Concert Review: Adeline

October 7, 2021

A little over a year ago, while putting together our monthly Plug’n Play Playlist, Kevin sent me a song called Just Another Day by Adeline, an artist who, up to that point, I was unfamiliar with. Though I’d never heard her music before, I was immediately impressed by her bass playing and her voice; it felt like I was listening to someone that was steeped in the music of Prince and Donna Summer - the music was funky!

As is often the case after I’m introduced to a new artist, I invariably fell down a rabbit hole on YouTube, watching any performance I could find. Adeline quickly rose up my list never-ending list of “I can’t wait to see this artist live"!” But there was a problem - the thought of indoor concerts being held was far from the imagination of artists and venues at the time. My dreams had to be put on hold.

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Nearly a year to the date later after first being introduced to Adeline’s music, on September 30th, accompanied by her band, Adeline made her stop at Philadelphia’s World Cafe Live (WCL), playing the upstairs space. After the show, Kevin and I talked about Adeline’s performance, how it felt to see a live show again (in person), our favorite moments from the night, and more! Here’s our conversation:

Stanley: IT FEELS GOOD TO BE BACK! This was our first show -- not viewed through a screen! -- in over a year, and it was Adeline no less, someone we both admire! With all of this in mind, what are some of your general thoughts about her performance?

Kevin: FINALLY! *The Rock voice*

It felt like home. But straight to the performance - we both kind of mentioned it afterwards, it was better than expected. And not that I expected anything less than (love Adeline), but I thought they allowed for creativity/improvisation in transitions between songs and overall exerted high energy throughout. I appreciate live shows that make it a point to add unique elements to musical arrangements and not just play the songs as is on wax. Also, has to be said - Adeline has a VERY strong singing voice. Of course, she is an awesome bassist but it kind of had a little Braxton Cook to it for me in that I didn't know that she could sing sing. There were a couple of moments where she let the vocals fly and the crowd appreciated it. There was no easing us into live shows again, Adeline and Co. came out blazing.

Stanley: Okay. When the show started, the band came out first and they were just grooving on Stay Up for a minute until Adeline came out. When she picked up the bass and started playing I could feel my brain leave my body lol. Talk about a tone setter!

But yeah, I'm not quite sure what I expected, honestly, but whatever it was, she far exceeded it! Like you mentioned, I loved that she added on to the records - her performance gave those songs new life to me. After the show, I kept saying to myself "Adeline's a superstar!" - which maybe doesn't mean much coming from me, or in general lol - but she's wildly talented, a gifted composer/bassist, and she sings LIVE - I'm pretty sure they didn't use any backing tracks either, so everything we heard was being produced in real time - and she's super charismatic. She put on a show!

Stanley: Musically, what were your favorite moments from the show?

Kevin: The bar was admittedly low, I was already giddy just being at a live show lol - so that is a favorite moment already. Other than that, I would say what I mentioned earlier, the improvisation stood out for me. There seemed to be moments where the band was freestyling to the point that it surprised Adeline some. I loved the moment where the crowd started clapping and the band followed it up by clapping and not playing their instruments - Adeline noticed and remarked that she didn't expect to sing acapella at that moment. Those moments stuck out for me. What about you?

Stanley: I loved the moments when they were improving, too. Improvisation is the highest form of performance to me!
As a concert-goer, I think I can be a little backwards at times. Like, I loved hearing her songs -- Stay Up and Mystic Lover really stood out to me -- but I also really like hearing a couple covers! But when she did her tune, Magic, which is this really fun disco kind of jawn (the record version feels more House-y to me), and they slowed it down and went into Erykah Badu's I Want You, I was visibly floored (and I was already sitting on the floor lol). I loved when she covered Prince's Adore which was really cool too. But yeah, I like the covers because they kind of show the places you pull on and have inspired you, while also showing how you might approach the music.

Stanley: Upstairs at WCL can be a little cramped, but the energy felt good, to me. What did you think about the audience?


Kevin: You give people seats and they will sit in them! Remove the seats and we in business lol. But nah, I thought it was sort of a feeling-out process at first. It almost felt like the audience didn't know how to totally be a concert audience at first. We re-learned as the show went on and by the end, she turnt the crowd up - people were literally running to the front. Maybe Adeline playing Mango would've aided the energy some, but that's a minor gripe of mine lol. All in all, very solid vibes in the room.
Stanley: Yeah, the dynamic upstairs at WCL is often a mixed bag, but they were so funky you had to get up and move! To return to a familiar post-show topic of ours, there were hella Black people in there, women in particular! Black artist, playing traditional forms of Black music can often mean...not Black audience (???) But I loved the energy in the room. And it wasn't so packed that I felt like I was about to have a breakdown from being in a crowded space lol.

Note: Be on the lookout for our interview with Adeline coming soon!