If you’ve ever seen Adore perform you know what it’s like. There are songs you hope she’ll sing, wigs you’d love to see her wear, but rarely does she deliver exactly what you wanted. But she always gives you what you didn’t know you needed! The phenomenon that is Adore Delano keeps people mesmerized as she works the stage, the mic, and fans (mechanical and human) in proximity.
This write up is actually a couple months overdue. I was meant to see in her Charlotte, NC with a bunch of my twitter friends, but a rotten promoter brought those plans to a screeching halt. I had to quickly find a new destination and change my flight arrangements, and to my delight I found Adore tagged on a post saying she’d be performing in El Paso, Texas. Most of her US shows in the past year have been East of the Mississippi, so El Paso was a nice option as it’s only half way across the country for me!
On the road again
If you’ve read my previous articles or follow me at all you’ll know I’ve seen and met Adore a couple times before, but this was the first time my mom was joining me since we traveled to Las Vegas to see her in April of 2017. During this meet and greet Adore went to sign my mom’s new autograph book and when she saw me standing to the side she said, “Hi babe.” My mom, as she does with every queen, said, “that’s my daughter,” and Adore said “really?” and asked if they’d met before. Mom said Vegas and Adore was like, ah yes, Vegas, with a nod toward me.
When it was my turn Adore made me smile like a fool because she was making eyes at me! After the countless times I’d teased my Argentinian friends about the “wink fuckin wink” comment, and her winking at another friend in a cameo about coming to Brazil, I couldn’t help but think of them in that moment. She asked how my holidays were and I told her about my previous three weekends and said now I’m here with you! And she said, “what more do you need?” and hugged me again.
I gave her a bag of her favorite chips (feeding her bad habit) then I got into the gifts I made. She laughed when I told her since you like to fight everyone I made you a pair of boxing glove earrings, then she told me about how she has my art in her house and how she likes what I make for her & she doesn’t know how I have the patience to put them together. She’s always so loving and happy to receive gifts from her fans.
After the M&G we were treated to some of Adore’s Season 6 moments on the video screens in the club, and then, as Alexis Mateo would say, BAM! We were not prepared for what happened on that stage! The music started before we saw her, and my jaw hit the floor in an instant! I’m an older fan so I’ve known about the song Crimson and Clover for a very long time. I’ve heard bits of Adore covering it in the past as well, but I could not believe I was about to hear it live!
She sang the first few lines before she came onto the stage, and then when she walked out! Well, I may as well have just left my jaw on the floor because I was not ready for that look! She almost stepped straight out of that photo shoot to appear right in front of my face and it was just so right! She was right in front of me as she continued with the opening of that song, then yelled, “El Paso make some fucking noise” and used the interlude to run around, bouncing those curls, taking a Rose from one of her hosts, then back on stage to take the jacket off and prepare for the next transition…that floored me…
In the instant that the music changed so did she. From smiley and bouncy to sexy music video vixen as the tune for I Love Rock ‘n Roll began to play. She walked to the front of the stage like she owned it, stopping when the fan started blowing her hair and did a slow, sultry drop before kicking it into gear and hitting that scream so perfectly!
Watching her perform that song, including her famous butt drop (what the hell is that moved called) I honestly felt like I was living in a time warp. Here she was singing it in front of me, working that stage, but I was also envisioning the video of fetus Danny and Ross Matthews singing that karaoke duet all those years ago at the same time.
She finished the first set, said she’d be back later, and at that point I think all of us at my table just kind of looked at each other like, did that seriously just happen right now?
The local entertainers put on quite a show as well. Going to see faves is awesome, but it’s great to be exposed to the amazing talents of non-Ru girls as well because there are a lot of fierce queens out there! I recorded segments of their performances as well. Videos are available on my IG and Youtube channel (see the end of the article for my social media info).
After Adore’s first set I didn’t know what to expect for the second. When the music started for the second time, all I could think was she was definitely trying to kill us!
I’d seen videos of the Stay/I Can’t Love You combination, but here she was singing it for us. She was intense where the music called for it and smiley sweet when it didn’t. And after that duo she finished her set with Bang Bang. I have to admit I got a bit emotional when she said she was going to sing that one because the only other time I’d heard her sing Bang Bang live was the first time I saw her – a week shy of a year ago.
That night a year ago was the beginning of my own drag adventures. The night I realized I was never again going to let fear stop me from seeing my favorite queens. The night I began living again, thanks to this special angel Adore Delano, who has brought so many special people into my life.
I’m so excited for everyone who will be seeing her perform, whether they know their dates yet or will know them soon. I’m blessed enough to know I’ll be seeing her again in March, so be on the lookout for more stories of the incomparable Adore Delano then!
For full videos of Adore and the local performers please check out my Youtube channel – link is in my twitter and IG bios, or look up RebUCLAWriter. On Instagram you can find me at Beca9718Cava and on twitter @RebUCLAWriter
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