Yesterday, following the release her new album 25, Adele announced details of a massive UK and European tour. The good news: she's not planning on playing "bashment versions" of 'Hello', 'Skyfall' or 'Rolling In The Deep'. The bad news: if anything, her stage fright is "actually getting worse."
After several years off from releasing music or playing live, Adele announced yesterday that she'll be playing four nights at London's O2 Arena as part of an extensive UK and European tour.
The news came as something of a shock, giving that Adele has repeatedly talked of her fear of playing huge venues. In fact, she told EQ a few years ago, "I'd rather do 12 years at the Barfly than one night at the O2."
Watch Adele's 2016 tour announcement below
Adele AnnouncementGo to http://live.adele.com for details
Posted by Adele on Thursday, 26 November 2015
In a recent interview with NPR, Adele was asked how she'd overcome this fear of large crowds. It turns out she hasn't. "In terms of like making it your own live, I get so nervous with live performances that I'm too frightened to try anything new," she explained. "It's actually getting worse. Or it's just not getting better, so I feel like it's getting worse, because it should've gotten better by now."
She continued, "With my stage fright, I just don't want to let people down. I get so nervous onstage that I don't have the guts to improvise or anything like that. But also, you know when you go to a show of someone that you love, and they play a record that you absolutely love, but they play it so many different ways that you can't even sing along?
"One of my favorite things about going to a gig and, doing a gig, is the singalongs — the crowd gets to sing with you and you get to sing with the artist. Like, that's one of my favorite things personally. So I would never want to perform a song completely differently. I mean, imagine if I started doing a bashment version of 'Hello.' Everyone would be like, 'What?'"
See Adele's full tour dates below. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Friday 4 December. Buy tickets and get more information here.
FEBRUARY
Monday 29th Feb Belfast SSE Arena
MARCH
Tuesday 1st March Belfast SSE Arena
Friday 4th March Dublin 3Arena
Saturday 5th March Dublin 3Arena
Monday 7th March Manchester Manchester Arena
Tuesday 8th March Manchester Manchester Arena
Tuesday 15th March London The O2 Arena
Wednesday 16th March London The O2 Arena
Friday 18th March London The O2 Arena
Saturday 19th March London The O2 Arena
Friday 25th March Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena
Saturday 26th March Glasgow SSE Hydro Arena
Tuesday 29th March Birmingham Genting Arena
Wednesday 30th March Birmingham Genting Arena
APRIL
Friday 29th April Stockholm Tele2Arena
MAY
Sunday 1st May Oslo Telenor
Tuesday 3rd May Copenhagen Forum
Wednesday 4th May Herning Jyske Bank Boxen
Saturday 7th May Berlin Mercedes Benz Arena
Sunday 8th May Berlin Mercedes Benz Arena
Tuesday 10th May Hamburg Barclaycard Arena
Wednesday 11th May Hamburg Barclaycard Arena
Saturday 14th May Cologne Lanxess Arena
Sunday 15th May Cologne Lanxess Arena
Tuesday 17th May Zurich Hallenstadion
Saturday 21st May Lisbon Meo Arena
Sunday 22nd May Lisbon Meo Arena
Tuesday 24th May Barcelona Palau Sant Jordi
Saturday 28th May Verona Anfiteatro Arena di Verona
Sunday 29th May Verona Anfiteatro Arena di Verona
JUNE
Wednesday 1st June Amsterdam Ziggo Dome
Friday 3rd June Amsterdam Ziggo Dome
Thursday 9th June Paris Accor Hotels Arena
Friday 10th June Paris Accor Hotels Arena
Sunday 12th June Antwerp Sportpaleis
Monday 13th June Antwerp Sportpaleis
