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		21/09/05 - SPORTSPALAIS, ANTWERP Review by Helen Barton: We got up early and left Anouk’s at 8am, which paid off as we arrived at Antwerp at 9am, with only three other people already there…so I got #4 – the lowest number I’ve ever had on my hand! We spent the day in the queue, which was right on the main road, and at around 10am some men came along to put metal barriers up - - mind you, it didn’t really look like they knew what they were doing, or as someone said, they’d never made lego when they were kids! But they managed to assemble a barrier with gaps to allow one person through at a time, a little more organized than Cologne we felt. It was another warm sunny day, although there wasn’t much available to eat – I’m not quite sure what happens in Antwerp but it looks like they don’t eat lunch there! At all! Four or five restaurants and pubs over the road were closed all day long – in fact all that was open was a small pizza restaurant and the pizzas looked soggy and unappetising, even though they were 12 Euros! In the end me and Jackie B (musicangel) settled for buying everyone a picnic from Aldi – which basically consisted of dry bread and very bitter apples, but it filled us up. There were no toilet facilities either, just one portacabin behind a nearby petrol station. Wonderful. Other activities for the day included a quick wander around the back to find out where Bryan might be coming out, and we were happy to discover only one possible exit – wahayyy! We also made several more banners – Lizy wanted Bryan to put his head up her shirt this time LOL, and Jackie W. kept trying with BTNIO – she’d had a few drinks the night before, had overslept and missed her train, so was feeling ‘grumpy’ – and her dwarf for the night was ‘grumpy’ too! I was wearing my ‘I’m only happy when I’m dancin’ vest that I made – a sort of thank you to Bryan for playing it the night before, and a cheeky request to play it one more time… We knew it was getting near to 5pm as Lizy was starting to feel sick (she doesn’t need a watch to tell her when gig time is getting near, lol). So we all stood up and there was the usual rubbish with hundreds of people behind trying to push in – although I’d say it wasn’t quite as bad as Cologne. I put my hand out to stop two guys trying to push – they were pointing at my hand and laughing but they could laugh all they wanted…they were not getting my space! The doors opened at 6.30pm and then we had to run from the back of the arena to the other – a bloody long way to run!! All I can remember is the adrenalin kicking in, seeing Anouk bolt from one end to the other like a bullet, and following her…despite being unfit and getting out of breath, there was the barrier in front of me and I was determined to make this my first full gig at the front! I made it, hitting the barrier at full force and bouncing off it again! I managed to save a space for Lizy who came limping in, and was happy to find that me, Lizy, Anouk, Debbie and Jackie B were in a line along the barrier, just to the left, with Jackie W., Gary, Liz, Kelly and Linda also on the front row, a bit further a long. Rose and Simone made second row just behind us. So far so good…I had a feeling this was going to be something special!! When the dudes came on, the audience reaction was absolutely wild. I thought Cologne was crazy but this was something else – it reminded me of Earls Court. The BTY bounce was particularly awesome – the whole floor did it as well as the dudes! We did the actions to BTY – a great laugh! I’ve said before and I’ll say again, how cool it is to share these things with other people who are as passionate about it as you are. Bryan and the dudes seemed to respond well to the crowd – the Na Na Na’s during CLAK got just as wild as the night before, probably even louder, still with everyone carrying on after the song had finished! Bryan came back and this time said ‘You are a lot of CRAZY animals!!!’ He did the same intro to EID – talking about the gap between lunch and dinner…that’s the great thing about Bryan, not only is the gig and his performance amazing, but when he chats he holds the crowd’s attention, he has such a chemistry with us that just gets me every time…I always stand back and think ‘wow, this guy is something special’, and that’s what has made me come back and back to see him for so many years. Kelly shouted out that she’d got him a Pizza. He said ‘you got me a pizza’?, walked over and read it, then he read out loud what she’d written on the back of a pizza box (yes those expensive soggy pizzas came in handy for something!), - ‘what part of your body can I touch tonight Bryan?’, to which he replied ‘that’s the best offer I got all week!!’ Lizy held up a banner asking for Blessing in Disguise – he said ‘no’ and stuck his tongue out at her, so she stuck her tongue out back at him! I was just standing there pmsl. Ok, be warned, I am now going to go on a bit, so those of you who were happy to just read by shorter WYG review then you can skip this bit, LOL! But anyway, what happened next I really, really just can’t get over at the moment. It was incredible…Lizy said to me earlier that you can’t describe what it’s like to be WYG girl until it happens to you…now it’s happened to me I’m going to try and describe what it’s like…but probably won’t be able to find the words…. CLAK finished and Bryan did the usual, ‘I want to find someone to sing this next song with me’, which was met with the usual cheers and screams from everyone around. Of course I’ve always wanted to do it but knew he never picked BAddies, never picked anybody from the front row, and certainly would never pick someone from England when in a different country…so there was no way he would break those three rules for anyone, right?? That said, Anouk and Lizy were determined to get me up there, so every time Bryan looked over they jumped up and down, yelled BRYAN! BRYAN! BRYAN!!! at the tops of their voices and kept pointing at me. Bryan looked over once, then looked around…then he looked at us a second time, and we all started jumping up and down. I suddenly had a feeling something was going to happen…I was starting to shake and feel nervous, then he looked over a third time – POINTED AT ME! ..and said ‘Ok, I’ll have you down there!!!’ The only way to describe the feeling that came over me at that moment was OMFG!! I just couldn’t believe it. I screamed and then slapped my hand over my mouth…Lizy and Anouk were yelling ‘Go Hels, Go Hels!!’ It all then happened so quickly. Two security guys got me and lifted me over the barrier, and put a step ladder up against the stage…then that was it, I wasn’t nervous anymore and I was on a mission – get to my man as quickly as possible!! So I ran alongside the stage, bolted up the step ladder, got onto the stage and there was Bryan standing waiting for me!! So I just ran up to him, threw my arms around him and gave him the biggest hug, ever! That was just the most incredible moment – my hero for 14 years and there I was holding him in my arms! And he felt so warm!! Anyway, after that we went over to the microphone….usual questions, what’s your name, where are you from etc. Because I’ve heard before that he usually wants a girl from the country of the gig, I was nervous when I told him I was from England, so straightaway after I said it, I asked ‘is that o.k’? And he said ‘that’s fine with me!!’ The relief!! He said, ‘so have you come over here for the show tonight?’ And I said, yes! And I was in Cologne last night, and I’ll be in Coventry on Friday!!! He looked genuinely chuffed!! Then he looked out to the crowd and said ‘She’s all the way from England…’, and a lot of the crowd started booing!! Oh dear – well that’s what I expected and really it didn’t touch me – several thousand people booing, but my good friends were on the front row cheering, and Bryan was standing next to me saying it was fine – so did I care about the booing? No!! LOL. But to make it fair, Bryan asked me to choose someone from Belgium too, and I thought that was cool. So Bryan put the lights on and I looked out to the crowd, and OMG, that’s when I realised what a hard job he must have choosing someone – there was this sea of arms and so many screaming women jumping up and down!! I was completely thrown by it and Bryan jokingly told me to hurry up! LOL! So I picked this other girl, Lindsay, who looked really keen – she then got up on stage and threw her arms around Bryan too! When she said she was from Belgium the whole crowd cheered, and I cheered too and hugged her – now everyone was happy! So we started the song, and it was evident from the start that me and Lindsay were gonna have FUN! He treated us so equally, singing to both of us at different times – we played with his hair (in fact I had a good old ruffle of his hair as I’ve always wanted to touch it…but it was quite sticky, he must have had a lot of gel in it!!) – we took it in turns with the butt dance and ended up sandwiching him between us, me in front and Lindsay behind - Bryan rubbing his guitar against my bum – OMG such great fun!!! I didn’t see the look on Bryan’s face but apparently he was cracking up laughing, what a priceless moment!!! When we finished the song, he took both our hands (he’s got quite small hands actually) and we bowed etc. He asked who I was with and I said ‘half your fan club!!’ He then told us both we’d get t-shirts etc and led us off the stage with his arms round us both. OMG. We were both made to wait by the side of the stage during ‘All I want is you’, but we both danced and sang along – and I can honestly say that NOTHING that has ever happened in my life has matched how I felt that moment, the feeling of being on such a complete high, coupled with utter disbelief that it had actually happened – to me!!!! By the time I’d got back to the barrier, greeted by hugs and cheers from Anouk, Lizy and Jackie, I was shaking and unable to speak….at all!! Thanks to that I don’t remember the next few songs…it all went by in a bit of a blur while I tried to collect myself – and texted just about everyone in my phone book!!! Bryan started singing Heaven and lost his voice a bit so had to have a drink and start again…he apologised and said ‘but you know, this is live…’ LOL. The encores were the same as the night before, with full rock 69, TBOM, TOTTLGOMIY etc., (during TBOM Kelly got her head under his t-shirt for the second night in a row! OMG!!). The acoustic set was mindblowing as always…but after that, even better. The lights went down and we thought it had finished, but the whole arena were screaming, stamping their feet and yelling more! more! more! The lights seemed to stay down for ages, then we noticed in the corner