For those of you who were interested in last night's (10-8-06) show at the Metropolitan Room...
Fantab, Emcee, Chloe, and I were all seated together near the front - although I have to say that there isn't a truly bad spot in the entire venue. It's quite cozy, even smaller than Joe's Pub, and was completely sold out. Jesse L. Martin, Michael Greif, Cy O'Neal (cofounder of Friends In Deed), and Larry Edoff's (Adam's pianist) wife were all in the audience. Jesse was immediately swamped with fans before and after the show. I saw Cy hugging Adam after the show and calling him the best singer she's ever heard (or something to that extent).
Adam played his usual setlist, comprised of songs from his solo records, three new songs ("See Me Shining," "A Single Drop of You," and "Just As I Am"), and Broadway showtunes - "Maria," "Maybe This Time," "What I Did for Love," and "One Song Glory." His voice sounded absolutely strong and incredible. I think many believe that his voice is now like it sounds on the Rent movie soundtrack, which couldn't be further from the truth. I'm not sure how to describe the songs themselves, as I'm pretty sure everyone who's set on hearing his current setlist has already heard most of it one way or another. As it's been for months now, Adam played the acoustic guitar and bass, while Larry played the piano and provided backup vocals.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Larry Edoff after the show. He really couldn't be any nicer or more mellow and zen-cool, which was probably a sharp contrast to my excited state. He said he and Adam are pretty much done writing material for the upcoming record, which looks to be about 12 songs. Two of the three new songs they played last night were actually apparently written (both lyrics and music) by Larry, while "See Me Shining" (song for Adam's wife) was more of a collaboration, obviously. Larry also mentioned that on the upcoming album, the lyrics are primarily by Adam while the music is by Larry. Please don't hold me to any of this information, though - I was talking rapidly and Larry could have misunderstood some of my questions. I also met Adam after the show - we were all a bit rushed because the venue was trying to close, but he too was completely sweet.
That's the end of my basic review - on to the anecdotes for some of the more hardcore fans...
Adam initially came on stage with a black suit jacket (which he later removed), a long-sleeve striped button-down shirt, and jeans. He opened with "Beautiful Song," and his introduction to "Book of Endings" was that same dog analogy he's been using for a little while. He said that the song was about the "f*cking internet," and then proceeded to liken "chatrooms" (I think he means message boards?) to a dog he had growing up. Apparently the dog would allow him to pet it for a little while and then suddenly bite, kind of like those who claim to love him and also bash him on the internet. He apparently waited "19 years for the f*cking dog to die," and also mentioned that he doesn't want to look at what people are saying about him, but he's just
compelled to do so. He said he saw some guilty faces in the crowd - I hope we weren't
too obvious, even if he didn't seem to be looking at us. I should also probably mention that after the "every single one of you haunt me every night" line, he inserted something like "not really, I love you guys!" Oh, Adam. *waves*
Next was "Liken a Razor." He told the story of how he recorded
Model Prisoner while teching for Aida, saying that tech week is hell and he was able to release some aggression in the studio. Then came the gorgeous new song for his wife, which is apparently entitled "See Me Shining." Adam said that he'd wanted to write a song for her for a long time, but it took Larry to get it out of him, along with his wife almost throwing him out of the house.
I think I'm losing track of the song order at this point, but he made his usual mention of how he hates
West Side Story before singing "Maria." One girl yelled "I like Rent!" after that, and Adam said something like, "I don't care what you like!" Good for him, though - I have to admit that the table at which that girl was sitting was probably the most obnoxious group of girls there. When Larry was introducing his own song, "Love Will Always Come Back," he asked how everyone was doing, and I think one of those girls yelled out "good!" Adam replied with, "It was a
rhetorical question." Larry also said that it was his wife's 33rd (yes, he specified) birthday. After his song, Adam said something like, "You're getting some lovin' tonight! Atta boy!" Completely hilarious.
I loved "A Single Drop of You" and "Just As I Am" - even if Larry wrote those songs, I have to say that Adam still sings them with the same intensity as if he wrote them himself. I'm not too fond of the latter as a song, but it really shows off Adam's voice live. "I'm With You" was gorgeous, as always, and "What I Did for Love" is probably my favorite of the showtunes. He introduced it saying that it's a song that's meant a lot to him in his life, and that A Chorus Line is playing on Broadway right now, but he has no idea if it's good - "even if it sucks, it's still an amazing song."
I didn't cover every song, but I'm pretty sure this is long enough as is. I realize I walked into the venue knowing I was going to love the show, but it was everything I expected and more.
Just a few pictures...
Adam minus me.
Updated On: 10/9/06 at 09:12 AM