Adelita’s Way @ The Annex, Madison, WI 03/31/2018

Having been an Adelita’s Way fan since 2012 with the release of their first album. I had only seen them play on festival stages. Partially my fault by always maintaining a busy schedule. When I saw they announced a date at a smaller and much more up close and personal style venue I jumped at the chance to acquire a photography pass. After a few email exchanges I was set. Walking into the venue after last being there in 2007 for a Bobaflex show I was surprised by how much nicer the place got.  Great lighting and fantastic sound. With how great the lighting was it made my photography job easy. I mean if you couldn’t snap in the lighting you should quit photography all together. Not joking.
After the 3 openers played I managed to weasel my way right upfront. 3 really nice people let me in there to snap for a few songs. Opening the show with “Bad Reputation” and setting the tone the guitar intro started up. Front man Rick DeJesus slowly walks up on the stage in what looked like a house coat and his hair tightly pulled back. Belting out word after word backed by thundering snare snaps and banging high hat hits it was quite apparent Adelita’s Way were completely in sync. After cruising through 2 songs they took a brief break to swap guitars. After playful banter with the crowd AW led right into one of their hit singles “Alive.” With the crowd singing word for word it started to drown out the lead vocals a bit from where I was standing. I’m not much of a singer at shows, but even I was singing word for word. The vocals from what I heard were so strong and powerful it made the lyrical content even more heartfelt. From there they strolled into their new single “Notorious.” From there I started to move around the room to get different views. “Notorious” from the album with the same title sounded even louder and tighter in person. At this point I began kicking myself for never seeing these guys in a club before. They were the definition of fantastic. At this point in the set they slowed the shows down a bit with a 3 song acoustic like bit. Once again the friendly talk between the band and the crowd key the mood fun and light. Most was circling around the lack of a bar stool to sit on. After having a very larger patron offer to act like a bench a stool showed up. Needless to say the jokes stopped and drumming of Tre Stafford kicked the acoustic part off. The slow down didn’t keep the crowd from continuing to sing loudly to “Somebody Wishes” “Last Stand” and “Tell Me”. As a photographer, I always try to get images of every member, then a spotlight image and then finally a group shot. With vocalist DeJesus up and out front singing so perfectly it was hard to not focus on his mannerisms. Tavis Stanley, playing fill-in guitar and also of Die Trying fame slayed every song with precision. Smiling and swaying back and forth, Stanley, made it look as if he were in the band from it’s inception.
Rounding out the evening, Adelita’s Way banged out a fan favorite in “Cage The Beast”. A song that I was hoping they would play. Closing with arguably their most popular hits, the Las Vegas rockers seemed to get louder and heavier. Strumming and snapping every note the band smashed out “Criticize” to a crowd still singing word for word. Leading straight into “Sick” and the short intro Dejesus teased the crowd with his hand gestures then belted out the powerful lyrics. The band itself pick up steam. Drummer Tre Stafford smashing more and more emphatically on his snare with every passing second. Firing on all cylinders would’ve been and understatement. With a brief jam session as an encore Adelita’s Way finished the evening with “Invincible” which is exactly the way I think everyone in that room felt. Belting out the chorus “I feel invincible tonight” The Annex crowd swayed and danced with their hands in the air. With an enthusiastic break down to end the set people screamed for more. It was a performance that left me blown away. I actually wound up kicking my self because I never saw these guys in a club before then. They kick ass. Hearing “Alive” in person gave me the feels and made me think of a certain someone. When I exited the venue I proceeded to call and talk to that person. If a single song being played can illicit that response then you know you’ve done your job and done it damn well.