Hello…it’s me. I was wondering if after all these….
Let me stop you right there for one minute.
I’m going to go out on a whim and guess that about 99% of you reading this right now can finish those lyrics. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you need to crawl out of the rock that you’re living under and find a radio immediately because you’re truly missing out on one of the most unique and influential voices of this generation.
For those of you who DO know those lyrics above, I applaud you. We can now be best friends because I am completely and utterly mesmerized by the artist; that would be Adele, as you very well should know.
Why is she so mesmerizing to me? I can’t truly answer that simply because there are so many reasons. Have you ever had that one obsession with someone or something, but you just can’t explain why? Well that’s this. Her passion, drive, and talent are just a few reasons I can say where my obsession might come from. Anyways, I digress.
Let me back track just a couple of weeks. On July 10th, two of my best friends, along with myself, hopped on a train and traveled the 6-hour train ride from St. Louis, Missouri to Chicago, Illinois, while also being able to meet up with another friend of mine who lives there.
Yet this was not your ordinary trip to Chicago where you aimlessly walk down Michigan Avenue and go in & out of stores, without ever actually buying anything. Followed by walking down the beach and looking out into the distance of Lake Michigan. Then concluding the day by taking that cliché picture in front of the infamous Bean that lays in Millennium Park, that we all know so well.
No, this was not that kind of trip. This trip had one purpose and one purpose only. That being said, it was the Adele concert on July 11th. 6 months and 25 days previous to the 11th, which was December 16th, 2015 to be exact, I woke up at 9AM, jumped out of bed, and glued myself to my computer refreshing my screen every 30 seconds to see if there were any available seats left. After anxiously staring at the screen for over an hour, I was finally able to purchase 4 tickets.
Now fast track to the day of the concert. This was one of the most exciting nights of my life. I was prepared. I knew where our seats were located, I knew the shows line up backwards and forwards, and most importantly I knew there was going to be tears, but I wasn’t expecting the amount of tears I actually shed.
It was 8:30 p.m., the lights went low, and all of a sudden there was a faint “Hello” that echoed throughout the entire stadium. This was the night I waited for for so many years. Adele ascended from the floor singing the song that put her back on the map after so many years of being away (“Hello”). Right then and there, tears came rushing down my face.
Nothing and no one could have prepared me for that moment. It was chilling to hear the voice of my idol that I have worshipped since her 19 album was released when I was a measly 11-year-old.
The concert went on for nearly 2 hours. For almost 2 full hours I was on Cloud 9. Nothing else in the world mattered. I still can’t believe I had the opportunity to be in her presence. And even though we were the last row in the entire stadium, it was a powerful and memorable experience.
To quote Adele from her song “I Miss You”, “I miss you, when the lights go out.” When she descended underneath that stage, the wait was over, time began again, and my heart had finally stopped racing. I already missed her presence.
I can’t wait until her next world tour. I will definitely be joining her once again.
