Live Review: Adam Lambert (for The Music Network)

21 October 2010

by Poppy Reid

Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Wednesday October 20

Adam Lambert transformed Sydney’s Enmore Theatre into Glam Nation last night with skin-tight leather, feathers, rhinestones and pelvic gyrations galore.

Opening with tracks Voodoo, For Your Entertainment and Down The Rabbit Hole, Lambert (or The Glambert as he’s affectionately known) looked like a P.I.M.P. in D.R.A.G. as his four dancers worshipped him through animalistic choreography.

“It’s time to step into the mystery, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. The crowd screamed as he pounded his fist to his crotch and body rolled all over bassist Tommy Joe Ratliff. On bended knee Lambert trilled into a fiendish version of Ring Of Fire. He grabbed Ratliff by the hair and recreated his 2009 AMA’s controversy for us; if only Johnny Cashcould see him now.

Lambert sang two more high-energy tracks with Fever and Sleepwalker seeing him switch between overt feminine poses and explicit rock-star swagger. One costume change and guitar solo (by Monty Pitman) later, Lambert took us to the lull of the evening.

“I want to sing to you about the light side of love and the dark side of love. Sometimes to get what you want you just have to ask the right questions.”

Love ballads Whataya Want From Me, Aftermath and Sure Fire Winners saw Pitman switch to acoustic guitar and Lambert switch to boring. His incredible voice was lost in the pantomime, we wanted vulnerable, but instead we settled for melodramatic. As if to spur him on, or possibly as just a show of their adoration, some overzealous fans began to rain the stage with their glow sticks.

“Quit throwing shit up here we got dancers. I know you mean well but when you throw things at us we think you don't like us, so be nice,” the glow sticks were cleared away and it was back to the glam-rock set we came for.

Lambert emerged, camp as ever, in a sparkling vest and tights forStrut, Music Again and final track If I Had You. His voice reached Freddy Mercury territory and the theatre began to look like a rave. Lambert stepped down into the audience, “sorry, I gotta get mine,” he said before kissing an excited male fan.

The crowd waited feverishly for an encore and Lambert's cover of T-Rex's 20th Century Boy (an apt choice) was well worth the wait. He flicked his tongue and slithered himself up like a snake, working the enthralled crowd. Channeling Khia’s explicit My Neck, My Back he maneuvered behind keyboardist Camila Grey and licked the sweat from the back of her neck, bringing the show to a teasing close. “Thank you Sydney. Rock n’ Roll!”