‘I don’t like it, at all’: Lambert concertgoer surprised at reprimand
At first, Adela Calin didn’t know why the performance stopped.
She found out pretty quickly.
It was because of her.
“Miranda Lambert got on that stage, and we were like, ‘Oh, this is the time we can do our group picture,’ and we asked a lady to take our picture,” Calin said in a phone chat Tuesday morning. “We waited until a new song started and the lights came back on, and we took a couple more pictures. As soon as we were getting ready to sit down, we realized the concert stopped and I see Miranda Lambert pointing at us, and saying, ‘Sit down, sit down.’”
You likely know what happened Saturday night at Bakkt Theater, if you have made it this far. Lambert was singing her ballad “Tin Man” when she halted amid flashes at the edge of the show’s auxiliary stage.
“I’m gonna stop right here for a second… sorry,” she said in a video initially posted by @redneckinvegas. “These girls are worried about their selfie and not listening to the songs is pissing me off a little bit. I don’t like it, at all. We’re here to hear some country music tonight. I’m here singing some country dang music.” Lambert then mouthed “sit down” and motioned for the group to do just that.
‘I don’t like it - at all. We’re here to hear some country music, and I’m singing some country damn music!’
Miranda stops Tin Man to call out girls who are more concerned with taking selfies than listening to the music 🫡 pic.twitter.com/6BKnUskeZz
— Miranda Lambert Fan (@ranfancentral) July 16, 2023
A video sent by an unidentified fan, though blurry, shows Calin’s group posing for at least three photos, with the flash reaching the stage in what was supposed to be a quiet moment. The crowd cheers when Lambert stops playing.
The resulting debate on social media has been as hot as the flames emanating from the stage. @A.J. Delgado responded to my own post of the video, “Thank you! Finally, a person with a brain. These weren’t mere ‘selfies’ they were taking. @mirandalambert is totally in the right! These women were being extremely disrespectful to her and the rest of the attendees.” And from @adriann-beazy, “If I buy VIP tickets to a show, I’m taking as many pictures as I want. From every angle.”
Different view of the Miranda Lambert show-stopping moment at her show at Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood on Saturday. Six women, taking multiple selfies, with flash, VIP section, backs to the stage. I get her frustration. This is ridiculous. #RJNow @reviewjournal pic.twitter.com/vZcMDIsH9p
— John Katsilometes (@johnnykats) July 18, 2023
A PR rep for Lambert has declined comment. Bakkt Theater does allow cellphone use, but there is a no-flash policy for Lambert’s show. Ushers usually remind ticket-holders of that rule. Several Vegas productions require phones to be “pouched” in soft Yondr cases, with Garth Brooks at the Colosseum and Bruno Mars at Dolby Live currently enacting the policy.
Bakkt Theater has never required shows to be “pouched.” Lambert’s production is a social-media bonanza, with extensive pyrotechnics and video displays.
Calin says she is a social-media influencer “as a hobby,” managing the Lifestyle with Adela fashion website and IG account. She is originally from Romania and has lived in Las Vegas for five years, after living for a time in North Carolina, where she attended Meredith College in Raleigh.
Calin still speaks with a Romanian accent, saying, “I speak English fluently, but I don’t understand English words in songs.” She is not deeply familiar with Lambert’s music but is a fan of what she knows.
As such, Calin bought six VIP tickets for her and her five friends in December. The group ate at Strip House at Planet Hollywood Resort prior to the concert, and planned to mark the Lambert show on social media.
Calin said the group wanted better lighting during the performance, which of course is set up to spotlight the star onstage, not the audience. The ticket-holder said she waited for Lambert to move to the smaller, “satellite” stage near the VIP booths. This platform intentionally cuts the distance between the headliner and crowd, typically for an acoustic number or set.
“We tried to take a group picture before the concert started, but the light was so bad, we kept getting in the shade,” Calin said. “But we were so close to the satellite stage, and I said, ‘At some point, Miranda Lambert is going to get on that stage and we can actually have a group picture with her in the background.’”
The group got their pics, which are posted on Instagram. The ladies are now experiencing a Warhol-ian 15 minutes of fame as a result.
Having been singled out in front of 4,000 or so concertgoers, Calin pulled a complement from Lambert’s lecture.
“She called us ‘girls,’ and I was thinking, ‘Well, doesn’t that make me feel young! Someone calling me a girl!’” Calin said. “We are in our mid-30s all the way into our 60s. I’m 43 (laughs) so we are not young girls. We are grown women.”
Two members of the girls-night-out sextet left the show after the incident, upset at what had transpired. Calin said she likely would not attend another Lambert show after this experience.
Calin was asked what she would say to Lambert in the aftermath of this incident.
“I think she just needs to think a little bit about whether she likes cellphones, does she like people taking pictures? Or decide, like other artists, that she doesn’t want cellphones,” the influencer said. “If they’re told in advance, or she just could just say, ‘I don’t want pictures during this particular song,’ and make that known. I think that everybody would be happy, her and the the audience.”
Cool Hang Alert
The Jeff Hamilton Organ Trio is playing Vic’s Las Vegas at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Hamilton leads the band from behind the drum set, joined by Jon Hamar on bass and Tamir Hendleman on piano. Over the years, Hamilton has played with such stars as Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Michael Bublé, Lionel Hampton, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Count Basie and Rosemary Clooney. No cover; reservations highly recommended. Go to vicslasvegas.com for intel.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
