11/08/07 - DARRIEN LAKE, BUFFALO, NY

Review by Evan Parker Pierce - The Buffalo News (what an arse!):
Adams, Thorogood should have switched spots

The difference between Bryan Adams and George Thorogood is a matter of about six beers. Adams’ earnest, straightforward rock is the way you feel at the beginning of your night, when you’ve downed your first two. You’re a little heady, but still reserved and in control. Thorogood is the way you feel when you’re nearing the end of the last can of your sixpack — loose, uninhibited and ready for some mischief. It’s a shame those two feelings were all out of order Saturday night, when George Thorogood and The Destroyers opened a split bill with Bryan Adams at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. It’s not a knock against Adams. His set was solid and his performance dead-on. It’s more of a testament to how hard it is for a pop star to follow a rock legend.

Thorogood took the stage when the sun was still up. Just like the group’s sound, the stage was a Spartan affair, with Thorogood alone at center stage and his band shrouded in the background. But that’s all Thorogood needs. The man — clad in black pants, a black cutoff T-shirt and white sneakers — is such a presence he rarely needed to wander from center stage, letting his attitude and music to carry the show. That simplicity is exactly how Thorogood avoids the nostalgia that causes stars like Adams to wax and wane. Yes, his rock is “classic,” but it’s so damn fun everyone from 40-ish biker chicks are dancing with air guitar- strumming kids in backward baseball caps. “Bad to the Bone” and “One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer” are songs everyone has grown up on — when first released, on 97 Rock or even in (sell-out alert!) car commercials.

Adams’ stage set was rather simple, but a bigger light show and the myriad amps arrayed around the band seemed to overcompensate for something. And while Adams’ music can be fun, it’s predictable. That said, the performer definitely did his own songs justice. The opener, “One Night Love Affair,” set a tame tone for the set, but “Life Is an Open Road” and “18 til I Die” brought the crowd to its feet. Even with the popularity of his set, the crowd didn’t sing along with Thorogood-inspired bravado until the opening of “Summer of ’69.”

His ballads were pitch perfect. “Everything I Do” had couples swooning and lighters swaying. Adams’ romantic appeal might have been the most charming aspect of his show. His best moment with the crowd was when he selected a woman — shaking with excitement — to come onstage and sing with him.

Adams, a Canadian, owes much of his success to the Western New York region, and he paid tribute to that in his onstage banter. “This is where it all started for me,” he said. “Radio stations in Rochester, Buffalo and Albany started playing me, and the rest . . .” and he segued into his next song.

Setlist:
One Night Love Affair
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Somebody
Kids Wanna Rock
Open Road
18 Til I Die
Let's Make A Night To Remember
Back To You
Summer Of '69
Everything I Do
Cuts Like A Knife
When You're Gone
It's Only Love
Heaven
This Time (half acoustic)
The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You
Run To You
Straight From The Heart
Please Forgive Me
All For Love

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Thanks to Nick for the setlist. Pics by Helen Barton and Sari

Bryan rockin' Buffalo

'Open Road'

The K-man!

'18 Til I Die'

'Summer Of '69'

Helen, Marilyn and Sari after the show