Gig review/ Bryan Adams

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR

Bryan Adams/ So Happy It Hurts tour, Mumbai 

Genre: Pop-rock

Details: Nesco Centre, Goregaon East, December 13

Rating: ****

There were the naysayers, who questioned why anyone would watch someone who's playing in India for the nth time, complaining he's well past his peak. And there were the believers, who've grown up on Bryan Adams during their teenage days in the mid-1980s, when 'Summer Of 69' first stormed the airwaves and the clubs.

Friday night belonged to the latter segment, as the Canadian star took them on a two-hour nostalgia ride at the Nesco Centre in Goregaon East. They hummed along as he sang 'Somebody', 'Cloud Number Nine' and 'Heaven', rocked and swung to the faster 'Summer Of 69' and 'The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You', and went hysterical when he sang '18 Till I Die', 'Please Forgive Me' and '( Everything I Do) I Do It For You'.

Bryan is now 65, but has the energy of a 30-year-old. His voice has retained the rasp that gave him a distinct identity all those years ago. While he also excelled at acoustic guitar and harmonica, he had an amazing band by his side. Keith Scott, of course, has been one of North America's most consistent guitarists over the years, and his solos on 'Heaven' and 'It's Only Love' were exemplary, the latter being a tribute to the late Tina Turner, who appeared on the original. Keyboardist Gary Breit and drummer Pat Steward chipped in with their brilliance.

This is Bryan's sixth tour of India, beginning with the 1993-4 visit where he played at Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium (and not Wankhede, as one show-off in the VIP Lounge yelled). Beginning with Kolkata, Shillong, Gurugram and Mumbai, the So Happy It Hurts tour will continue in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Goa.

Luckily there was no surprise guest to add some unnecessary twist.a la A.R. Rahman at the U2 gig in 2019. Interestingly, Bryan didn't call up some random starry-eyed girl from the audience this time, leaving the TV channels with one story less, or probably no story at all. It was a straight-on set with pitch-perfect sound, some fabulous black n' white visuals, live performance shots on the giant screens, and a remote-controlled blimp car making a brief appearance.

The audience was divided into silver, gold and platinum with the VIP lounges on either side. The silver and gold, being lesser-priced, had more youngsters, whereas the platinum saw many from the 50-plus age group.

The show started at 7.55 pm with the song 'Kick-Ass', which was possibly an indication of what the rest of the evening would be like. "Let there be guitar", Bryan had announced before getting into the first track. The next tune 'Can't Stop This Thing We Started' was something only the fans seemed to know, but the next three - 'Somebody', '18 Till I Die' and 'Please Forgive Me' - were greeted with cheers and singalong.

Most songs were around three to four minutes long, and Bryan breezed through them smoothly. One adnired the way he mixed ballads and rockers, new and old, familiar and lesser-known. Besides the obvious hits, the highlights included 'Shine A Light', written for Bryan's late father, 'Straight From The Heart', dedicated to his 96-year-old mother, 'Go Down Rocking', which had an incredible harmonica climax, and the fan favourite 'Let's Make A Night To Remember'. The concert concluded at 9.55 with the solo acoustic guitar-backed 'All For Love'.

Bryan played a total of 24 songs, including nine he performed during his Brabourne.Stadium show in 1994. There was a difference this time. At that concert, the songs were still doing the rounds on radio and the music channels. Today, even the fans heard some of them after years, and yet remembered the lines instantly and screamed along. Let the naysayers say whatever they want. Bryan rocks.