Adele has kicked off her residency in Munich by breaking out her first live rendition of ‘Chasing Pavements’ in seven years. Check out footage below.
The singer started her 10-night residency in the German city on Friday (August 2) – marking her first shows in mainland Europe since 2016.
Taking place at the purpose-built state-of-the-art Munich Messe arena, the venue can accommodate 75,000 fans, and is playing host to the singer’s first shows since she wrapped up her recently extended ‘Weekends With Adele’ residency in Las Vegas.
During the opening night, Adele played a 20-track set packed with her biggest songs, ranging from breakthrough hits ‘Hometown Glory’ to songs from ‘30’, including ‘Easy On Me’ and ‘Hold On’.
It also saw the Brit break out her first live performance of ‘Chasing Pavements’ in seven years.
Taken from her debut album ‘19’, the sing hasn’t been played live since 2017, and Adele used the gig on Friday to explain why she often refuses to incorporate it into her setlists.
“The reason I don’t sing this song very often — and I shan’t sing it again after this Munich residency — is because the way I pronounce the words in this song when I was 19 years old, I sound like I’m 19 years old,” she told the audience.
“And when I sing it now I still sound 19 years old and it annoys me. But I’m gonna do it for you because I love you and again the Germans have always been very, very loving to me. But I’m only going to do it if you do it with me.”
Adele first announced the shows in January, and will play a total of 10 nights at the venue, wrapping up on August 31. See the full list of dates here and find any remaining tickets here.
“So a few months ago I got a call about a summer run of shows. I’ve been content as anything with my shows in London’s Hyde Park and my residency in Vegas, so I hadn’t had any other plans. However, I was too curious to not follow up and indulge in this idea – a one-off, bespoke pop-up stadium designed around whatever show I want to put on?,” Adele said on Instagram when the residency was first announced.
Since it started, Adele also made headlines for her Munich residency after she paused her show on Saturday (August 3) to stream the semi-final and final of the women’s 100m Olympic races.
During the show, Adele took a break in proceedings to broadcast the race, telling the crowd: “Let’s stop the concert, let’s watch the 100m race!” before the women’s final took place at the Stade de France in Paris. The race ended up being a historic moment, with St Lucia’s Julien Alfred not just claiming victory but winning her country’s first-ever Olympic medal.
