There’s a classic scene in the fictional rock documentary Spinal Tap where the band can’t find the stage at the start of a gig. We see them wandering hopelessly along endless dark and dingy backstage passageways as they attempt to locate their cheering fans who’re waiting excitedly in the auditorium. Utterly lost, the band ends up taking directions from a stagehand, only to end up back where they started a short while later.
Perhaps keen to prove that reality in the music biz really is more bonkers than fiction, Adele is enjoying her own Spinal Tap-esque stage entrance during the Australian leg of her current world tour, being secretly wheeled out inside a box.
With her performances down under taking place on stages in the center of giant stadiums, there’s no way for her to reach her starting position without the crowd noticing.
So someone — possibly Adele herself — came up with the oddball idea of wheeling the star out in one of those boxes usually used for transporting concert equipment. That way, the crowd just thinks it’s the roadies moving a bit of equipment around. Except that in this case, it’s the multiple Grammy award-winning global superstar and all-round music legend Adele. In a box. Being wheeled toward the stage.
A source told The Sun that the singer-songwriter “sits in the box for several minutes as she’s taken from her dressing room right to the center of the crowd.
“Most of her fans are already seated and just presume it’s a piece of kit they’re moving but some have been told by staff at venues that actually it’s their idol and a woman worth 85 million pounds sitting in a pretty small box a few feet from them.”
The source said that some fans worked it out because her personal security guard accompanies the box as it’s wheeled out in front of the crowd.
“Then her team flank it as it reaches the stage and shield her from view as she climbs out and goes to wait underneath the stage for the start.”
The star reportedly has an iPad with her to keep her entertained during the journey, which is described as “a very sweaty and unglamorous part of the show for Adele [although] she’s down to earth and jokes about it.”
Adele has hinted at her unusual mode of transportation, telling fans at a recent gig, “How I get to the stage makes me so sweaty, I’m drenched,” adding, “I can’t tell you till the end — you’ll laugh when you find out.”
