Singer speaks about long-delayed residency
In January, Adele was supposed to kick off her Weekends With Adele Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, but indefinitely postponed the entire 24 run engagement the day before it was to begin. She cited COVID and supply chain issues for her reasoning, but it was later revealed it was canceled due to creative issues.
In a new interview ahead of her two night headlining BST Hyde Park in London shows this weekend, the pop star tells the BBC that the decision left her “devastated,” but it was something she felt she had to do.
“I definitely felt everyone’s disappointment and I was devastated and I was frightened about letting them down. I thought I could pull it together and make it work and I couldn’t, and I stand by that decision,” she says. “I’m not going to just do a show because I have to or because people are going to be let down or because we’re going to lose loads of money. I’m like, the show’s not good enough.”
At the time, the pop superstar was eyeing for a late July or early August start that would run through the end of the year. In April, it was reported that she was “finalizing a deal” to move the residency to The Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood where she would nearly double the audience size and have full creative control.
However, six months after the shows were canceled, there’s still no new information as to when the ill-fated residency could begin or where it could play. The Las Vegas Review Journal reports that Colosseum staffers were told they’d be furloughed from mid-July through September as the venue goes dark for the summer after Morrissey ends his run July 9th.
Staff is expected to return for Rod Stewart to resume his residency on September 23rd. That leaves dates open for November and December, as of this writing. Weekends with Adele has not been formally canceled and her image is still plastered at Caesars Palace.
The star herself isn’t even sure when the rescheduled dates will be shared.
“Of course I could be someone on TikTok or Instagram Live every day being like, ‘I’m working on it’. Of course I’m working on it! I’m not gonna update you if I ain’t got nothing to update you with because that just leads to more disappointment,” she adds. “I was a shell of a person for a couple of months. I just had to wait it out and just grieve it, I guess, just grieve the shows and get over the guilt, but it was brutal.”
The decision to cancel at the eleventh hour was too late for many fans who trekked the Sin City to see the singer, leaving mixed reactions. The night before the first show was scheduled, she was seen FaceTiming fans who were shopping for merchandise at The Colosseum shop adjacent to the venue’s entrance. Fans who presented a concert ticket to one of Adele’s shows received a gift tote bag with a specifically made T-shirt, magnets and keychain.
Adele has reportedly parted ways with her longtime creative director, Esmeralda “Es” Devlin, and has hired Take That’s Kim Gavin and Stufish for a new direction. Gavin has won a BAFTA for his work and has been behind every Take That tour since 1992. Stufish are the production designers behind the Rolling Stones 60th anniversary tour.
Sources state the team will “develop a new show as everything from the Es show has been scrapped,” which includes a 60 piece choir backing her for a “Skyfall” opening. Adele and Es reportedly clashed in “explosive arguments” over the Caesars Palace production and staging. Caesars Entertainment had also reportedly invested heavily in redesigning the main Colosseum dressing room to accommodate Adele’s needs with the hopes of having her there until 2024.
