Adam Lambert brought his Glamnation Tour to the Roanoke Special Events Center in Roanoke, Virginia on Thursday, August 26, 2010. The event was close to sold out and the crowd was very diverse and very enthusiastic. Fellow season eight American Idol contestant Allison Iraheta has been opening shows for Adam on his tour and she proved to be a worthy tour mate. The eighteen year old Iraheta has a voice on her that is seasoned way beyond her years. The spunky little red head reminded me a great deal of a young Pat Benatar with her voice and stage presence. Her set consisted of several tracks from her debut CD “Just Like You” including a chilling acoustic version of her single “Scars”. Fans were treated to a surprise rocking cover of, none other than, Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker”.
While waiting for Adam, the crowd got pumped up by a great selection of songs by the Black Eyed Peas, Journey and Michael Jackson. The houselights then went out and a prerecorded version of “For Your Entertainment”, the first single off of his CD of the same name. Then Adam emerged at the top of a flight of stairs onstage in a top hat and long coat to his song “Voodoo” and the crowd erupted.
Adam proceeded to run through song after song including his bizarre spin on Johnny Cash’s “Ring Of Fire” that he performed on American Idol. “Fever” proved to be another crowd favorite that night. He shared the stage with two male and two female backup dancers along with a very tight four piece band. Let’s not forget to mention the pipes that Adam has blessed with. For those who saw him perform on Idol and we in awe of his voice, let me tell you that it is just magnified a billion times live. He has got to have the most powerful, pure voice that I have ever heard live.
The show was very colorful with a great laser show that added to the almost techno/rave feel of some of the performances. One of the highlights of the show was an acoustic version of the song “Whataya Want From Me”. The show closed with Adam’s current single “If I Had You”, which is currently in the top ten on VH1’s countdown. A short, one song encore was next which saw him cover T-Rex’s song “20th Century Boy”.
The show itself was a lot of fun. It was very high energy, with lots of dancing and a few wardrobe changes. I was hoping for a longer encore in anticipation of hearing his cover of Gary Jules’ “Mad World”, which was originally done by Tears For Fears and performed by Adam on Idol. I was also surprised at how tame his show was. I had read some things online about his show, but that night in Roanoke was free of anything that could be interpreted as controversial.
Unlike other Idol contestants who tend to jump into the industry way above their heads after Idol, Adam seems to taking a smart approach and touring smaller theaters and halls instead of trying to take on large coliseums. He is selling out the majority of his shows and getting rave reviews. For those who thought it was more important to pay attention to this man’s sexual orientation, you missed an amazing show that evening. Hopefully, this gifted artist will continue his momentum and build on it. Adam is proving that sometimes losing on American Idol is a great deal more rewarding than winning.
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