Adele @ The Rivoli, Toronto (26-03-08)

Adele made her first trip to Toronto last night and I was lucky enough to be in the audience to see her play a sold-out show at The Rivoli. For anyone who doesn't know, The Rivoli is a very small, historical venue in the city. A lot of musicians play their first gig in Toronto here and then move on the bigger and greater things. After last night's show I have no doubt that Adele certainly will as well.

You can probably guess that the size of location made for a very intimate affair. Besides that, the entire set was "stripped down" as Adele put it. This, Adele noted, is how she likes to introduce her music to a new city because it's the way she writes songs and plays them to her mum for the first time. Adele sat on a stool in the middle of the stage and began the set with just an acoustic guitar, playing the first track, 'Daydreamer' off her debut album. Shortly after she was joined on stage by her guitarist and pianist. They made there way through several songs on the album including 'Crazy For You', 'First Love', ''My Same', 'Melt My Heart To Stone', 'Chasing Pavements' and the Bob Dylan cover 'Make You Feel My Love'. Adele closed her first appearance in Toronto with the song that first introduced me to her music, 'Hometown Glory.'

The acoustic set was a great idea and it went over very nicely. While she admitted to being nervous and apologized for her raspy voice (she was suffering from a hangover after a gig in Montreal the night before) Adele hardly seemed as if she was not in top form. Anything that she considered imperfect about her performance last night were in fact, endearing. The only complaint that I have, which most at the show will probably agree with, is that the set was too short. It ran well under an hour, maybe between 40-45 minutes and managed to play around 10 songs.

Good news for anyone who missed out on last night's show. Adele mentioned that she will be back in Toronto and (more likely than not) North America in June with a "proper band." Sadly for us (but great for), she will probably be playing a bigger venue next time around. After last night's show I will definitely be going to see her again and so should you. If you haven't picked up her album 19 yet, do so. It's a keeper and the buzz that has been floating around Adele for a while now is deserving. Why? Because she has the talent to back it up.

MySpace: Adele

Buy 19