After seeing candlelight concerts all over my Instagram feed for the past couple months, I jumped at the chance to attend a candlelight tribute to Adele on Friday, July 25 at the Royal Pavilion. The concept of Fever’s candlelight tributes, besides from the copious number of candles…of course, is that they feature classical reimaginings of contemporary music. The songs in question being performed by the Sussex String Quartet, composed of Anna, Martin, Jessie, and Sarah – all of whom have musical CVs to fill a book, and then some.
The night was held – as we were informed by cellist Emma – in what was once King George IV’s music room. If you ever have the chance to visit, my one piece of advice would be to look up, as hanging from the domed ceiling of the music room is a plethora of chandeliers inspired by lotus flowers, along with stained glass windows and intricate gilding. It felt like one of those optical illusions where the more you looked at it, the more details you’d notice.
I had only been to the Royal Pavilion once before, and that was during a heatwave whilst working minimum wage at a summer school and herding a group of 40 disinterested teenagers along with me. So, it’s safe to say that this second time around was a much more enjoyable experience. Seeing the room at night was just stunning, with the candlelight flickering off the ornate golden dragons and snake statues that detailed the room. And I’m happy (and very very relieved) to confirm that the candles weren’t flammable, since my lack of coordination mixed with live fire is something no one should be subject to.
Despite admittedly singing every lyric word for word in my head the entire time, to be able to hear Adele’s iconic songs stripped back with no vocals really made me focus on the harmonies and composition of the songs I wouldn’t otherwise have noticed. The quartet played through her discography spanning all the way back to her breakout singles such as ‘Chasing Pavements’ and ‘Make You Feel My Love’, up to her most recent hits including ‘Oh My God’ and ‘Easy on Me’, and ending on fan-favourite, ‘Rolling In The Deep’. Taking breaks every couple of songs to give us facts and background knowledge on Adele’s discography which added a really nice personal touch to the evening.
You can catch future candlelight concerts in Brighton throughout the rest of the year with future shows promising renditions of Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Hans Zimmer, and Taylor Swift, to name but a few.
Website: Candlelight Concerts in Brighton Tickets 2025 | Fever
Address: Royal Pavilion, 4/5 Pavilion Buildings, Brighton, BN1 1EE
