I caught Adam Lambert at The Orpheum in downtown L.A. for his last show of the North American leg of The Original High tour on April 3rd. The runner-up of the eighth season of "American Idol" (and was robbed of winning the title, in my opinion) is an incredible vocalist and dynamic performer. After fifteen years, the popular singing competition just aired it's final episode which had allowed America to vote for their favorite singers from among your average Joe or Jane. To honor the show, contestants from every season showed up to perform and I was quite surprised that Lambert didn't appear considering he's one of the bigger artists that came from "American Idol".
He just ended a very successful worldwide tour with Queen and wasted no time returning to his solo career by releasing a new album and getting back on the road. Lambert seems to have been heavily influenced by the rock & soul style of Freddie Mercury as his third album, "The Original High" features a looser and funkier side to the singer. The record is also his most commercial using top producers like Max Martin and Shellback to help shape a slicker pop sound.
Lambert (dressed all in red in the first of three costume changes) took to his minimal stage with only a short platform in the middle but had impressive, state-of-the-art video screens behind to add an extra jolt to the show. He kicked-off with "Evil In The Night", a generic dance track from "Original High" before launching in to two of his biggest songs; the title tune from his debut album, "For Your Entertainment" and "Ghost Town", the haunting first single from the latest album.
Lambert continued to burn through many other songs he has recorded over his short time in the spotlight before reaching a tune that took us back to his early "Idol" days . His hypnotic cover of Tears For Fears' "Mad World" was a star-making moment for the singer and from the frenzied response by this audience, still makes quite an impact today. After the song, Lambert turned up the lights and began talking, which I then realized was the first time he actually stopped singing to speak to the crowd. He's an effusive charmer delivering positive energy and literally getting on a soap-box with his modest political statements.
It wasn't too long before Lambert got back to singing that delighted the largely female audience with more dance-powered songs before closing the show with the title track from his second album, "Trespassing" which was written by the singer and Pharrell Williams. He's taking a little time off before continuing his tour throughout Europe, then re-team with Queen for a mini European tour. Even through he didn't take home the top Idol prize, Lambert seems to be doing quite alright.
Here he is performing "Mad World" when he appeared on the show last month, recreating one of his magical moments on "American Idol":
And let's go back to early Adam Lambert with the music video of "For Your Entertainment" when the young singer was going through his goth period:
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