While pop star Adele seems to have found work-life balance, Penticton-based musician Amanda Bentley looks for the same while touring a concert focused on the music of the “Rolling in the Deep” singer.
Bentley’s tribute show, launched last spring with pal Nicole Richard co-producing, comes to Surrey’s Bell Performing Arts Centre on Thursday, Oct. 22 for “an evening of music, memories and friendship” to start a tour of B.C. theatres.
“We joke that we kind of organized it like a bake sale the first time out, and it has turned into a legitimate production company,” Bentley said with a laugh.
“We work insanely hard on the promotion, marketing, the visuals, the production,” she added. “What we were able to do in such a short period of time, and the band that I was able to put together, one that you could see on any stage in the world, we’re really proud of our little project.”
The vocalist created This is Adele knowing that the Brit’s music typically doesn’t start a dance party.
“Adele does have some fun, upbeat songs,” Bentley insists, “but most of them are pretty somber, pretty emotional. So, our approach has really been about creating connection, sharing in the experience with the audience. I want people to feel something. But between songs is a chance to be really funny because Adele is really funny, right? We have people laughing, singing along, some are crying, laughing. It’s every emotion under the sun at these shows.”
It’s been a decade-plus since the hits of “Rumour Has It,” “Skyfall,” “Someone Like You” and “Hello,” all of which Adele last performed live (publicly) nearly two years ago, in November 2024, ending a residency at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.
“What she does is come out with a monster of an album, does a string of shows and then she disappears for, like, six or seven years at a time,” Bentley explained. “Right now she’s retreated again and we don’t know when she’s going to pop her head back up. That’s the work-life balance I think we’d all strive for.”
Blessed with a big voice, Bentley is also a bassist who has played professionally since age 12. She lived in Toronto and Vancouver for years, in pursuit of an original-music career, before moving back to the Okanagan with family.
“Once you have kids,” she said, “it’s a funny balance to work as a musician because it is a very unconventional career, so you start finding ways to earn a living but also have family balance.
“I did start working corporate gigs, private gigs, doing cover songs, stuff people can dance to,” Bentley added. “That allowed me to be home with my kids Monday to Friday. They never had to be put in a daycare, and then I would go work till 3 in the morning on the weekend. It’s a tough grind sometimes, a life choice, for sure.”
With a backing band directed by her high school band teacher, Bentley encourages Adele fans to dress up for her tribute concerts.
“It’s not mandatory but, you know, if you’ve got some fabulous dress clothes, an evening gown, you want to get a group of friends together and everybody pulls out their old prom dresses, we want to encourage to be absolutely fabulous, be ridiculous,” the singer says.
“How often do we get an opportunity to really go out, dress to the nines, gather groups of people that we haven’t seen in a long time? I’m a working mom, so I know that with my friends, it’s like, ‘I love you. I just have no time to see you,’ right? That’s the connection we want for people, to create an evening that is more than just sitting in a seat at a theatre.”
Tickets for the Surrey show are sold for $65 on bellperformingartscentre.com, call 604-507-6355 or visit adeletribute.ca.
On tour this fall, This is Adele shows are Oct. 24 in Lake Country (Creekside Theatre), Nov. 2 in Revelstoke (Performing Arts Theatre), Nov. 15 in Chilliwack (Hub International Theatre) and Dec. 2 in Kamloops (Sagebrush Theatre), with more dates in 2027.