Adele in Munich

Adele in Munich

Residency by Adele
Promotional poster for the residency
Location	Munich, Germany
Venue	ADELE Arena at Munich Messe
Associated album	30
Start date	2 August 2024 (2024-08-02)
End date	31 August 2024 (2024-08-31)
No. of shows	10
Adele concert chronology
Weekends with Adele (2022–2024) Adele in Munich (2024)

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. It began on 2 August 2024 and will end 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.

In 2016, Adele embarked on her third concert tour, Adele Live 2016, which ran through multiple continents and lasted 121 shows.^[1][2] 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."^[3][4] Adele cancelled the final two performances due to medical advice after she damaged her vocal cords.^[5][6] She would keep a low profile during the following years.^[7]

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.^[8] 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."^[9] She further denied rumours of an impending concert residency in an interview with Rolling Stone.^[10]

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).^[11] The 100,000 tickets that went on sale sold out within six hours, resulting in an average gross of US$2.2 million (1606000 British pounds) per show.^[12][13] 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.^[14] It was also meant to circumvent the challenges posed to traditional concert tours by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[15]

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.^[16] 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 temporary stadium designs. 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". According to The Times journalists, the custom-built venue, installed on a vast outdoor space at Munich's exhibition centre Messe München, would be the "world's largest pop-up stadium". It "far" exceeded the 44,000-capacity temporary stadium built for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.^[17] 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!".^[18]

Adele stayed in Munich with her young son from the beginning to the end of August 2024, a context that suited her.^[19] She 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.^[20]

On 16 July 2024, Leutgeb said the idea had germinated two and a half years before while sitting next to Wieder in Munich. Jonathan Dickins, Adele's manager for 18 years, commented that it would be "the total opposite of the very small shows in Las Vegas". The Adele Arena would be divided into eleven zones, with 85 blocks in total. The stage would be placed directly next to the highway (autobahn 94), allowing for complete noise isolation.^[19] Wieder designed the stadium and Adele World.^[21][22] 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."^[23]

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". It was reported that 700 people worked on constructing the stage of the "pop-up stadium".^[24] 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, Augsburger Allgemeine's Felicitas Lachmayr commented, "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.^[25]

The entire site covered 400,000 square metres (4,300,000 sq ft).^[24][26] Equivalent to 60 football pitches, the site was designed with three entrances, allowing for seamless arrivals and departures.^[24] 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.^[27] 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 whose measurements were 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.^[24][26] The giant screen was designed to have the shape of an unrolled film reel, and due to its wavy shape, it guaranteed good visibility not only for the crowd but also for those in the back rows.^[25] 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.^[21] The semi-circular walkway led to a second stage. Stufish Entertainment Architects (UK)^[28] created the stage and the LED wall.^[29]

80,000 people per concert were initially targeted, but the Munich authorities had only approved 74,000 to 75,000.^[19] This figure had to be revised downwards due to security requirements.^[30][31] Bavarian State Police's Polizeipräsidium München also warned that traffic chaos was feared.^[32] 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. Dickins stressed that the Munich residency would be "a unique show that has never been seen before".^[25] The total cost amounted to hundreds of millions of euros.^[30]

Less than a month before the start date of the residency, it was revealed that a temporary hospitality area would be constructed surrounding the venue in addition to the stadium. It was also revealed that the outdoor environment would be Adele-themed. This would include an I Drink Wine bar, a Ferris wheel, a beer garden, and multiple food and beverage options.^[33] Adele World's 70,000 square metres (750,000 sq ft) with 13,000 seats featured a "gastronomic city" and a replica of the British pub Good Ship, where she did some of her earliest gigs.^[21][24]

On 31 January 2024, it was announced that Adele would perform four shows on 2, 3, 9, and 10 August.^[34] Due to high demand, she added four additional shows on 2 February, scheduled for 14, 16, 23, and 24 August.^[35] On 6 February, two final dates were added to the run of shows, 30 and 31 August.^[36]

According to Live Nation, more than 2.2 million people had registered by the time registration closed.^[37] Registrations for a presale were possible on the Adele website until 5 February 2024.^[38] Presales began on 7 February on Ticketmaster, staggered in different phases.^[39] 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.^[38] People were faced with regular tickets ranging in price from €74.90 to €689 (equivalent to $83 and $760 in mid-2024).^[40] VIP tickets went up to €1152.50 (equivalent to $1,272 in mid-2024).^[41] The cheapest price categories sold out quickly.^[42] 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 fans stated the "bargain-basement prices" were "unfair", although the Rolling Stones have used this method of Lucky Dip tickets before.^[28]

According to Munich economic advisor Clemens Baumgärtner, attendance at the ten concerts will generate 560 million euros (equivalent to $618M in mid-2024) for the city.^[24][43] Revenues came from catering, hotels, and the exhibition centre rental.^[31] Munich did not participate financially in Adele's residency project; "This is a stroke of economic and cultural luck for the city", said Baumgärtner.^[19]

This is the set list for the opening shows on 2 August 2024 at the ADELE Arena.^[44] It may not represent all shows.

• Night two included "Turning Tables" on the setlist following "Make You Feel My Love" in order to fill time before airing the women's 100-metre Olympic final.^[45]

• The opening acts performed in Adele World.