Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and Allison Iraheta blew the roof off of NYC’s Highline Ballroom Friday night during their Ryan, Rock My Town concert, treating screaming fans to songs from all three singers’ respective debut albums. Lest anyone forget that they’re famous because they sang other people’s songs really well, they put their own spin on a few past hits as well. The best of the cover songs was definitely the closing number, Rolling Stone‘s song of the decade, Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” Each Idol alum took a verse—guess who tackled the song best? Watch below:
Adam Lambert, Kris Allen & Allison Iraheta – “Crazy”
This version of “Crazy” sounded like it let loose all the inmates at the asylum—each singer attemped such over-the-top vocal acrobatics, all three were guilty of scream-mumbling the lyrics. But we’ll let it go since it was the last song of the night, and it’s fun to see all three in a group number that isn‘t incredibly cheesy.
Other cover songs performed that night include Kris’s acoustic, laid back spin to The Beatles’ “Come Together” and Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”; Allison making Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” a funky jam; and Adam Lambert belting out Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love.” Entertainment Weekly‘s Michael Slezak went to the show and provides a gleefull live report, describing all three singers as delivering “powerful, confident sets” even when the crowd’s interest seemed to wane at one point:
“Adam is, undoubtedly, a tough act to follow, and when a wave of Glamberts left the building before the start of Kris’ set, you could feel some of the energy drain from the room. If that bothered the season 8 champ, however, it wasn’t evident in a performance that teemed with creativity, bravado, and moments of pure audacity.”
Though most of you don’t live in cities selected to host Seacrestapalooza, you can catch more videos of Adam and Kris at the Adam Lambert Reference Centre. (Apparently, Allison doesn’t recieve the same type of love from Adam’s fans as Kris, so you’ll have to do a little browsing on YouTube to find the fourth place finisher’s clips from the show. Here’s the best one we could find, though it’s a bit shaky. We’ll keep looking for you Iraheta lovers out there.)
OMG THEY KILLED IT LOL!!! I WANT TO SEE KRADISON PERFORM. BTW ALLISON WILL YOU COME TO PROM WITH ME PLZ LOL
hey guys, i'm an adam fan and i attended the concert in nyc. i was up front where it was all happening. because of travel constraints i had to leave after adam's set. if the gig had begun an hour earlier i could have stayed. let me clear up something here. adam fans didn't leave. just a very few left. once adam finished the adam fans left the front and headed to bathrooms and the bar allowing kris fans to move up front. when i left, the place was still packed. adam fans were viewing their camera's and sat all around the room, drinking, chatting, etc. until kris' set started. my friend who is also an adam fan as well stayed up front and said they were great. so. i know for a fact that most adam fans did not leave.
Sorry, Babs, but some people were openly bragging on twitter before the show that they would walk out after Adam's set in order to prove a point about how Adam should have performed last. There were definitely some who did this, and were incredibly rude in doing so, considering there were many fans of all three who would have loved to have seen the show.
I'm @alreference. I love Allison, but I had to save my camcorder battery for Adam. Sorry!
The fans who wanted to stay did. Were you at the gig?
I was at the concert and by far the best was Adam Lambert and you can not compare him to anyone else. Allison was adorable and she has a strong voice. I thought Kris was ok and he seemed better due to his band. I would not go see him but he was good for a collage club. Adam is a real true artist and he will go very far and Adam is truely gifted. What a night it was and my daughter and I really loved Adam's performance.
OMG Adam was amazing. He had the crowd going crazy and I can't wait to see him again. His performance was the best I have seen in years. Great artist. Great performer and Outstanding vocals. True star.
I was at the concert and Adam stole the show. If they did not want people to leave then the obviously they should have put Adam at the end of the show. It was a no brainer. I watch kris for 20 minuntes and I think he improved because he now has good band members that help him. Kris plays the guitar well and can sing ok but ADAM is a star. Allison was very good. The line up was not smart. I don't belive you can compare Adam with anyone else. The show was great and Adam was amazing. Can't wait for the next concert.
I totally agree. However, I guess because it was a Ryan Seacrest thingy it had to follow AI format. I don't care for Kris or Allison's music. It's good, but not my taste. Adam is my cuppa tea. He was absolutely amazing! And for those Adam fans who attended, keep in mind that this performance was something we will not see at the more “family friendly” venues. Adam pulled out all of the stops because he performed at a venue that supported it. The Highline Ballroom is known for booking acts that are not mainstream. Adam and his entire band fit right into the NYC SOHO/Chelsea/Village atmosphere. Wow. I was blown away and feel so lucky to have experienced this. I'm guessing that his performance may be an example or a taste of the kinds of perfomances that Adam is shooting for when he tours. And OMG! cardiac arrest, here I come!!! LOL.
I was over the moon by the performances of Kris. He's such a creative artist. We will see great things from him!!
I thought Allison was annoying during Crazy- and many other times during her set. She seems like she's screaming all the time. She has to tone this down-especially how weird she moves her body. She's not even in the same league as Adam and Kris. Too awkward.
Thanks, Rose. My first reaction reading this was the author (is that you Ryan?) didn't even watch any of Kris set videos. Come Together was anything but 'laid back accoustic' – it was full on ROCK that did the Beatles proud.
From the HQ videos I've seen, all three did a fabulous job and the blogger reports of 'a third of the audience' leaving were greatly exaggerated based on reports from audience members who were fans of all three. Yes, a select group of Adam fans were intentionally rude and pre-planned a walk out.
I agree. I see that too. However, she was 17 not that long ago and has great potential. Adam and Kris are older. As young as Allison is she has been in the business since she is a little girl. She's a girl with a powerful voice, that needs more training.
Allison, you really need a handler. Learn how to work the stage and talk in coherent sentences. your facial expressions are really annoying.
They were literally screaming, but it was pure joy to watch the fun.
The 'crazy' cover is horrible. Seriously – has anyone who said they liked this ever heard the original? This version is not very Gnarly.