaining in their seats for most of the first half. But just before Adam came on stage, as well as any time his image appeared on the screen, it was clear who we were all there to see. The genteel, more subdued applause from earlier sets turned to nonstop screaming for our boy.
The Memphis crowd absolutely adored Adam, especially fans like myself who had driven for hours or even flown in for the chance to witness the birth of an icon and ride along on board the Starship Adam. We were everywhere, it seemed, and we were a happy, happy group in our sparkly outfits, black fingernails, glittery accoutrements and blue hair extensions.
My fourth row seat stage left was the perfect spot to see the details of Adam's now legendary Skingraft jacket and all his very sexy moves, especially those in Whole Lotta Love and Fame. A glare from the spotlight made him very hard to see during Mad World and Life on Mars, but I will never forget the ethereal sound of his voice soaring through the stadium and into my heart forever. How I managed to fall in love with a gay rock star I will never ever know. If there is a concert anywhere near you, you must go and hear him in person. I'm so glad I did.
Although showing some signs of strain after four concerts in a row, Adam's vocal performance was phenomenal and seeing him dancing right before me was like having an intimate and passionate illicit affair, surpassing the expectations I already had from watching his earlier concert performances on YouTube. What Adam did not provide us in his signature higher range was met with some beautiful lower notes that I especially appreciated because I know he was trying to give us all he could without destroying his voice on what has to be by now an especially grueling tour.
I was so entranced at the concert, so happy to be there and see him in person after following him on television and the Internet (which I have never done for any other celebrity), that I think I probably missed a lot, especially while trying to take photos and make an effort to "tweet" as soon as I could to confirm his hairstyle, upload a fuzzy photo that was the best my iphone could deliver under the circumstances, and let those following along via Internet know what they were all waiting for -- whether he would sing "woman" (yes) or "baby" to us that night. I am grateful to those who captured the night on video, especially needacoke (Dianne) from TALC who sat right in front of me and had a backstage pass (she also took the now-famous photo of the shirtless trio who had Adam sign their chest). Thanks to her, I can revisit and reclaim what I experienced in an altered state of consciousness. I don't think I am quite back to normal even now, days later, as I find myself re-imagining the night in my mind.
I still have almost no recollection of Starlight. I know I heard it, but I think I was somewhere out of body at the time. Perhaps others were similarly indisposed as there apparently is only one small video snippet of Starlight available from Memphis, captured by a Kris fan.
Adam is a master of improvisation, and although the Memphis crowd did not provide him with any extra "props" thrown on stage (ie., as in the bras tossed at earlier venues), Adam definitely worked in a few new moves during Whole Lotta Love, Fame and Let's Dance. I noticed what looked like some new salsa steps and a few extra slinky slinks and come hither motions that sent me further into my already altered state. Perhaps he is by now so comfortable with his choreography that he's beginning to change it up even more as we know he loves to do. I managed to snap a photo -- although unfortunately an out-of-focus one -- at that fabulous "hard to swallow" moment. Note to self: Invest in a decent digital/video camera with zoom lens before St. Louis concert.
As has already been lamented by many, Adam's set was over too quickly and before I knew it, he had descended via the elevator and Kris was on stage and also getting plenty of love from the audience. Kris was really good, too, and I wish him all the best. He is uber talented and he rocked it out in his own special way. His performance of All These Things That I've Done is a welcome change from No Boundaries. I loved Ain't No Sunshine, which along with Falling Slowly are the only non-Adam Idol performances I have actually purchased and synced to my iphone. But it seemed that most of the people there cheering for Kris were also huge Adam fans who love Kris for both his talent and for the fact that he loves Adam, too. The Kradam love was all around.
Among the other Top 10 Idols, I really enjoyed Matt's set. He was full of energy and other than Adam and Kris, he and Allison seemed to connect the most with the crowd. People may not have all been standing up and dancing but they definitely had their glowsticks out for Matt.
Allison was loud and rocked the house well with the soulful voice that is so beyond her years. For her much of the Memphis crowd finally came up out of their seats, at least for awhile.
Scott's piano playing was brilliant and beautiful, but as a singer he seems to be a bit of a classically trained square peg trying to fit into a trendy pop round hole. I have always liked his voice.
Anoop and Danny have some unique features to their voices, but they each seem awkward and forced as performers. I do not feel comfortable watching them, sorry.
Michael sang well I thought, especially with Suspicious Minds during the group number, but I was distracted by his jacket and the huge cross mixed with spider webs.
Megan was beautiful but I was distracted by the odd sign icons behind her on screen.
Lil, I was hoping, would get an especially warm welcome from her hometown, and it did seem they appreciated her, but I was disappointed she did not get a bigger ovation just for being herself and getting as far as she did. Her set was good, but it still felt like she was giving us someone besides Lil, and that's who she needs to be in all her glory and talent because she's definitely got it.
I was also glad to see 11th-place finisher Alexis Grace in the audience. She belongs on this tour. It seemed a shame she could not go on stage and sing for us as well.
