Adele has spoken in detail for the first time about the circumstances behind the January cancellation of her planned residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, which will finally resume on Nov. 18. In an interview with Elle, the British vocalist admits “there was just no soul in” the show. “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.”
Many of the issues apparently stemmed from the Colosseum’s enormous, 15,7000-square foot stage. In the interview, Adele discusses sitting down and singing off-mic during the final dress rehearsal before the cancellation, an impromptu move that made her realize what was missing from the production. “They could hear me up at the top,” she says. “This would be the best part of the show. For me, and for you. This is what I want.”
Adele says she was “embarrassed” to let down her fans and production team and scrap all the work that had been done, but the decision “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.”
The new stage design for the upcoming Vegas shows was inspired by the mantelpiece in Adele’s London home, and a water feature that was the subject of anonymous grumbling around the initial cancellation has been scrapped. Adele says it “looked great for a couple of songs, and then didn’t do anything. It was just there.”
“I want to tell the story of the beginning of my career to now,” Adele says of the residency. “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.”
