Back To Back
Reviewed by Sarah Gates
Eighteen-year-old Adelaide Morgan Welch debuts her singing career with Back To Back, a show interweaving Amy Winehouse hits and Adele power ballads. The young performer has the strength and passion to deliver a captivating show, and she certainly does deliver.
Opening night is a family affair, with her mother, brother, and grandmother in the audience. Onstage, Welch is joined by her grandfather on the guitar and backing vocals, and high school music teacher Chris Gould on the piano, backing vocals and egg shaker. With the intimate venue at The Promethean, sparkling lights and candlelit tables in a cabaret setting, it is like being invited to a private performance.
Welch starts strong, but really finds her rhythm with the third song, ‘Take It All’ by Adele. She tells us about finding the meaning in the lyrics when her father left. With that introduction, combined with the obvious hurt in her demeanour, she has a woman in the front row in tears; understandably so. Another emotional performance occurs when Welch and her grandfather perform an acoustic version of Adele’s ‘Melt My Heart to Stone’.
Welch’s voice gives her audience goose bumps, especially with songs like Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Valerie’. Her acting in ‘Back to Black’ by Amy Winehouse alleviates the emotion of previous songs and brings out a different aspect of her, a more mischievous side — as well as regret and vulnerability at the end of the song.
There are a couple of less dynamic choices, such as an uninspired cover of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’; a song that Welch admits to disliking for the way it dominates her legacy. Speaking to the audience, filling the pauses between songs, Welch is smooth and rehearsed; but lacks personality and the unique connection with an audience that is more improvised and, therefore, genuine. Her constant gesturing to her chest becomes irritating and feels limiting, especially on the commanding notes where she could have opened up, literally and figuratively.
Despite the few pitfalls of the performance, Back to Back is one to watch. This young singer has an incredible voice and a tonne of potential. But if you don’t have tickets already, you’re out of luck; Back to Back sold out before its season even began.
