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[The Incidental Tourist]

Uncertainty surrounds Adele’s Las Vegas postponement

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Adele
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Anyone who saw her social media video or even just caught a clip of the audio can recognize that no one was more disappointed by Adele’s Las Vegas residency show postponement than Adele herself.

The 33-year-old singer posted the 90-second clip along with a heartbreak emoji and the promise of rescheduling all two dozen concerts one week ago, some 29 hours before she had planned to take the stage at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. “We’ve run out of time, and I’m so upset, and I’m really embarrassed. And I’m so sorry to everyone that traveled again,” she said through tears.

When’s the last time you saw a superstar on Adele’s level say they felt embarrassed? It just doesn’t happen. But vulnerability has always been a key component in her art, and that’s why people love Adele and her music so much. And that’s why they spent a lot of money and made elaborate plans to travel to Las Vegas during a global pandemic, when adventures like these and shows like hers are clearly always at risk of not happening at all.

That’s not to diminish the disappointment of those fans or anyone else who went out of their way planning to attend Weekends With Adele. The last-minute announcement was still shocking, even if there are no surprises in the COVID era.

There simply isn’t anything with which to compare this situation. The only other Strip headlining residency that didn’t go off as planned was a show called Domination, the second Vegas go-round for Britney Spears, which was postponed and eventually canceled altogether three years ago. A fuzzy, family-focused initial announcement very slowly gave way to the last few years’ revelations concerning Spears’ conservatorship; most of us had no understanding of that pop star’s complicated showbiz and personal life.

Adele’s issues appear to be entirely caused by COVID. As it continues to do in communities around the world two years later, the virus messed up the planning and assembly of her production and raged through her supporting cast and crew. Several Strip shows of various sizes have quietly canceled performances each week over the past few months as the omicron variant has spread, and the same goes for some concert tours.

The only reasonable comparison occurred in April 2021, when promoters behind Electric Daisy Carnival—one of the biggest annual music festivals in the world—postponed it for the third time because of the pandemic, just a month before it was set to occur at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Festivalgoers felt betrayed and found little consolation in refunds. Some could not adjust their lives one more time to attend when EDC finally happened on October 22-24. They posted their resounding disappointment online.

But the final chapter of that saga saw a successful festival with hundreds of thousands of jubilant dance music fans celebrating their electric reunion in Las Vegas. Considering Adele’s video guarantee—not to mention the massive resources invested in the show by Caesars Entertainment and Live Nation—there’s little reason right now to doubt that another happy ending is on the way.

Recent reports—mostly in U.K. tabloids—have mentioned past instances of stage fright and claimed there has been friction between the artist, her management and the co-producers of the show. It feels like gossip and rumor, but every day that passes without rescheduled dates creates more uncertainty among fans and ticketholders.

There’s no substitute for Adele, but other megastars are coming to town soon. Garth Brooks, Luke Bryan, Justin Bieber, Billy Joel, Dua Lipa and Billie Eilish will all play the Strip by April 1. And then there are the Grammys, coming to Vegas for the very first time on April 3 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. Adele was set to sing the two nights before that Sunday, and it sure seems like a Vegas weekend she wouldn’t want to miss.

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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

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