Music
Adele
SSE Hydro, Glasgow
Marianne Gunn
Five stars
"WHAT was that venue I played next to the Wetherspoons pub?" Adele quizzed chattily, as if talking to her mate.
"Come on, Glasgow! It wasn't King Tut's, but I'm not cool enough to play there!" For the audience members who remembered her city debut in the Classic Grand, it seemed incredible that this gobby singer can still create such an intimate environment in an arena space. "You've got me tattooed on your body?"
Cue of a cackle of a laugh and yet another invite up onto the stage for a kiss, quick squeeze and the inevitable selfie.
Opening with Hello, Hometown Glory and One and Only, the Academy Award-winning singer songwriter was in relaxed and playful form. "You nearly blew my dress off," she joked upon receiving a warm Scottish welcome.
"I've got two or three fast, upbeat, optimistic numbers. So have a dance now before they run out!" True to her word, her self-confessed "miserable songs" came thick and fast after Rumour Has It, with most of her recent album 25 featuring prominently as well as a best-of selection from albums 21 and 19.
Skyfall prompted a shout out to Paolo Nutini ("he has the best voice... that Iron Sky!") while Adele admitted she likes to imagine looking like Halle Berry when she sings it - complete with orange bikini.
Dressed in a full-length sparkly black gown, and looking particularly stunning, she appeared now - at the grand old age of 27 - comfortable in her own skin, heaping praise on her boyfriend and dedicating Sweetest Devotion to her young son. Although she looked like she had just stepped off the red carpet, it was refreshing that her mannerisms (swearing like a navvy and even stifling a burp) are not too far removed from the sticky carpets of her first Glasgow gig.
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