In addition to experiencing the concert, I loved getting to meet other Glamberts, Adam Bombs, TALC fans and forum members from adamofficial.com. The gathering outside prior to the concert seemed almost like our own special Trekkies convention. It was fun to be part such a loving group of fans. I met 80sMom (Kara), legend of the laundry thread who drove up with her husband and two children all the way from New Orleans, and I also got to meet loveadamlove (Bailey) and see her incredible oversized Adam scrapbook with all his outfits from every performance lovingly and creatively recreated in fabric. There were some very supportive male fans there as well, including one guy who said he had a Mimosa at the same restaurant as Adam that morning and had left behind his elderly mom who would also be coming to the concert later while he braved the sun and heat to join the Meet & Greet hopefuls. We knew Adam would not be coming out after the show but thought that maybe just this once he might come out beforehand (he did not, as you know by now).
Although I was disappointed not to meet or see Adam off stage, I really don't want to be part of the craziness/fan mania that is now following his every move. I think it's best to back off at this point, especially after the Tampa rumors and security worries. Still, I'm hopeful that maybe in St. Louis I will have a chance to meet him or at least see him walk by and maybe look my way, but perhaps only if by some miracle I can acquire a backstage pass or be part of an impossibly smaller, respectful Meet & Greet gathering.
So my Memphis concert experience has come and gone, the sun setting on Graceland and the Pyramid growing smaller in our rear view mirror. Our concert's own signature moments (Whole Lotta Love microphone love, shirtless guys back stage) are beginning to fade in the face of Adam's newest antics (red cat-o-ninetails and handcuffs at the next venue in Tampa).
I know more great concert moments await those of us still tuning in to rickey.org's latest underwater cellcasts aptly dubbed the best worst show ever, following the tweets from concert-goers and hoping for more livecasts. While I can't explain what has happened to us all, there are many of us still under his spell as 2009 and the dawning of Adam on American Idol becomes the summer of Adam and the much anticipated fall release of Adam On His Own.
All I know is Adam makes me happy, and he makes a lot of us very happy.
I hope he knows that.
Home » Events » FedEx Forum » Memories of Memphis: Graceland Greets the Starship Adam
In the town where Elvis will forever be the king of rock and roll, Adam Lambert strolled out from behind the stage at the FedEx Forum in Downtown Memphis looking and sounding like someone ready to take his place if not as the new king most decidedly as the newest superstar of his generation.
That there were nine other American Idols also there to perform was, well, I'm so sorry guys we do love you too but facts are facts, rather incidental. The star we were there to see did not disappoint, and even had his hairstyle in the Elvis pompadour he also sported in San Jose -- perhaps as much a tribute to the late great king and the Idols' visit to Graceland as a testament to his own sense of humor and panache. Adam loves to keep us guessing and we love that about him.
So here we are in Memphis, gateway to the mid-south, where the Pyramid Arena erected in 1991 along the banks of the Mississippi River stands in tribute to its sister in Egypt. It's a fitting city in which to greet our Glittery Alien from the Planet Fierce sporting Elvis hair and an Eye of Horus tattoo on this, the 15th stop of a 52-city tour.
Incredibly it seemed at first to be a fairly low key crowd in Memphis, with many people remaining in their seats for most of the first half. But just before Adam came on stage, as well as any time his image appeared on the screen, it was clear who we were all there to see. The genteel, more subdued applause from earlier sets turned to nonstop screaming for our boy.
The Memphis crowd absolutely adored Adam, especially fans like myself who had driven for hours or even flown in for the chance to witness the birth of an icon and ride along on board the Starship Adam. We were everywhere, it seemed, and we were a happy, happy group in our sparkly outfits, black fingernails, glittery accoutrements and blue hair extensions.
My fourth row seat stage left was the perfect spot to see the details of Adam's now legendary Skingraft jacket and all his very sexy moves, especially those in Whole Lotta Love and Fame. A glare from the spotlight made him very hard to see during Mad World and Life on Mars, but I will never forget the ethereal sound of his voice soaring through the stadium and into my heart forever. How I managed to fall in love with a gay rock star I will never ever know. If there is a concert anywhere near you, you must go and hear him in person. I'm so glad I did.
Although showing some signs of strain after four concerts in a row, Adam's vocal performance was phenomenal and seeing him dancing right before me was like having an intimate and passionate illicit affair, surpassing the expectations I already had from watching his earlier concert performances on YouTube. What Adam did not provide us in his signature higher range was met with some beautiful lower notes that I especially appreciated because I know he was trying to give us all he could without destroying his voice on what has to be by now an especially grueling tour.
I was so entranced at the concert, so happy to be there and see him in person after following him on television and the Internet (which I have never done for any other celebrity), that I think I probably missed a lot, especially while trying to take photos and make an effort to "tweet" as soon as I could to confirm his hairstyle, upload a fuzzy photo that was the best my iphone could deliver under the circumstances, and let those following along via Internet know what they were all waiting for -- whether he would sing "woman" (yes) or "baby" to us that night. I am grateful to those who captured the night on video, especially needacoke (Dianne) from TALC who sat right in front of me and had a backstage pass (she also took the now-famous photo of the shirtless trio who had Adam sign their chest). Thanks to her, I can revisit and reclaim what I experienced in an altered state of consciousness. I don't think I am quite back to normal even now, days later, as I find myself re-imagining the night in my mind.
