We take a look at what critics have been saying about Adele’s recent concert at Hyde Park.
The Guardian: ***** “All this informality and self-deprecation means that her vocal artistry sometimes hits like an ambush: the barnstorming roar of Rolling in the Deep, the Bond melodrama of Skyfall, the perfectly controlled tenderness of Make You Feel My Love. One minute she is tucking her microphone into her cleavage and firing T-shirts into the audience; the next she is waist-deep in her divorce on Easy on Me.”
The Times: **** “This was her chance to remind an audience of fans, who had shelled out a lot of money for tickets, why she became such a relatable phenomenon in the first place.”
The Independent: **** ““It’s so strange to be in front of a crowd,” Adele babbles midway through one of many motormouth banter segments. For her first public show in five years, what a crowd to be in front of. Sixty-five thousand of the 1.3 million people who applied for tickets – the biggest ticket demand since Oasis at Knebworth in 1996″
The Telegraph: ***** “Her first gig in Britain for five years sparked an epic singalong in Hyde Park where electrified fans saw a star at the peak of her powers.”
Evening Standard: ***** “But Vegas seemed like a distant memory to fans on the ground, all of whom were too busy getting lost in the moment. They danced with sheer joy to buoyant numbers like ‘Rolling In The Deep’, or cried their hearts out listening to soaring ballads like ‘When We Were Young’ and ‘Easy on Me’. Adele’s songs still strike a deep and powerful chord with listeners who relate their own heartbreak to hers.”
Variety: “In an age when even Ed Sheeran’s tours feature revolving stages and multiple effects, most of Adele’s set relied firmly on her voice to provide the fireworks. And she did – performing “All I Ask”, “Make You Feel My Love” (a spontaneous, unrehearsed selection not included on the initial setlist) and “Someone Like You” along the runway, backed only by a piano and 65,000 voices.”
Metro.co.uk: ***** “Once again, Adele has proven there’s no one doing it like her. She’s undoubtedly one of the best live performers in the world and, after 14 years of superstardom, she’s only getting better and better.”
Express.co.uk: “Retro, timeless, forever, Adele is simply iconic. The joyous fireworks display at the end encapsulated the collective feeling of celebration.”
iNews: ***** “And it’s because of this that her music means quite so much: it comes from a perspective that so many people share. On a number of occasions throughout the night, she announced that she had not really sung many of the songs from her new album live.”