Adele in Munich

Adele in Munich
	Tour by Adele
Associated album	30
Start date	August 2, 2024
End date	August 31, 2024
Shows	10
	Adele tour chronology
← Previous
Weekends with Adele; (2022–24)

Adele in Munich is the second concert residency by English singer Adele, held in a purpose-built, 80,000-seat outdoor arena at Messe München in Munich, Germany. It began on 2 August 2024 and ended on 31 August 2024, with 2 shows each week. Each night's performance includes 22 songs, making it the longest setlist in her career. These are Adele's only concerts in Europe for 2024.

Background[]

In 2016, Adele embarked on her third concert tour, Adele Live 2016, which ran through multiple continents and lasted 121 shows. She closed the tour with a series of shows at Wembley Stadium, during one of which she passed a handwritten note to attendees admitting she may not tour again: "Touring is a peculiar thing, it doesn't suit me particularly well. I'm a real homebody and I get so much joy in the small things [...] I wanted my final shows to be in London because I don't know if I'll ever tour again and so I want my last time to be at home." Adele cancelled the final two performances due to medical advice after she damaged her vocal cords. She would keep a low profile during the following years.

Adele announced her fourth studio album, 30, on 13 October 2021, and announced it would be released on 19 November of the same year. On the day following the announcement, "Easy on Me" was released as the lead single from the album. In a November interview, Adele stated that she really wanted to tour in support of 30 but would most likely not do it: "This album? No, probably not. I'd love to. [...] It doesn't sit right with me putting an album out this year and then touring it in 2023." She further denied rumours of an impending concert residency in an interview with Rolling Stone.

However, on 30 November, Adele announced the residency Weekends with Adele. It was planned to take place between 21 January and 16 April 2022, with Adele performing two shows at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas every weekend (24 total shows). The 100,000 tickets that went on sale sold out within six hours, resulting in an average gross of US$2.2 million (1.606.000 British pounds) per show. The Guardian's Ben Beaumont-Thomas commented that since Vegas residences had been frequent among artists who were past their commercial peak, Adele was an outlier. But he thought it suited her situation due to its proximity to her son and his father's residence, her aversion to touring giant venues, and the intimate material on 30 which would resonate better with a smaller audience. It was also meant to circumvent the challenges posed to traditional concert tours by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Development[]

Initially, the Weekends with Adele residency was supposed to be her only show following the release of 30, although she performed two sold-out shows at London's Hyde Park in July 2022. Having not played in continental Europe since 2016, Adele was not planning to perform there either but was convinced by promoters Klaus Leutgeb and Marek Lieberberg, who had been "courting" her for two years. Lieberberg admitted they had to "overcome a lot of hurdles and put a great deal of work into convincing her"; however, Adele accepted the offer after seeing Florian Wieder's designs for a temporary stadium. A senior source in the British music industry said, "somebody's put a lot of money on the table. Not only have they got Adele, but they have her as a European exclusive". The Times journalists said the custom-built venue, installed on a vast outdoor space at the Messe München exhibition centre in Munich, Germany, would be the "world's largest pop-up stadium", "far" exceeding the 44,000-capacity temporary stadium built for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Leutgeb later recalled that he went to see her in America in August 2023 and told her, "You are the Queen of Music, we will build you your own stadium". Adele responded, "Let's do it!".

On 31 January 2024, it was announced that Adele would not be giving a one-off show at the "bespoke" stadium in Munich, but the event would take place as a residency of concerts. Before performing there, she had to complete a leg of her concert residency in Las Vegas, which ended on 15 June. Adele stayed in Germany in July 2024 before beginning her summer concert series. She resided in Munich with her son until the end of August, a context that suited her. Adele rented a 451 square metres (4,850 sq ft) floor of a luxury hotel for €30000 (equivalent to $33,000 in mid-2024) per night.

Conception and production[]

In July 2024, Leutgeb said the idea had germinated two and a half years earlier while sitting next to Wieder in Munich. The Adele Arena would be divided into eleven zones, totalling 85 blocks. Placed directly next to the autobahn [A 94] (highway), the stage would allow complete noise isolation by creating a physical barrier. Jonathan Dickins, Adele's manager for 18 years, commented that it would be "the total opposite of the very small shows in Las Vegas". Wieder designed the stadium and Adele World.

Live Nation and Leutgeb Entertainment Group organised the residency and were responsible for the construction work launched in early July 2024. Adele visited the stadium construction in mid-July and wrote on her own Instagram: "It's all a bit bloody exciting." Lieberberg described the event as "the most expensive undertaking of all time. And the most extensive project in my 50 years in the music business". A construction team of 700 persons worked on the stage of the stadium. By mid-July, the assembly of the entire stage and part of the stands had progressed significantly. After an initial visit to the construction site, as part of a press conference, Augsburger Allgemeine's Felicitas Lachmayr wrote, "The dimensions of the project are gigantic". Dickins said Adele "brought a lot of ideas; the site carries her DNA". Dickins emphasised that one of her most important concerns would be creating a "cosy" atmosphere, while Lachmayr thought this was difficult to conceive given the considerable daily attendance expected.

