revid | Gridlock LA NYE 2010

After Adam was unceremoniously, and hypocritically, I might add, dumped by ABC from Dick Clark's RNYE, I had no doubt that he'd land on his feet. I mean, hasn't he always? The guy has more lives than a cat. So when the Gridlock party gig in LA came up, it actually looked pretty sweet. The only downside was the lack of TV exposure, but everything else was a plus for Adam, not the least of which was the chance to do a full set of his own music for the first time. (ABC ended up with Daughtry instead. Yep, nothing says glittery NYE excitement like Chris Daughtry.)

I debated about going at first. It's 400 miles away, the tickets were WAY over-priced, but the thought of being at Adam's first show was a huge draw. Then I talked to my Dad who lives in the region, and realized I hadn't seen him in a long time, and suddenly the die was cast. Going to see Adam as an excuse to see Dad, and going to see Dad as an excuse to see Adam. Perfect rationalization, right?

Next thing I know, I'm chatting with some people from

hooplamagnet, and

astolat, fanfic writer extraordinare, who is coming all the way from NY says "We're getting one of the high roller tables!" And I said "OK, I'm in." o_0 Suddenly I have a plane ticket and a rental car, and the lovely

cantinera has offered me a spot on her couch so I don't have to drive the 30 miles back to Dad's at 3 AM. Yay.

Flew in to LA and spent the 30th and most of the 31st with Dad, then got gussied up and headed to Hollywood.

You can see my simple but glittery little black dress here.
I was at a couch with the rest of the girls, but cropped it for privacy reasons.
(Also, ngl, I like this picture because I look 20 years younger than my actual age.)

Met up with

laughincryin and

cantinera and were kindly chauffeured over to the Paramount Studios on Melrose by her husband. In the VIP ticket line, we met the rest of our party,

bubby_wubby,

kavasu,

starsparkle333,

hafital, and

astolat and after we signed in and got our wristbands, we were escorted to our table.

The lot was made up to look like NY, with the stage at the end of a long "street." The first 25 feet in front of the stage was barricaded off and set up with couches and tables. We were at the back of that area, right in front of the soundboard. Right behind that was the general admission area, so basically, only people who ponied up for the tables could get next to the stage.

I was underwhelmed with the organization of the event, considering this was their fourth or fifth year. But whatever. I was there to see Adam anyway, right? We had some drinks, wandered around a little bit, got some food, had some more drinks, and waited for midnight. At one point I figured I'd better find the portapotties before the show started, so I wandered off in the direction I was pointed, which was still in the VIP area off to the side. As I'm walking by I notice a little cluster of people and flashes, and there's a little picture area set up, and HOLY SHIT IT'S ADAM FUCKING LAMBERT!

There were maybe 30 people all in a disorganized but totally chill pack just milling about waiting for a turn to hand their camera to his PA, Lane, to get their picture with Adam. No screaming, no yelling, no pushing. I stood to the side and took a couple pictures of him from maybe 8 feet away. The man is fucking gorgeous in person. Seriously. I mean, I know he's a good looking guy, but in person, I don't know, maybe it's the personal charisma radiating off him that makes the difference, but holy hell, he is seriously beautiful in the flesh.

I thought about getting in the line, such as it was, but I don't know. I feel a little weird about that kind of thing, honestly. I'd love to meet him, but doing the whole "Fan Thing" is just not my style. Anyway, as I was having my angsty internal debate, they stopped the pics and he was shuffled back into the Real VIP area (as opposed to the fake paid one we were in. :-) )

At that point I completed my aborted trip to the portapotties (I bet the real VIPs had flush toilets!) and on my way back just outside the doors to the VIP room, was another small cluster of folk, and this time it's Monte and Tommy posing for pictures!

(Adam's guitarist and bassist, respectively, for the rest of my flist. Tommy is the adorable (straight!) twink that Adam smooched on the AMAs.) By the way, that necklace that Tommy is wearing is Adam's from the photoshoot for his album cover...they share clothes and jewelry all the time, it's adorable! So once again, I stopped and watched and took pics, but didn't really want to push myself up there for a pic myself. However, as it was breaking up, Tommy stepped down right in front of me, and I blurted out "Tommy, did you have any idea what you were signing up for?" He sort of smiled and basically said yes, and that it's what he wanted. I think I said something like "Congratulations, then" and touched his shoulder, and that was that. Tommy is also pretty and delicate and adorable and tiny...he's probably 5'8", 140 lbs. max.

