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19/07/04 - METRO CENTRE, HALIFAX, NS Review by Sandy McDonald - Halifax News: There were no stomp boxes on the floor, no tech-swapping fancy guitars every song — just two hours of straight-ahead, garage-tested rock, shined up like a ’69 Camaro and ready to roar. A pair of giant video screens on either side of the stage flashed live shots of the concert, but most of the 8,000 in the house didn’t really need them. Adams kept his stage clean, making for unimpeded sightlines from around the hall. From the opening blast of 18 Till I Die, Adams was singing straight to his audience. His over-amped voice, with neck veins a-poppin’, makes everything sound anthemic. Hardly pausing for more than a few words, Adams rolled through his impressive songbook — Can’t Stop This Thing We Started, Kids Wanna Rock ... He finally traded his electric guitar for a first-rate six string to set up the singalong version of Summer of ’69, followed by an impressive acoustic version of Everything I Do “exactly the way I wrote it.” It was hard not to get won over by the raggedy rocker. He’s a stellar songwriter, with an unerring ear for the killer hook. The opening riff from Cuts Like A Knife still grabs, while not much from the early ’80s has held up as well. Adams had the crowd “na na na-ing” along in a blissed-out chorus, a few Bics waving in the dark. His five-piece band showed up in uniform — black Ts, baggy-ass jeans and clunky engineer boots, a far cry from the goofy white painter suits they wore last time through town. Guitarist Keith Scott carried much of the load last night, as Adams seemed content to crank out the rhythm. “This is where the fun begins,” Adams announced an hour into the show. “I’m looking for someone to sing up here with me.” After carefully scrutinizing the “pick-me” crowd, Adams pulled up a fan called Monica, who looked utterly bewitched and bewildered by the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “Can you sing?” asked a bemused Adams, as Monica pulled out Bryan Adams memorabilia from her purse. “No, but I know all the words.” She was right on both counts. But no one had more fun last night. The young Bedford accountant got entirely into the moment, laying down her best rock-chick moves during her five fleeting minutes of fame. She was out of her mind, singing off-key with joyful abandon — a truly transcendent moment in rock ’n’ roll lore. Obviously caught up in the moment himself, Adams promised her some new concert mementoes and a backstage pass. Then he reclaimed his stage. Fellow Vancouver rocker Colin James opened the show with a solid 40-minute set gleaned from his own 15-year recording run. Showing his versatility, James offered up some slick Delta blues (Stones in My Passway), Motown-flavoured originals (Anyone Can Make A Mistake) and some amped-up rock. Though neither James nor Adams are regulars on contemporary rock radio these days, both delivered first-rate sets last night. And even if they aren’t kids anymore, they still wanna rock. ******************** Review
by Stephen Cooke - Halifax Herald: Roughly 9,000 of them packed the Halifax Metro Centre on Monday night to hear the highlights of the Vancouver singer-songwriter's 25-year career as a solo artist. That included one lucky megafan named Monica, an accountant from Bedford, who showed enough enthusiasm from halfway up the lower bowl to attract the 44-year-old star's attention and get invited on stage to share vocal duties on Baby When You're Gone. "Can you sing?" Adams asked the brunette ball of energy. "No," she confessed. "But I know all the words!" "Well, that's good enough," he grinned. Monica proceeded to belt out the lyrics for all she was worth - and do the bump with a bemused Adams - and while she might not make the cut on Canadian Idol, she made up in spunk what she lacked in, well, pitch. And there are so many Adams songs to describe how she must have felt: Night to Remember, Heaven, Cloud #9 . . . and he played them all. Unashamed of being labelled a crowd-pleaser, Adams unleashed a catalogue of hits, generally free of attitude or irony, with the help of his four-piece band and enough Varilights to choke a def leppard. Longtime comrades, drummer Mickey Curry and guitarist Keith Scott, were joined by Gary Bright on keyboards and Norm Fisher on bass. Together since the early '80s, Adams and Scott clearly enjoyed their interplay, tossing out licks and playing to all sides of the arena from the walkway in front of the stage. Most of the show focused on the electric and the upbeat, although Adams got out his acoustic guitar for Summer of '69, playing solo on the verses with the band kicking in on the chorus. He also had a pleasant arrangement of that soft rock warhorse (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, keeping it acoustic - as he said it was written) - until the bridge, when the band upped the ante appropriately. The party hearty thread remained strong throughout the show, from the opener There Will Never Be Another Tonight, through 18 Till I Die and The Kids Wanna Rock, although it didn't look like there were many there who were under 18, and the handful of kids I saw sitting near me mostly looked bored while their parents got their groove on. After playing Can't Stop This Thing We Started, Adams stopped things to ask the security staff to lighten up on getting people to put their cameras away and preventing those on the floor from getting a closer view of the stage. "C'mon, this is a rock and roll show!" pleaded Adams, and strangely all hell did not break loose. Mind you, this was a Bryan Adams show, not Slayer, so it wasn't like there was that much of a chance of danger. Adams reminisced about first playing Halifax back in '82 before launching into Back to You, while his signature hit Cuts Like A Knife filled the arena with the rafter-shaking din of thousands of "Na-na nah, na-na nah na nahs." Before an encore that included Cloud Number Nine and Run to You, he ended the show proper with the snarling thrum of The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You, which is probably the worst pickup line in history, but one of the catchiest singalongs. Fellow Vancouverite Colin James shared the bill, filling his hour with hits like Five Long Years and Voodoo Thing, although the strongest moments were new ones like a cover of John Lennon's I'm Losing You and Make a Mistake from his latest album Traveler. | |||
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Bryan on his strat
Put ya tongue away Bryan! |