The entire site covered 400,000 square metres (4,300,000 sq ft). Equivalent to 60 football pitches, the site was designed with three entrances, allowing for seamless arrivals and departures. The stage structure spanned 4,000 square metres (43,000 sq ft) and was integrated into a €40 million (equivalent to $44,160,000 in mid-2024) LED screen that measured 220 metres (721 ft 9 in) wide and 30 metres (98 ft 5 in) high, making it the largest screen of all time used for a stage show. The giant screen was designed to resemble an unrolled film reel, and its wavy shape guaranteed good visibility not only for the crowd but also for those in the back rows. The main stage was coupled to a 93-metre (305 ft) catwalk and a 200-metre (660 ft) semi-circle stage, allowing Adele to get closer to the audience. The semi-circular walkway led to a second stage. Stufish Entertainment Architects created the stage and the LED wall. British firm Stufish, co-founded by Mark Fisher, has been Adele's long-standing stage design collaborator.

80,000 people per concert were initially targeted, but the Munich authorities had only approved 74,000 to 75,000. This figure had to be revised downwards due to security requirements. Bavarian State Police's Polizeipräsidium München also warned that traffic chaos was feared. The organisers encouraged people to use public transport, and a shuttle was planned from Max-Weber-Platz station to reach the exhibition centre. The metro frequency was increased on concert days. Parking spaces were also provided. Dickins stated that the concerts would occur in all weathers: "If the fans get wet, Adele will get wet too and keep playing." An emergency plan was prepared to evacuate people to the exhibition halls in the event of violent storms. The organisers poured 75,000 square metres (810,000 sq ft) of asphalt in front of the stage to ensure spectators' comfort in the event of rain. Dickins stressed that the Munich residency would be "a unique show that has never been seen before".

In August 2024, Billboard reported that production had cost more than $100 million, including construction costs.

Adele World[]

Less than a month before the residency's start date, a temporary hospitality area that would be built surrounding the venue was unveiled. The outdoor environment, designed according to Adele's ideas and dubbed "Adele World," included an I Drink Wine bar, a ferris wheel, a swing carousel, a beer garden, and multiple food and beverage options. Münchner Merkur's Katja Kraft described the place as being of "high-quality." The 70,000 square metres (750,000 sq ft) of Adele World and its 13,000 seats housed a "gastronomic city" and a reproduction of the British pub Good Ship, where she did some of her earliest gigs. Adele's "favourite drink" was also served there. Open before and after the concerts, Adele World aimed to offer audiences an "immersive experience", according to the organisers. An additional stage was set up in Adele World, where covers of Adele songs were performed. A Spice Girls tribute act could also be seen performing. After each concert, a karaoke party began, where people were encouraged to perform covers of "classic pop songs". Maggie Rogers unexpectedly appeared on the karaoke stage on 16 August. The telephone booth featured in the "Hello" music video was among the memorabilia items on display at Adele World.

Planning and ticketing[]

On 31 January 2024, Adele was announced to perform four shows on 2, 3, 9, and 10 August. Due to high demand, she added four additional shows on 2 February, scheduled for 14, 16, 23, and 24 August. At this point, 2.2 million people had registered for ticket sales. Registrations for a presale were possible on the Adele website until 5 February 2024. On 6 February, two final dates were added to the run of shows, 30 and 31 August. Presales began on 7 February on Ticketmaster and staggered in different phases. On 9 February, the general sale began via Live Nation and Eventim. Ticket prices were only revealed during the sale; no price range had been provided beforehand. People were faced with standard tickets ranging in price from €74.90 to €689 (equivalent to $83 and $760 in mid-2024). VIP packages ranged in price from €488 to €1252 (equivalent to $543 and $1,392 in mid-2024). The cheapest price categories sold out quickly. Ninety-five percent of tickets had been sold by mid-July. Then, Ticketmaster sold limited quantities of Lucky Dip tickets at €35 (equivalent to $39 in mid-2024) every Monday morning, but buyers did not know their places until they arrived at the stadium. Tickets were usually sold out within half an hour. Some stated that the "bargain-basement prices" were "unfair" given the amounts they paid at the start of the sale, although the Rolling Stones had previously used this method of Lucky Dip tickets.

Setlist[]

Dates[]

August 2^nd
August 3^rd
August 9th
August 10^th
August 14^th
August 16^th
August 23^rd
August 24^th
August 30^th
August 31^st

Adele in Munich

Tour by Adele
Associated album	30
Start date	August 2, 2024
End date	August 31, 2024
Shows	10
Adele tour chronology
← Previous
Weekends with Adele (2022–24)