that some guys were still holding the dudes’ guitars – they were coming back on!! So they came straight back out and Bryan said, ‘haven’t you got homes to go to?’, to which we all yelled NOOOOOO!!! Then the band started playing a song (not sure which), but Bryan stopped them, and instead launched into BLESSING IN DISGUISE!!! And it rocked!!! It was just amazing, completely mindblowing – we were dancing and going wild, in fact all 18,000 people were! Then after that, they finished with SHE’S ONLY HAPPY..!!! for the second night in a row. Me and Lizy were literally in heaven - - it was OUR encore!! When the lights finally went up, I walked out of there in complete disbelief that I’d just been to the best gig of my life, and that was without WYG!! Loads of people were hugging me, saying well done, someone even asked me what Bryan smells like!! At that point it seemed that the evening just couldn’t get any better….but it did. We waited around the back, and Bryan’s car pulled out at around midnight. Loads of people surrounded the car, but I held back, not knowing what to expect really. I was on the opposite side of the car and looked through the window, and Bryan was sitting on the back seat with just a rucksack and a pillow. As girlie as this may sound, I could just imagine him curling up on the pillow and just wanted to tuck him in!! He looked so small and almost nervous in the back of that car, nothing like the big personality and big voice we see on stage. I actually felt a bit uncomfortable, like we were all looking at a caged animal or something, and was hesitant to go round and ask him to sign, as I didn’t just want to look like another autograph hunting fan, but in the end I decided I shouldn’t miss the opportunity to talk to him. When it got to my turn, he saw me, grinned and said ‘hey girl!’. I was then really proud of myself as I didn’t come out with anything silly (I hope anyway!!) – I just said thank you Bryan, I had such a great time!! He signed my ticket, and wrote my name on it without having to ask for it – I thought it was so nice that he remembered. Then he looked at me, and just to make sure, he said ‘It is Helen isn’t it’? And I said yes, and thanked him again. It was the perfect end to a perfect evening. On the way back to Anouk’s in the car I was just completely stunned – I really couldn’t believe that it had all happened. And I still can’t… Setlist: Room Service Somebody Open Road 18 til I Die Let’s Make A Night To Remember Can’t Stop This Thing We Started Kids Wanna Rock Back To You Run To You Everything I Do Cuts Like A Knife When You’re Gone All I Want Is You Heaven I’m Ready It’s Only Love The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You Cloud #9 Summer Of '69 The Best Of Me Straight From The Heart Why Do You Have To Be So Hard To Love All For Love Room Service (Acoustic) Blessing In Disguise She's Only Happy When She's Dancin' ************************************* Review by Franky Bruyneel: This summer Bryan Adams was on tour with Def Leppard in America and that’s a package we only can dream of here in Europe. Fact is that on this side of the globe, more precisely in Belgium, Mr. Adams is so popular that he doesn’t need another act to fill the 15.000 available "seats" of Antwerp’s Sportpaleis. So it came as no surprise that the annual gig of the Canadian was once again sold out. In my humble opinion this great songwriter has written his best songs in the past and more recent work is a bit lacking in spark, but then again Adams has always felt much better on stage (as opposed to being locked up in a studio) dressed in T-shirt and jeans and Fender within reach. Even a spectacular show isn’t his cup of a tea (not has it ever been) so a wall of lights and 2 video screens were the only visual elements on offer. It made it crystal clear that everything is focused on the music just like it should be. Bryan’s repertoire surely isn't lacking in well known songs and with ‘Room Service’, ‘Somebody’ en ‘Kids Wanna Rock’ the tone was set early on. Musically there wasn't anything new on offer and if you attended one of the numerous gigs by mister Adams during the last couple of years, you didn’t miss a thing if you weren't here tonight. The only difference, to make it more attractive for both fans and musicians, was that some songs were given new arrangements and that made hits like ‘Run To You’ actually sound fresh again. Ever since his legendary ‘soaked’ gig at TW a long time ago, he has this special bond with Belgium and it seems this will remain unbreakable for the rest of his life. Because what more can a musician ask for, when fans even start singing spontaneously in between songs without mentioning a single word? Bryan stood by and watched but clearly fully enjoyed what went down. It’s no secret that the reaction of the crowd dictates the kind of vibe during a concert and tonight the atmosphere was superb. Furthermore during ‘Baby When You’re Gone’ he gave not one but two girls the night of their life after the audience found out the first one was actually from British origin. Something that he couldn’t get away with on Flemish soil. All these things managed to turn this ‘déjà vu’ gig into another special night and Bryan thanked us by giving more than a half hour of encores. The "stage beast" is more than ever alive and kicking.

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