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10/12/05 - JOHN LABATT CENTRE, LONDON, ON Review by James Reaney (London
Free Press): Bryan Adams delivered an overflow helping of CanRock room service to the John Labatt Centre last night. The Canadian rock superstar opened with the title track of his recent Room Service CD and had those words in big letters on the first guitar he used on the night. It's a cute song that rhymes "nervous" with service -- but not an Adams classic. The real rocking room service arrived as the star rolled out hit after hit from his career. With the second set of encores still to come, he had reached the two-hour mark with classic blasts of Run to You and The Best of Me and some energized stage talk. "C'mon, let's fill up to those aisles. Security guards, get the hell out of the way. You're holding up the show. Get out of the way, please and thank you," Adams said. The crowd of about 6,600 fans included plenty of women who were admiring the buff 46-year-old in his black T-shirt and jeans. When Adams ran out to them, leaving the stage for The Best of Me to hug and high five and snap a few digital photos, those fans in the front row had a chance to meet him, up close and personal. There
were even more encores later, after Adams and the band had all taken bows and
his four bandmates had pretended to boot the star off the stage. Adams ran through many songs from his new 36-track Anthology, which celebrates his 25th anniversary as a recording artist. "(It) goes back to the beginning of time . . . of my time," Adams joked last night in introducing 1981's Lonely Nights. By the 45-minute mark, Adams had already set up mikes at both sides of the stage, used four guitars and played such hits as Back to You, 18 Til I Die, Let's Make a Night to Remember and Can't Stop This Thing We Started. He later went through more of Anthology, with Heaven and Somebody among the hits revisited. Adams played the downtown London arena in early 2003, but last night's show was more powerful and energetic -- exactly the "extended set" Adams promised at the start. With sales of more than 50 million recordings around the world, he is one of Canadian rock's enduring stars. He had the first Canadian album to go diamond -- signifying one million sales in Canada. That was for 1984's Reckless, also a U.S. No. 1. Seven years later, his Waking Up the Neighbours made him an international superstar. Its signature tune (Everything I Do) I Do It for You reached No. 1 in almost every country, including 16 weeks atop the British charts. Adams had a 6,600-voice choir helping him on I Do It for You last night, the biggest singalong by the set's hour mark. But it had competition a few songs later from Cuts Like a Knife. The cast around Adams hasn't changed much since the early days. The Kingston-born star has been playing arenas since the 1980s. Lead guitarist Keith Scott -- "maestro," Adams called him -- and drummer Mickey Curry have been with Adams since the early days. Scott and Adams were up at the front of the stage much of the early going. They also shared a friendly duo moment on Can't Stop This Thing We Started when Adams gestured Scott closer to the mike they were using. The two smiled, likely because the song's words describe the way they've been sharing the rock road for so many years. Later, Scott and Adams teamed again, this time for an instrumental showdown on Kids Wanna Rock. "This is the meanest guitar you're ever gonna hear," Adams said before bringing out still another six-stringer from his arsenal. He made the guitar rasp as sweetly as his voice, while Scott supplied the 1984-worthy riffs from the song's first appearance about two decades ago. Opening for Adams was Toronto R&B singer Divine Brown, who has a spectacular voice and the guts to cover Joni Mitchell's Help Me and Aretha Franklin's Respect back-to-back -- and the soul and funky band to pull it off. It would be fun to hear Brown's hit Old Skool Love, her soaring voice and funky band in a smaller setting. Setlist: | |||
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rights reserved.
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Thanks to Ray Donnelly & Bryan for the setlist
Bryan opening the night with 'Room Service' |
