Hottest Concert This Summer: Adele 2016 Tour – Vancouver

On July 20 and 21, Adele played back-to-back shows at Vancouver B.C.’s Rogers Arena. I attended the show on the second day with high hopes and expectations, and was not disappointed!

I feel like a review of Adele’s 2016 Tour should start from the time one tries to get their hands on these highly coveted tickets. Depending on your experience, you may have felt anxious, excitement, fast heartbeats, frustration, happiness, or a combination of all of the above. All her shows were sold out in minutes, and tickets were found on third party resale sites for at least 3x the price and up. Since Vancouver was her only stop in any city West of Toronto, there were many people travelling from Edmonton, Victoria, etc. just to see her.

If you were unable to get tickets to this tour, hopefully you will find this review of interest. Or if you have tickets to an upcoming show, hope my highlights and tips will get you pumped up or help you plan for what to expect, so you won’t miss out on anything!

I made sure to arrive at the venue WHEN DOORS OPEN. Knowing that the venue was going to be full, which meant line-ups to get inside, I budgeted extra time since I always like to walk around and check out the booths before a show (check out my previous post on concert + festival tips here). I also suggest arriving earlier than usual, as many of the more popular merchandise was sold out very quickly.

There were a variety of merchandise sold (average $40 for items):

• t-shirts
• sleeping eye masks
• pencil sets
• keychains
• ‘Hello’ mug (same one as the one Adele drinks from on stage)
• tour programs (both soft and hardcover)
• tote bags
• Vancouver exclusive lithograph. If you’re a collector of lithographs, you will love this! They make 200 per show, and I absolutely love the personalized iconic Vancouver Observatory Lookout. You can’t see it clearly in my photos here, but in the pink lithograph hanging on the walls, the Adele silhouette also features the lookout. So cool! They have a personalized design for every tour stop.

I always purchase a program from every concert, musical, or show I attend. I opted for the hardcover version of the program since I found the finishing more visually appealing. It was like reading those books of a collection of photographs binded very nicely. The hardcover version also comes with a slot to put keepsakes such as ticket stubs, which I thought was a nice addition.

***Every concert, Adele autographs 5 hardcover programs, 5 softcover programs, and 5 lithographs. These are available for sale randomly, so make sure to check your purchases!

 

Adele definitely knows how to make an entrance! Those famous eyes followed by her first few uttered words of Hello was enough to make me (and many others) tear up and have the tingles on my skin.

Skyfall is one of my favourite songs she sang for the James Bond movie. *Cue more tears and Goosebumps*

Yes you will cry in those 2 hours for sure, but Adele is very witty and funny between songs (this woman can seriously host her own comedy show!). Even though she is performing in a large arena, the intimate vibe does not go away. She tries her best to make each show personal, eg. showing Vancouver landscape in the background during Hometown Glory, sharing the places she has visited during her few days in Vancouver, engaging with the audience by taking ‘Adelefies’, or inviting them onstage.

I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE everyone attending to quickly snap a few photos and then try to put away all cameras and phones in the duration of the show. Her music is best enjoyed by being present in the moment, and not recording or snapping away through a camera lens. Trust me, you will feel all that emotion much more by deplugging.

Adele does not need any fancy dance moves or wardrobe changes to put on an amazing performance. One beautiful sparkling custom designed Burberry dress was enough to make us swoon already. Another highlight for me was during Set Fire To The Rain, there was LITERALLY rain. Just wow.

Lastly, at the end of the show, there will be confetti! Yes many artists use confetti, but what is really special about the confetti from Adele’s tour are the messages and song lyrics printed on the confetti. How amazing is that?!? You can tell a lot of thought and planning was put into making this tour a memorable one for years to come.