(I have an entire tl;dr meta discussion written in my head (I blame you,

linzeestyle!) about Adam's fans, and the groups and divisions within, and issues about age, and what is appropriate and non-appropriate behavior, but I'm going to save that for another entry.)

It's pushing midnight, so I get another drink (notice a theme here?) and wander up to the barricade for the show. Right up front and center are

hafital and

astolat, so I join them. Front and center. No pushing, no shoving, no fighting for position. OMG, what a joy! I'm used to getting my ass kicked being on the barricade at concerts! Pamela Anderson comes out, babbles incoherently for a bit, counts down to midnight and introduces Adam. She also has her nipples hanging out, so Adam, being the gentleman that he is, goes to help her adjust her dress and she grabs his hand like he's trying to cop a feel. Hey sweetie, didn't you get the memo? Finally, she leaves (I wonder how many grand she got for that 5 minute appearance?) and it is what, seriously, I've been waiting for since...last February maybe? Adam. In concert!

Here was my view:

He opened with Music Again, (by Justin Hawkins, of The Darkness) which is a perfect opening song. He also fucked up the lyrics again, just like when he performed it on the Early Show, which I find all kinds of endearing. Man, it was so awesome being RIGHT. THERE. Three feet away. The bummer, which is always the trade off when you're on the barricade, is that the sound was lousy. But I console myself with the thought that I will hear Adam many times in the future with much better audio, but I may never see him this close again! (Of course, I've said that about Green Day too, and I've seen them up close more times than I thought would ever be possible!)

The set list:

Music Again
If I Had You
Whataya Want From Me
Strut
Sure Fire Winners
Soaked
For Your Entertainment
Sleepwalker
Fever
Down the Rabbit Hole
~~~~~
Whole Lotta Love

This set was thrown together in about 2 weeks time -- this band was not involved in the making of the album. But they are all experienced professionals and it worked. We know Adam wants to put on shows like Lady Gaga or Pink, with elaborate staging and props and costumes, but that wasn't possible here, so he did what he can do, which is put on a show all by himself! He was on fire. (He even joked about his makeup making him look like a firework!) He was IN CHARGE on the stage. Strutting around, acting out lyrics with his hands and his body, and using that incredible voice for all that it's worth. He looked like a kid in a candy store introducing his band, like he couldn't be more pleased or proud! And the smiles after every song. *melts* Like a lot of people, one of the major things that sells me on a performance is whether the artist is having fun. Because after all, why should I enjoy it if he doesn't? Adam freakin' loves what he does. He toiled in relative obscurity for a long time because that's all he wanted to do and it makes me just grin like a loon to see him getting what he wants.

The only down-tempo song in the set, Soaked was placed nicely in the middle of the set, for which he brought out his trusty MadWorld/Starlight stool. During the dramatic instrumental bridge, he very dramatically stood up and took a swig from a pocket flask that was in his coat! It added a little levity to the moment. It's not my favorite song, but it's very well suited to his voice.

Fever and WWL were my favorite songs of the set. Fever is just a great song, and it's made for singing live. It's also the perfect song for Adam and his adorable twink (nominally straight) bassist to make the hearts of slash-loving fangirls sing. The HoYay! is very strong in that band, yes indeed. And this seems almost blasphemous for me to say, but I when I think of WWL, I think of Adam's version now. (Sorry, Robert, I still love you though!) I've listened to some of the videos taken from farther back, and his voice is amazing. The glory notes at the end of the song can't possible be human! (If you YT search "Adam Lambert Gridlock" you will find dozens of videos.)

I didn't run into Mombert or brother Neil, as some of my party did, but they and all of Adam's friends from the old days were all there to celebrate. Maybe an hour after the show, it was time to pack up and leave. There were sadly some problems with missing purses, and gypsy cabs and silly drunk girls on Melrose Blvd. in Hollywood at 2 AM, but still a total blast. Of course, as I knew would be the case, I don't regret for an instant spending the small fortune that I did to be there. And when he puts together a tour next year, you know where to find me!

Oh god, the joys of being an unrepentant fangirl!

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: Back Home
Current Music: Adam Lambert -- "Fever"