I still have almost no recollection of Starlight. I know I heard it, but I think I was somewhere out of body at the time. Perhaps others were similarly indisposed as there apparently is only one small video snippet of Starlight available from Memphis, captured by a Kris fan.
Adam is a master of improvisation, and although the Memphis crowd did not provide him with any extra "props" thrown on stage (ie., as in the bras tossed at earlier venues), Adam definitely worked in a few new moves during Whole Lotta Love, Fame and Let's Dance. I noticed what looked like some new salsa steps and a few extra slinky slinks and come hither motions that sent me further into my already altered state. Perhaps he is by now so comfortable with his choreography that he's beginning to change it up even more as we know he loves to do. I managed to snap a photo -- although unfortunately an out-of-focus one -- at that fabulous "hard to swallow" moment. Note to self: Invest in a decent digital/video camera with zoom lens before St. Louis concert.
As has already been lamented by many, Adam's set was over too quickly and before I knew it, he had descended via the elevator and Kris was on stage and also getting plenty of love from the audience. Kris was really good, too, and I wish him all the best. He is uber talented and he rocked it out in his own special way. His performance of All These Things That I've Done is a welcome change from No Boundaries. I loved Ain't No Sunshine, which along with Falling Slowly are the only non-Adam Idol performances I have actually purchased and synced to my iphone. But it seemed that most of the people there cheering for Kris were also huge Adam fans who love Kris for both his talent and for the fact that he loves Adam, too. The Kradam love was all around.
Among the other Top 10 Idols, I really enjoyed Matt's set. He was full of energy and other than Adam and Kris, he and Allison seemed to connect the most with the crowd. People may not have all been standing up and dancing but they definitely had their glowsticks out for Matt.
Allison was loud and rocked the house well with the soulful voice that is so beyond her years. For her much of the Memphis crowd finally came up out of their seats, at least for awhile.
Scott's piano playing was brilliant and beautiful, but as a singer he seems to be a bit of a classically trained square peg trying to fit into a trendy pop round hole. I have always liked his voice.
Anoop and Danny have some unique features to their voices, but they each seem awkward and forced as performers. I do not feel comfortable watching them, sorry.
Michael sang well I thought, especially with Suspicious Minds during the group number, but I was distracted by his jacket and the huge cross mixed with spider webs.
Megan was beautiful but I was distracted by the odd sign icons behind her on screen.
Lil, I was hoping, would get an especially warm welcome from her hometown, and it did seem they appreciated her, but I was disappointed she did not get a bigger ovation just for being herself and getting as far as she did. Her set was good, but it still felt like she was giving us someone besides Lil, and that's who she needs to be in all her glory and talent because she's definitely got it.
I was also glad to see 11th-place finisher Alexis Grace in the audience. She belongs on this tour. It seemed a shame she could not go on stage and sing for us as well.
In addition to experiencing the concert, I loved getting to meet other Glamberts, Adam Bombs, TALC fans and forum members from adamofficial.com. The gathering outside prior to the concert seemed almost like our own special Trekkies convention. It was fun to be part such a loving group of fans. I met 80sMom (Kara), legend of the laundry thread who drove up with her husband and two children all the way from New Orleans, and I also got to meet loveadamlove (Bailey) and see her incredible oversized Adam scrapbook with all his outfits from every performance lovingly and creatively recreated in fabric. There were some very supportive male fans there as well, including one guy who said he had a Mimosa at the same restaurant as Adam that morning and had left behind his elderly mom who would also be coming to the concert later while he braved the sun and heat to join the Meet & Greet hopefuls. We knew Adam would not be coming out after the show but thought that maybe just this once he might come out beforehand (he did not, as you know by now).
Although I was disappointed not to meet or see Adam off stage, I really don't want to be part of the craziness/fan mania that is now following his every move. I think it's best to back off at this point, especially after the Tampa rumors and security worries. Still, I'm hopeful that maybe in St. Louis I will have a chance to meet him or at least see him walk by and maybe look my way, but perhaps only if by some miracle I can acquire a backstage pass or be part of an impossibly smaller, respectful Meet & Greet gathering.
So my Memphis concert experience has come and gone, the sun setting on Graceland and the Pyramid growing smaller in our rear view mirror. Our concert's own signature moments (Whole Lotta Love microphone love, shirtless guys back stage) are beginning to fade in the face of Adam's newest antics (red cat-o-ninetails and handcuffs at the next venue in Tampa).
I know more great concert moments await those of us still tuning in to rickey.org's latest underwater cellcasts aptly dubbed the best worst show ever, following the tweets from concert-goers and hoping for more livecasts. While I can't explain what has happened to us all, there are many of us still under his spell as 2009 and the dawning of Adam on American Idol becomes the summer of Adam and the much anticipated fall release of Adam On His Own.
All I know is Adam makes me happy, and he makes a lot of us very happy.
I hope he knows that.