19/07/02 - MILLENIUM SQUARE, LEEDS

Review by Steven Stanley:
We got into Leeds about 10.00am or something after resorting to paying over £20 for all day parking and went to check out the venue. To my surprise they were letting anybody walk straight through the performance area while they set it up. We saw the queue and there were only 2 people there so we went for some food!

We returned an hour or so later to find the queue had grown to about 10 people. We decided to start queuing from here to get ourselves a front row position. The day dragged on and queuing wasn't as good without all the lads from the March tour like Adrian, Mike and Paul...and when things couldn't get any worse it started raining! It didn't stop all night.

It's worth noting that there was a b-stage for this show but due to the torrential rain they didn't use it and the show was cut short. I went and bought some merchandise anyway and got the new programme and a t-shirt and stuff and went and put them in the car so they didn't get soaked during the gig. I came out of the car park to find it bloody pelting it down! I went and joined the queue anyway and soon they opened the gates. I think our was the only entrance they opened, at least for the first five minutes! I ran as fast as I could and you were greeted by a few lamers near the stage saying 'slow down' once more. It was like hmmm this looks familiar...'f*&^ off guys!'.

I arrived at the barrier front row again anyway bang in the middle dead centre like in Sheffield. It was bad because the over hang at the top of the stage was pouring rain onto us from the drainage and it was like 'nooooooo'! Also the mat they had put across the barrier started spurting out some kind of mucky soap when it got wet which wasn't nice!

A band called Vega 4 came on and did 3 songs but I was more bothered about staying dry than listening to them to be honest! After them it was Delirious and they weren't bad. The bloke came on looking like somebody from the muppets but credit to him he got the crowd going. The previous bands equipment had been getting soaked with rain so after Delirious all the crew made sure the stage was altered slightly for BA and the boys.

Soon enough this gimp with a sqeaky voice in an orange anorak came on welcoming us to the Millenium Square...he looked a bit of a toff and looked more at home at mummys tea party than introducing a gig! Credit to the lad though he told all the people to put their umbrellas down. It was funny because after the gig he tried selling us to Meatloaf and it was like 'f&*^ off mate you are pushing your luck there!' he couldn't wait to get off stage with all the booing!

Anyway onto the good stuff...BA came on (now with a 4th member Gary Bright on keyboards) just before 9pm and instantly mentioned something about the good old English summer! Then he sang 'Here I Am' followed by the usual setlist and then 'Kids Wanna Rock' with had a cool drum beat in the middle. Before he started 'Everything I Do' he mentioned the last time he played in Leeds was in 1987 at the Queens Hall. He remembers that gig because it was so hot that it was raining inside from the roof...presumably sweat condensation or something. He said it was absolutely disgusting...like tonight so whenever he plays in Leeds it's absolutely disgusting!!!

'Everything I Do' meanwhile was done acoustically like normal but with the two-part gap in between the song like it used to be and when the second part kicked in we got the keyboards, Keith Scott on lead guitar and Mickey on drums all going for it with Bryan bashing his acoustic...very good version indeed!

***BA entertains the Leeds crowd in the pouring rain below. Photos by Nathan Hodgson.***

For 'When You're Gone' Bryan chose 'Natasha from Oldham'....she got a load of boo's for being from Oldham! It was her birthday though so the crowd suddenly had a chage of heart and sang her happy birthday! Bryan said it was Keith birthday tommorrow so they should sing it him but no-one did! Bryan starting talking pictures of the girl after her performance anyway because she had brought her camera onstage! He was actually taking time doing loads of pictures and it was quite funny!

I didn't enjoy 'I'm Ready' and 'Heaven' as much because it was raining so much but as soon as 'One Night Love Affair' kicked in I forgot about it and we all started jumping up and down again! 'The Only Thing' was also very good at the end. Usually where he has been ending it with shouting 'you' at the crowd really quickly and them doing the same, this time he did it differently. He was doing it different everytime and eventually got the crowd somehow singing 'you' 'you' 'you' 'you' 'you' while BA was bashing his bass in the middle of the stage jumping up and down in time with the crowd....that was the best bit of the gig!

