Adam Lambert - Glam Nation Tour: Concert Recap

PLEASE NOTE: This show was almost 9 years ago, so my memory of it isn’t very good. I’ll write what I can, but it’s going to be relatively short. I will be using Setlist.fm, as well as Adam’s live album, Glam Nation Live, as reference so I can be a little more specific in places where I remember something, but not clearly enough to write about.

Background:

I think it’s only appropriate that I start the part of this blog where I talk about the concerts I've been to off by talking about the very first concert that I ever went to. Weirdly enough, I didn’t even want to go to this concert. In case the title of this post didn't tip you off, the concert was Adam Lambert. For those of you who don’t know, Adam Lambert was the season 8 runner-up on American Idol.

My sister, Carole, was a huge Adam Lambert fan at the time (she still is). When I say “huge”, I don’t mean it in the sense of, “yeah, Adam Lambert is my favorite singer/band. I listen to other people, but he’s my main go-to.” No, I mean it in the sense of her listening to his music practically on loop, and [almost] crying at even the mention of the dudes name. So naturally, when she found out that he was going on tour and was going to be playing our city, she was ecstatic. So of course, the show sold out before she got the chance to get tickets. However, after much asking our parents to go to the concert, they ended up finding 4 tickets to the show on Craigslist. The thing was that there were only 3 people going: Carole, her friend, and our mother. The day of the show, I was asked if I wanted to take the 4th spot because my parents didn’t want the ticket go to waste. Naturally, after enduring many hours of my sister playing his music on repeat, I was honestly sick of it. However, I was eventually convinced to go. Obviously, or otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this. So off to Adam Lambert I went!

Date/City: June 14, 2010 - Columbus, OH

Venue: LC Pavilion (Indoors) [Now EXPRESS Live!]

Capacity: 2200

The venue itself wasn’t bad. I walked in the doors, and the first thing I saw was the merch stand off to the left. I didn’t know that concert merch was a thing, so it was kind of cool seeing what there was. Past that, also on the left, the main floor. If you kept going, you would hit the steps to go up to the balcony that wraps around the floor and overlooks the stage. The balcony has some actual seating, but if I remember correctly, it’s for people with VIP seating or something like that. The venue was clean and neatly kept. There wasn’t a lot to look at inside it, but at the same time it wasn’t boring either. Not the most exciting place, but there wasn't anything bad about it.

The Sound:

This is the thing that I remember most about this concert. While the show itself ended up being fantastic, I’m just going to be straight up - the sound sucked. Even with this being almost 9 years ago, I still remember it pretty clearly. I don’t know who the sound person was, but they didn’t do a good job at making sure that the sound was set reasonably. For starters, the mix of the instruments and vocals was not very well balanced. The mix was imbalanced for most of the show, with some things being much louder than they should have been, and some instruments were being drowned out because of it. Then to add on top of that, the master volume was turned up way too loud. As if the mix wasn’t already bad enough, the master volume being up as loud as it was just made everything sound distorted. The sound guy seemed to be under the pretense that he was doing FOH (front of house) for a show at an arena rather than a little 2200 person club. My ears were ringing really badly after the show. I know that this was 9 years ago, but even at 12 years old I had a basic grasp at telling a good mix from a bad one. 

The Show:

I would love to talk about the show openers, but if I’m being completely honest, I have no recollection of what the openers were like. All I know is that Orianthi was one of them, and that Allison Iraheta was the other. So I’m just going to talk about Lambert himself. Oh yeah, Allison Iraheta was also on American Idol the same season as Adam was.

