40 years into her illustrious career, gospel music legend Yolanda Adams has seen plenty of things change in the music business and the world at large – but some factors, she said, have remained consistent.
“The good news is that human physical presence is so important to what we do that it’s going to take a lot to get rid of that, because you cannot get the same experience without having that live kind of feel,” Adams told The Pop Break. “So I think that would be the plus for artists like myself who are singers and writers and composers and stuff like that. So I think that will never change.
“Of course, we have to be innovative and do things in a way where people are excited about it, so I’ve seen the transformation of the CD into the MP3, generations of the evolution of music, but there’s one thing that remains the same – a live performance makes you feel something that a taped performance cannot.”
Adams delivers proof of the power of live performance to New Jersey this month with her engagement on Thursday, Jan. 29 at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, NJ. Adams – whose debut studio album, Just As I AM, marks its 40th anniversary this year – has built a remarkable body of work over the decades as a multi-platinum-selling artist who has earned accolades including four Grammy awards.
She takes, as she explained, an incredibly deliberate and modern approach to crafting her setlists for maximum impact.
“You try very, very hard to get everyone’s favorites in. You go to the past, those things that were huge in certain areas, because each city is very different, it’s according to who played what and how the music was introduced then,” she said. “But there are certain things that are universal. I can’t go anywhere without singing ‘Open My Heart,’ I can’t go anywhere without singing ‘The Battle,’ so we know those are the mainstays. But also, you add a little spice – and when I say spice, it’s the new stuff that is being currently played – and you have to fine-tune the setlist. You look at all of the metrics on YouTube and TikTok and all of that kind of stuff (to see) what’s resonating with people in Jersey. And these analytics now are like rocket science.”
Adams plays the Bergen Performing Arts Center just a handful of days after the Jan. 25 conclusion of her debut Broadway run, co-starring as the mentor figure Miss Liza Jane in the Alicia Keys musical Hell’s Kitchen, now on stage at the Shubert Theatre.
“It’s been awesome,” said Adams, already a Tony nominee thanks to her work as a songwriter on the SpongeBob SquarePants musical. “It’s almost like the role was tailor-made for me, because I have been a mentor, I have been mentored, and for me it came full circle because being an instructor and an educator and having the ability to transform people just because of the gifts that you bring to the table and then giving them the instruction that can help them further their lives and be a beacon for them, it’s amazing.”