As soon as he finished that song and started 'Cloud #9' (he sang 'we can watch the rain go by up on cloud #9'!) I knew there would be no b-stage. I was hoping he would do a few b-stage songs like 'Seven Nights To Rock' on the main stage like in Brighton but he didn't. He just continued with the setlist and cut the show short. He was gonna finish it with 'Run To You' like the setlist said but they decided to do one more and they did 'The Best Of Me'.

I'm glad I went to see Bryan but I hope he doesn't play there again it was a very poor venue in my opinion. They didn't even have a walkway infront of the stage so BA and the band were like stationery all throughout the show and it didn't exactly add to the atmosphere. The stage was also quite a way from the crowd so he couldn't do his drop the mike in the crowd routine or anything! A BA gig is a BA gig though and it was still pretty damn awesome...glad to see him back in the UK!
Setlist:

HERE I AM
BACK TO YOU
HOUSE ARREST
18 TIL I DIE
KIDS WANNA ROCK
CAN'T STOP THIS THING WE STARTED
SUMMER OF '69
IT'S ONLY LOVE
EVERYTHING I DO (FULL BAND)
CUTS LIKE A KNIFE
WHEN YOU'RE GONE
INTO THE FIRE
I'M READY
HEAVEN
ONE NIGHT LOVE AFFAIR
SOMEBODY
THE ONLY THING
CLOUD #9
RUN TO YOU
THE BEST OF ME

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Review by Maria Heutz:
My first trip to England, my first Bryan Adams concert there, and also a little jubilee in touring because it was my tenth BA concert.
We (Moya, my pen pal and their daughters Louisa and Anna, Moya’s friend Brenda and I arrived in Leeds at 11.30 a. m. The performance area wasn’t closed so we could walk around there. Moya asked someone for the gates and she was told to go out and wait outside. There should be only one gate and because English are specialists in queuing we had only 19 people for us.
Unfortunately it started to rain. We had umbrellas but we knew they will not be allowed later so we put them in the car and bought some nice looking plastic raincoats. We joked to send Bryan some photos how glamorous we could look because that evening rain didn’t stop and we looked awful.
Moya, her daughters and Brandy got a place at the front. I stood in the second row in front of Bryan’s microphone. To my surprise next to me there stood a woman from Canada. I was proud that I came over to England alone. How proud must she have been? We talked a lot. Bryan manages it to bring people all around the world together and gives us a feeling of how small the whole world can be.
The support acts were “Vega 4”. Great because they played only 3 songs and left the stage. Than came “Delirious” who performed a bit to long even if they made good music. Finally at about 9 p. m. Bryan came on stage. He welcomed us with something like “I love these English summers”. Like a week ago he begun with “Here I am”, followed by “Back to you” .... and the songs he played in Bocholt. I missed “Get off my back” and also the b-stage performance which I regret. These songs - without “Kids wonna rock” - I never heard live before so I looked forward to listen to them again. To “When you’re gone” he invited a young girl on stage. She had her birthday that day and we sang “Happy birthday”. Bryan then told us that Keith will have his birthday tomorrow but nobody started again singing “Happy birthday”. Bryan took the girls camera but the film was already full so he asked her friend for their camera and took a photo of him and the girl.
In addition to the songs he sang in Bocholt he performed “Somebody”. The last song in Leeds was “The best of me”.
All in all, this concert was shorter than that one in Bocholt. Bryan did a lot of conversation. He joked about the weather. He said his first concert in Leeds has been in 1987. That time it has been so hot that it also rained but that time from the roof, sweat condensation? He changed the words in “Cloud # 9” into “we can watch the rain go by up on cloud # 9.
After the concert we followed Bryan’s good advice and had a hot pot of tea. We were like wet rags. Every time I put my hands up in the air the rain, the water run into the sleeves of my leather jacket. After three days the jacket was still wet, but nothing to regret. I would do it again under the same conditions. This concert was worth to be there. Comparing with all the concerts I have been to, this will be on place two. My best one was in Cologne 1999 in October.

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BA entertaining the Leeds crowd in the pouring rain....photo by Silmaril. She has an excellent website herself...check it out >

This is me getting absolutely drenched at the gig...photo taken by a Security guard but using Silmaril's camera :)

Couple more photos below of Keith and BA...taken by Nathan Hodgson.