Adele insists postponing Las Vegas residency was 'worst moment' of career
Adele has described postponing her Las Vegas residency as "the worst moment of (her) career".
In January, the night before her residency was due to begin, Adele tearfully announced in a social media video that she was postponing the show because it wasn't good enough. Last month, she finally revealed the residency would kick off in November.
Describing the postponement as "devastating" and "the worst moment in my career" in a cover interview with both U.S. and U.K. ELLE magazines, Adele explained that the dress rehearsal the night before her announcement confirmed she wasn't happy with the production.
"There was just no soul in it," she said. "The stage setup wasn't right. It was very disconnected from me and my band, and it lacked intimacy. And maybe I tried too hard to give it those things in such a controlled environment."
The 34-year-old revealed that the paparazzi were waiting outside her boyfriend Rich Paul's house when they returned to Los Angeles from Las Vegas so she felt "trapped inside" the home. She also went "into hiding" after seeing her fans' reactions to the postponement via a secret Twitter account.
"The first couple of months was really, really hard," she admitted. "I was embarrassed. But it actually made my confidence in myself grow, because it was a very brave thing to do. And I don't think many people would have done what I did. I'm very proud of myself for standing by my artistic needs."
Adele stopped promoting songs from her album 30, despite having a music video already in the can, and spent a long time wondering how she could make her show feel more intimate despite the massive stage at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. She finally found inspiration in an unlikely place - her mantelpiece.
"I'd been playing over in my head how vast the stage is in Vegas. I was like, 'How do I make a stadium-size stage feel small in that room?'" she shared. "I noticed all the borders around the fire, and I was like, What if I treat it like a puppet stage?'"
Teasing the show, Adele added, "I want to tell the story of the beginning of my career to now. I'm not gonna give too much about it, but the show grows. The show grows. It's all about the music, and it's really, really nostalgic. It's gonna be really beautiful."
Her Weekends with Adele show will kick off on 18 November and run through until 25 March 2023.
