Dress up and sing “Hello” at an Adele tribute show coming to Surrey

Pop star Adele seems to have found a work-life balance, and Penticton-based musician Amanda Bentley is seeking something similar while touring a concert focused on the singer’s music. Bentley’s tribute show, This is Adele, launched last spring with her friend Nicole Richard as co-producer. It comes to Surrey’s Bell Performing Arts Centre on Thursday, Oct. 22, for “an evening of music, memories and friendship,” opening a tour of B.C. theatres.

Bentley laughed as she recalled that they had organized the first show “kind of like a bake sale,” but that it had since become a legitimate production company. She said the team works extremely hard on promotion, marketing, visuals and production. Bentley said she is proud of what they accomplished in a short time and of the band she assembled, which she believes could perform on any stage in the world.

Bentley created This is Adele (https://www.adeletribute.ca/) knowing that Adele’s music typically does not get a dance party started. Adele has some fun, upbeat songs, she said, but most are sombre and emotional. The show’s approach is to connect with the audience and share the experience, so people feel something. Bentley said the time between songs is a chance to be funny because Adele is funny, too. Audiences laugh and sing along, and some people cry; she described the shows as spanning every emotion.

It has been more than a decade since hits such as “Rumour Has It,” “Skyfall,” “Someone Like You” and “Hello” came out. Adele last performed live publicly nearly two years ago, in November 2024, when she ended her residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Bentley said Adele tends to release a huge album, perform a run of shows and then disappear for six or seven years. She has retreated again, Bentley said, and it is not known when she will reappear. Bentley said that is the kind of work-life balance everyone would aspire to.

Bentley has a powerful voice and is also a bassist who has performed professionally since she was 12. She spent years living in Toronto and Vancouver while pursuing an original-music career, then moved back to the Okanagan with her family. Having children makes balancing a musician’s unconventional career with family life difficult, she said, so musicians find ways to earn a living while making time for family. Bentley began taking corporate and private gigs, playing cover songs and music people could dance to. That let her be home with her children from Monday to Friday, without sending them to daycare, while working until 3 a.m. on weekends. She called it a tough grind at times and a definite lifestyle choice.

Bentley’s backing band is directed by her high school band teacher. She encourages Adele fans to dress up for the tribute concerts, though it is not mandatory. People can wear formal clothes or an evening gown, or gather friends and pull out old prom dresses; Bentley said she wants them to be fabulous and have fun. She asked how often people get the chance to dress up and gather with friends they have not seen in a long time. As a working mother, she understands friends saying, “I love you. I just have no time to see you.” The show aims to create that connection and make an evening at the theatre more than sitting in a seat.

Tickets for the Surrey performance are $65 and are available at bellperformingartscentre.com (https://www.bellperformingartscentre.com/events/this-is-adele-2026/). Tickets can also be arranged by calling 604-507-6355 or visiting adeletribute.ca (https://www.adeletribute.ca/). This is Adele is also touring this fall: Oct. 24 at Creekside Theatre in Lake Country, Nov. 2 at Performing Arts Theatre in Revelstoke, Nov. 15 at Hub International Theatre in Chilliwack, and Dec. 2 at Sagebrush Theatre in Kamloops. More dates are planned for 2027.