This past Father’s Day, I surprised my mother, (as I always do – she’s always fulfilled the shoes of both parents throughout my life. Naturally she deserves to be doubly spoiled! ), with tickets to Bryan Adams in concert at the Coca Cola Dome, Northriding, Johannesburg, Sunday 18 July 2010.
A Rockin’ Concert!
Having come to this country 6 times to perform for virtually sold out audiences, my mother and I have attended the last 4 of his concerts. Let me tell you, this man knows how to R-O-C-K! Although, this mega star has more successful songs to play than he has time to perform in one single concert, each time he performs an entire set of all his best loved tunes to, very often, a competing audience, it’s like I’m watching him and his awesome band for the very first time again!
Like all ladies of my generation (20’s), I’ve grown up with Bryan Adams through the 80’s and 90’s, and fallen in love with the honesty of his gorgeous ballads and numerous chart topping classic rock hits. His music has been played in my household so often throughout my childhood, how could I NOT have become a fan too! He’s fun, he’s quirky, he’s honest and very, very good at what he does!
All the greats were in the set lineup. Boy, were we all rocked to the point where our heads were spinning with “Somebody”, “Summer of ‘69”, “Cuts like a Knife”, “Run to You”, “It’s Only Love”, “The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me is You”, “Here I Am”, “18 ‘til I Die”, and many others! Although he’s invited a female fan on stage before to accompany him for “Baby, When You’re Gone,” Jess, last night’s lucky fan who sang rather well, the audience had an absolute blast along with her!
Of course, the ballads, which can arguably be said to be more famous than the man himself, were all there too! “Everything I Do, I Do It For You”, “Please Forgive Me“, Heaven”, “Cloud Number Nine”, and “Let’s Make A Night To Remember” amongst them. Virtually each of these had moments where Bryan found himself in competition with his audience who sang almost as loud as he could!
What impressed me most of all, last night, were the musical arrangements of each song. Bryan Adams is a true artist, accompanied by the incredibly great musical talents of his band. Each was arranged differently to suit the live performance and was “mixed up” to sound almost like new songs altogether. Some were R-O-C-K-E-D to the very core and others, were beautifully soft acoustic arrangements.
Bryan Adams knows his audience perfectly well. Nuances in his, and his bands’, performance seemed tailor-made for the crowd. He knows just when to pause for roof raising screams and when to touch our hearts with beautiful melodies. It takes a very clever artist and many years of experience to deliver such perfectly timed and engaging performances. He’s done this every single time I’ve seem him. He’s an artist who obviously loves his craft, talent and profession.
Supported by one of South Africa’s very own,
Justin Bergh set the mood perfectly for the main attraction. The crowd was raring to be R-O-C-K-E-D the minute he played his first song of the evening!
A Rocker Never Gets Old!
The man can still belt it out! There’s no doubt about it, he ain’t getting older anytime soon! 18 until he dies! He wasn’t kidding when he wrote that track! His vocals and fantastic instrument playing were pure class and quality!
So many artists rely far too heavily on special effects and “performances” in their live shows that the quality of their vocal loses so much of its recorded shine. Last night’s vocals were brilliant, with several people (yes I was eavesdropping a bit en route out of the Dome after the concert) agreeing that he sounded even better live than many of his recorded hits.
Mr “Fast Fingers” Keith Scott, his lead guitarist was out of the world, he was so incredibly good! Introduced with this nickname, the man is most definitely F-A-S-T and insanely energetic! “You’re as old as you feel”, they say. Well, he is most certainly not feeling “older”! These boys, I suspect, will be Rock Stars for as long as they are alive!
A Tribute
A fitting way to conclude such an awesome party was to sing a very Happy Birthday to our great Tata Madiba who turned 92 yesterday. I’m sure he would’ve felt incredibly special if he had to have heard more than 15 000 people and Bryan Adams himself, live inside the Dome, wishing him well on such a wonderful occasion!
Bryan Adams is still one of the most entertaining and authentically brilliant artists I’ve ever seen live! I look forward to R-O-C-K-I-N-G with him again, next time he’s around!
Follow Bryan Adams on Twitter
here
