The shows are planned to be rescheduled
Adele spent part of Friday night FaceTiming fans who showed up for what was to be the first round of shows for her Weekends With Adele residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The pop star, who announced the postponement of the entire 24 run engagement the day before it was to begin, had a member of her team hand an iPhone to fans who were shopping for merchandise at The Colosseum shop adjacent to the venue’s entrance.
As an apology, she offered fans a free merch package and drinks, but retracted drinks from the underage fans. 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. The gift shop will continue to offer the gifts to ticket holders for an unknown period of time.
Fans have been sharing mixed reactions online to the postponement as many believe that canceling at the last minute was unacceptable for a show of this magnitude. Many had already traveled to or were en route to Las Vegas by the time the announcement was made. However, Caesars Entertainment offered refunds for those who were staying at any of their Las Vegas properties this weekend.
Adele shared that the residency was postponed due to half of her team having COVID and supply chain issues in which last minute set pieces hadn’t arrived. Rumors of reports from insiders immediately began to circulate that her terrible stage fright and her perfectionism actually delayed the show. Others indicate that Adele had requested the postponement weeks ago, but the venue and promoters had refused. It wasn’t until Thursday (Jan 20th) that they had decided to allow the shows to be postponed indefinitely.
While many in the music industry believe “the show must go on” as the residency was to focus on Adele’s voice over theatrics, these shows involve more than what meets the eye. The venue and artist often supply their own personnel which can be large in numbers. Plus, the Daily Mail reports the show was to feature a 60 piece choir backing her for a “Skyfall” opening, which could be severely impacted if too many are out due to the virus.
It’s been reported that the residency is the most lucrative in Las Vegas history with each show averaging $2.2 million in sales or $52.8 million total for the 24 date run. Many believe Caesars has a plan to keep Adele at The Colosseum through 2024, which could net her $100 million from combined performances and merchandising.
Caesars offered Adele their private jet for easy transport between her home in Los Angeles to Las Vegas. They are also housing the singer and her family in a $30k per night suite each weekend. In the theater, Caesars’ invested heavily in redesigning the main dressing room to accommodate Adele’s needs, signaling their desire to have her as the venue’s star attraction. Additionally, the casino and entertainment megacorp was not allowed to offer high rollers any comped tickets. This was in order to permit as many fans in as possible.
However, some of the rumors insiders reportedly claim include the shows may never be rescheduled and that the singer never wanted to agree to the residency in the first place. “It took a lot to convince her to do this residency and she’s quite stressed at the moment,” one insider says. The same insider predicts that Adele won’t hit The Colosseum stage until next year, due to her current mental state.
This isn’t the first time Adele has canceled shows. In 2008 and 2011, she scrapped potential US touring plans and never rescheduled two London shows from 2017 that were promised.
