Adam Lambert, Kris Allen and gang rock Charlotte

Taking the stage dressed in a studded blue leather tailcoat as the band cranked out the opening bars of Led Zeppelin's “Whole Lotta Love,” the emo-coiffed 27-year-old Adam Lambert unleashed his classic-rock howl and some PG-13 gyrating. Then, he dialed down to a sensitive croon for Muse's “Starlight” and Tears For Fears' “Mad World.”

Throughout his set, Lambert displayed an experienced performer's comfort and vocal control, hitting stratospheric notes with ease. Yet though he delivered, the thrilling “what will he do next” audacity that helped him electrify the TV show isn't as much of a factor in the tour, and his stage training appeared to coat him with a bit of a hardened sheen in a live setting, with good-natured personality emerging only in between-song banter.

Read the full Charlotte Observer story