She had us at hello.
"Hello" was the first word Adele sang Tuesday night at sold-out Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
She delivered it as an alluring cocktail of apprehension, melancholy, apology and hope.
The booming rendering of that one word — from her hit "Hello" — sums up the way Adele has gripped pop music lovers for the past five years with a big, luxurious but not over-the-top voice that mixes vulnerability with resilience, that comforts us during heartbreak and encourages us to press on.
Adele could have had us all with just that wondrous voice. But what elevates Adele above the Beyoncés, Taylor Swifts and Katy Perrys is her personality. She yaks and yaks like your tell-all BFF who just returned from a long vacation. She's spontaneous, confessional, witty, potty-mouthed, self-deprecating and adorably charming.
More than any other major pop star, Adele, 28, keeps it real. There's nothing false about her in concert except for her fingernails and eyelashes. If her songs reveal a love life of misery, her conversation celebrates a life full of mirth.
On Tuesday, Adele chronicled all her adventures thus far in the Twin Cities, where she is opening her North American tour for two nights. There was her first-ever Fourth of July parade, a trip to Mall of America and a Ferris wheel ride, a chicken-and-doughnut at the Hi-Lo Diner, a meal at the 112 Eatery, nonstop baseball games across from her hotel. "Any recommendations for tomorrow?" she asked.
Approachable doesn't begin to describe her relationship with her fans. She gets downright cozy. One woman who claimed to be from Adele's hometown of Tottenham, England, handed the singer a Tottenham Spurs scarf. Adele called two brothers and a sister onstage because she liked how they danced. They in turn asked if their parents and little brother could join them — all for selfies with the star.
