For my birthday, my mom gave me her extra ticket to go to one of Adele’s eight Los Angeles concerts. I just got home from the show and I can easily say it was the best concert I’ve seen all year. Okay yes it’s also the only concert I’ve been to this year but still.

We had craaaaazy-amazing seats – straight-back from the stage, in the front row of the section that starts to rise off the floor.

Adele's stage

Our view was totally unobstructed and also? Since there was no one in front of us I never had to stand up to see. I’m not sure which part of me was happier about this, the short part or the old, tired part.

ready for Adele
She’s right behind me, isn’t she.

We were very close to a smaller satellite stage that was in the middle of the arena. Right before the concert started, several workers wheeled a large box out to the satellite stage. I turned to my mom and said, “Adele is in that box,” and sure enough, I was right. She started the concert right in front of us:

It's Adelllllleeeee!

The woman two seats away from me immediately started sobbing, and she didn’t stop until…actually, she might still be crying. She’s probably very dehydrated.

sing it, Mama Adele

Adele’s second song was “Hometown Glory,” and the screen behind her played pictures of Los Angeles. Predictably, the crowd went bananas. “LOOK! PICTURES OF LOS ANGELES! I KNOW THAT PLACE! WOOOO AAAAAAH!”

Adele in front of Los Angeles

I was just hoping it wasn’t a live shot, because I didn’t want to drive home in that traffic.

Adele was incredibly charming in between songs, joking and interacting with the audience. At one point, she called three 11-year-old girls up on stage with her to take pictures, because she saw them trying to take selfies with her in the background.

dagger eyes

On the outside, everyone in the arena was like, “Aw, cute,” but on the inside everyone was like, “I actually hate you.” On the other hand, they hugged Adele, their lives have peaked. It’s all downhill now, 11-year-olds.

The show had some cool special effects, but nothing was more spectacular than Adele’s voice. Whether she was singing along with a band, a lineup of string instruments, or two acoustic guitars, her voice absolutely shined. Considering she has over 60 concerts on this tour under her belt, no one would begrudge her a crack or a flat note, but she was flawless.

She also really, really loves when her crowd gets in on the show. She invited everyone to sing along (Mike’s nightmare), and at one point asked everyone to turn on the flashlights on their phones while she sang:

flashlights out for adele

At the end of the show, a ton of confetti fell from the ceiling. Seriously, I have never seen so much confetti in my life.

Adele's confetti
All we needed was Bill Clinton and some giant balloons.

As a cool touch, all the confetti had lyrics printed on it.

cuz what if I never love again?

On our way out, we passed like ten more people crying. Not sure if it was Adele-inspired, or because they found out the traffic was, in fact, terrible all the way home. I look forward to Adele spending enough time in LA to write a song that accurately portrays the feelings one has when stuck in Los Angeles traffic. That would definitely be her next number one hit.