Adele

 

Adele's world-famous eyes

 

I fell in love with Adele as soon as I heard her sing on the 2012 Grammy Awards show. She took home six Grammys that night and, like millions of (mostly female) people around the globe, I became a fan. I haven't memorized every lyric she's ever written, but I do love her incredible voice, which just rips the heart right out your chest when she sings about affairs gone wrong (her usual topic). When not singing, she's completely down-to-earth, reverting to her middle-class British accent and roots. Who in the world hasn't already seen her chatter on and sing joyously with James Corden in perhaps his most famous "Carpool Karaoke" segment yet?

"Carpool Karaoke" with James Corden

Late last year, Adele announced that she would be appearing in six concerts at L.A.'s 17,000-seat Staples Center arena this month. Tickets sold-out immediately and so eventually two more concerts were added, breaking all Staples Center records. I wanted to go, but knew it would be impossible. That is, until two weeks ago, when Tim surprised me with tickets for our 30th anniversary! We saw Adele in concert last night.

 

 Waiting for the concert to start

Needless to say, she was amazing. The stage, featuring a photo of her highly-recognizable (and beautiful) eyes, was on one end of the arena. Our seats were in the center on the premier level. I had read that she also sang on a smaller stage in the middle of the audience; but imagine our surprise when she came rising up right in front of us, singing her first song, the blockbuster hit "Hello." The crowd went wild. I burst into tears, before starting to scream like everyone else! Adele then walked through her fans and up onto the main stage. Who else would dare do such a thing?

 

"Hello"

 

Her voice, of course, was glorious. People sang along—which Adele actually encouraged—but for the most part, you could hear a pin drop while she was singing. I'm guessing we were all equally in awe of her talent. Between songs, she engaged with the audience, inviting three 11-year-old girls onto the stage for photos and, in her typically earthy language, provided the backstory to every song. At one point, Tim, who usually avoids all things Adele, turned to me and whispered, "She sounds like Eliza Doolittle!," which she indeed did.

 

On the main stage

 

I would have liked more singing and less talk, but this is what makes Adele Adele and is why she's so beloved. Everyone who has ever suffered a broken heart can relate to her music and matter-of-fact persona. Not too deep down, she's just like us.

 

The concert ended back on the center stage with Adele singing "Set Fire to the Rain," while water poured all around her. Her encore ended with "Rolling in the Deep," the song that made me love her four years ago at the Grammys. It was all just about perfect.

 

Before the rain started to fall

 

Me, looking all girly-girl for Adele

 

P.S. I forgot to mention that in the middle of one particularly moving song, we suddenly heard screams to our left. There, just two rows in front of us, was a young man, down on his knee, proposing to his girlfriend. She accepted as everyone in our section applauded. Only at an Adele concert!

MJ R.I.P.

Though we were, of course, saddened by the death of Michael Jackson—someone we both admired when we were much younger—his passing took on a far more immediate note when it was announced that his memorial service would be held Tuesday at the Staples Center, across from L.A. Live, where Tim works. In fact, Tim’s reaction was very immediate.

“It’s going to be a #$%&ing zoo!” he grumped when he heard the news.

Obviously we appreciate the role Michael Jackson has played in the history of pop culture. But after a week, we had had enough of the constant media coverage, especially when so many more important issues were being neglected. (Hel-lo! Has The Today Show truly forgotten that people are still losing their jobs every day?!)

To make matters worse, on Monday the area surrounding Staples and L.A. Live was cordoned-off to memorial service ticketholders, the media and employees only, making downtown traffic even more heinous than usual. The last thing I remember saying to Tim before falling asleep Monday night was that he should leave for work as early as possible the next morning. The next thing I know, it's 5:45AM and he's kissing me good-bye! Groggy, I put on the news to see just how terrible the traffic was. An hour later, I called him to make sure he made it to work safely.

As I feared, despite leaving early he got caught in traffic and ended up paying $25 to park five blocks away. He showed his company ID to a police officer guarding the cordoned-off area, but was refused entry into L.A. Live; so he continued to walk around the perimeter until he found a more enlightened guard. Tim had just got to the office when I called.

“It’s a complete media circus here!” he complained. “Every morning news show is broadcasting from outside Staples.” (Click on the photos to see Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper and—gag!—Billie Bush.)




















I was teaching that afternoon and so watched the memorial service off-and-on while prepping for class. Although I swore I wouldn’t cry, I did get emotional during Brooke Shields’ speech, right when Tim decided to check-in. He had been running around taking pictures of the various news anchors while they were broadcasting. We compared notes on the service.

“It’s finally starting to hit me that MJ is dead,” I cried. “It’s very sad.”

“It is sad,” he said. He later told me that some of his male coworkers teared-up during “We Are the World,” the final song of the service.

I know it’s naive, but I do hope Michael Jackson can now finally rest in peace.