He preceded his first song with a remix of his song “For Your Entertainment”, before leading into his first song, ‘Voodoo”. When Adam Lambert took the stage, it was like a sound bomb went off. A sharp, ear-piercing sound bomb. It was pretty much a combination of teen/preteen girls, middle aged women and gay guys [because let’s face it, I was probably one of the only straight dudes there lol (Disclaimer - I have nothing against gay people, I’m just being realistic)] screaming their heads off because Adam Eye-Candy was now standing on stage right before their very, unworthy eyes. The stage setup wasn't anything special. The drums were off to the back-right and the keyboards were to the back-left, both on risers, with a platform with stairs leading up to it for Lambert to access. There was also an LED screen in the back that showed certain pictures to go along with each song. The energy of the show was quite awesome. The crowd was singing along to every song that he performed, even the lesser known ones. Adam’s voice was incredible, and just as wild and flamboyant as the outfits that he was wearing. Seriously, his first outfit had a top hat with feathers coming out the back, a coat with a fur fringe, as well as a walking stick with a skull and more feathers and fur. Not to mention the less-than-subtle amount of makeup he had on and crazy hair style. His whole starting outfit was like Billie Joe Armstrong meets the vampire kids from South Park meets 1970s Elton John. His band also seemed to be having a great time being on stage with Adam. They all sounded really good together, and from what I could tell they didn't miss a beat or a note.

One of the things that I really liked about his show was how interactive he was with the audience. This showed throughout the whole show, but especially during his acoustic set that he did toward the middle of his overall set. During this, the atmosphere definitely changed. It was a lot more laid back, and a lot more personable than when the full band was on. It was during this little set that he sang one of only 2 songs that I knew, “Whataya Want From Me”, the other being his cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire”. His voice really shined in these three songs, as he wasn’t dancing or walking, or anything like that that could have somewhat inhibited his voice. After his band came back on, he finished out his set. Before the song “If I Had You”, he introduced each of the persons in his band, and gave each of them a moment in the spotlight. He did the same for his dancers, extending the middle of the song in order to introduce each of them and give them the stage for a moment. I think this part was cool because a lot of performers would have just gone through each person, saying their name with the audience reciprocating with a quick courtesy round of applause. He finished out the show with an acoustic cover of Tears For Fears' "Mad World".

I will say that aside from the bad sound, there was another thing that I was annoyed with. I say that it was an "annoyance" rather than a "problem" because there wasn't anything that could have been done about it. The venue is standing room only, and I was standing in the very back of the crowd. Because of that, it was difficult for 12 year old me to find a good spot to stand. I went up to the balcony a few times to see if there was any open seats, but to no avail. I would switch back and forth between standing at the very back of the crowd and sitting against a back wall. It wasn’t the most ideal situation for me, but I didn’t really mind all that much since I didn’t want to be there all that much. It was a little frustrating though because if I was to see Lambert, I at least wanted to actually see him. That being said, it’s just the nature of a GA floor concert. Plus, again, I was only 12 at the time and still had some growing to do.

I really do wish I had more to say about this show, but like I said, it was a long time ago and I don't remember a lot of it. I’m actually kind of surprised I got this much out of it. If this says anything about how much I remember, according to my mother someone spilled a beer on me. I have absolutely no recollection of this. Maybe the beer somehow got me drunk and that’s why I don’t remember it. IDK.

Overall, it really wasn’t a bad concert. I didn’t know what to expect going into it, as I had never been to a concert before. Okay, I had been to a concert before, but going to the Columbus Symphony Orchestra on an elementary school field trip doesn’t really count for most people. It wasn’t the most memorable concert by any means, but I would definitely jump on the chance to see Adam Lambert again. He's fun to watch, his voice is fantastic, and he’s just all around entertaining when on stage. While the experience (aside from the show itself) was definitely not ideal, it was a learning one. It was my first exposure to pop/rock concerts and the nature of them. I am much more experienced with concerts now, and seeing Adam helped me to determine what I’m comfortable with at concerts with GA standing room floors. With all the experience I’ve since gained under my belt, since Adam was the only concert I’ve seen indoors at the LC Pavilion, I would love the chance to see another one there and compare the two experiences. I’m going to be seeing Queen + Adam Lambert in August with my family, which I’m really looking forward to. I do hope to see him again as a solo artist though, and I definitely recommend that you see him if you ever get the chance. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

PHOTO CREDIT: All photos were taken by Carole Essex.

Setlist: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/adam-lambert/2010/lifestyle-communities-pavilion-columbus-oh-4bd5330a.html