The National : Richmond VA : 27/8/10

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Concert review: Adam Lambert intoxicating at The National

Melissa Ruggieri

Quote :: What, no “Mad World”?

That is the only quibble with last night’s otherwise exhilarating Adam Lambert show at The National.

The “American Idol” also-ran turned in the kind of star-making performance that guarantees his club days are numbered. No doubt by his second or third album, he’ll be competing with his lesser-talented

Top 40 peers to fill arenas, and he already has the toughest part of that assignment – stage presence – aced.

Lambert has crafted an extraordinarily ambitious club run stuffed with lasers, scantily clad dancers, a visually appealing four-piece band and his own magnetic presence and pipes.

Throughout most of the too-brief 80-minute set, he looked like the result of an Alice Cooper and Cher mating (which is to say, fabulous) and sounded like a Broadway powerhouse.