Adele told fans she was “thrilled” as she performed her first UK concert in five years.
The 34-year-old pop star performed at BST Hyde Park on Friday night as a sold-out crowd heard back-to-back hits from her four number one albums.
Arriving on stage in a black dress, she was visibly emotional as fans shouted back the opening lyrics to Hello.
“What’s wrong with me?!” she asked as she instructed the audience to help her carry the song across a central London park before singing the tune herself.
During a break, London-born Adele said: “Hello, I’m so happy to be here.
“Boys, I’m back home, also where I know. How many times have I been there drunk out of my face singing along with other artists at these concerts.’
She added that she was “excited” to be out again, but admitted it was “weird to be in front of a crowd again”.
Adele powered through numbers such as Easy On Me, Rumor Has It, To Make You Feel My Love and Rolling In The Deep as she chatted to the crowd between songs in her typical comic style.
She fired t-shirts and £50 notes from a cannon into the crowd and even promised a fan who had just turned 18 that she would treat them to her first drink after the show
At several points in the evening, she stopped the show to alert security to potential trouble in the audience in an effort to keep everyone safe.
Alluding to the much-reported delays of her ill-fated Las Vegas sojourn and album postponement, Adele told fans: “I know a lot of things happened with this album and I’m sure a lot of you feel that you were disappointed and stuff that is really humiliating and upsetting for me.
“But I take my singing very seriously and the last thing I’d want to do is let people down, but I had to, it just wasn’t right.”
Adele pulled out of a string of shows at Caesars Palace just days before they were due to take place, saying the show wouldn’t be ready in time.
Since then, there is no word on when shows might resume at the world-famous venue.
Her performance at BST Hyde Park marks her first festival show since 2016, when she lit up the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury.
Although this is her first UK gig in five years, she sang at this year’s Brit Awards at the O2 Arena and hosted An Audience With Adele at the London Palladium last November.
Adele will perform a second sold-out concert in Hyde Park on Saturday, with The Rolling Stones, Pearl Jam and Duran Duran appearing in the series of concerts over the next few nights.
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