Adele’s speech to her fans on Instagram, telling them she was cancelling her much-hyped Caesars Palace shows – due to kick off today – was a tough watch. It’s clear from the video that breaking this news was breaking her heart. She looked exhausted, stressed and genuinely remorseful.
It was a brave thing for her to do too, to address the people who made her one of the best-selling female artists of all time, directly through social media. There are lesser stars who would have delegated that to their press person. So kudos, Adele.
She’s also left the comments section open, which again, is a very courageous thing to do. Particularly as so many fans will be furious, especially those who have already travelled to LA – fighting through the maze of travel restrictions – to see her. She hasn’t shied away from her culpability and that is to be applauded.
But I’m worried about her. She said she and her team have been awake for 30 hours trying to make the shows work. She says it’s not ready and hits out at delays and Covid as the reasons.
But doesn’t she realise that all her fans want is her?
They want that impossibly magical voice, her wonderful on-stage presence and that ‘down-to-earth’ girl they fell in love with. Adele, your fans aren’t interested in being spectators at an LA circus; they don’t care about lights or outfits, your weight, your hair, your entourage. They just want you and your music. They’d be more than happy with just you, a piano and a microphone.
There’s been predictable – and justified – outrage from fans. They’re unhappy about the short notice. They’re unhappy that the shows haven’t yet been rescheduled. They’re unhappy that, having forked out on flights and accommodation once already, they might not be able to go to the rescheduled shows.
There’s been a lot of anger on Twitter.
One fan expressed her feelings of frustration, saying: “I know how hard it is to put on a show, especially with a pandemic. But it's also hard to save enough money, to get time off work from a hospital, that is short staffed, book a flight and hotel, fly in two days early and find out 30 hrs before the show, when we are already here, that the reason we came for is not going to happen.”
Another said: “Rona or no rona, the show must go on.”
It’s this very sentiment that Adele fans expect from her. Where’s the girl who did an impromptu stand-up gig when the power failed at a gig in Australia? Where’s the girl who started a song again after blundering during a recording of ‘An Audience With…’? Who giggled in front of her A-list guests, admitting she was ‘s****ing herself’?
The girl who carries Heinz ketchup sachets in her bag and has a framed piece of Celine Dion’s chewing gum? That’s who your fans want to see, Adele. The gloss and everything else doesn’t matter.
Writing and releasing 30 has obviously been tough on Adele. Through publicity of the album, she’s been forced to relive the trauma of her divorce from Simon Konecki. She’s had to answer multiple questions about the effect this has on her young son. She’s then had to see these stories again and again over every media platform imaginable.
You may have heard of a theory called ‘re-traumatisation’, which is the idea that constantly talking about something difficult in your life causes your brain to ‘re-live’ it again. The train of thought is that your brain can’t tell the difference between what happened and what’s happening, so it’s like you’re going through it again for the first time.
I just hope Adele hasn’t underestimated the emotional toll of writing and singing about painful, personal issues. I can’t help but wonder if there is something more to these cancellations than just the show not being ready.
Whatever her reasons, calling the shows off can’t have been an easy decision for Adele.
So go easy on her.
