Bangalore May 4, 2001 - 'A night to remember' for the City
BANGALORE, MAY 4. When the heavens opened on Friday evening, 35,000 hearts sank like a stone. Then Bryan Adams came along.
Even the rain gods could not resist the Prince of Rock's gravelly voice as he got Bangalore rocking. In Bryan's own words his ``Best of Me'' concert was simply ``great''. ``I knew we would have a good show, I just didn't think it would be so great,'' he told his delirious fans.
Of course, there were the usual hiccups. The roads to Palace Grounds were jampacked even two hours before the show was originally to start at 7.30 p.m. And moving at a snail's pace got most of Adam's fans in a bad mood. The result? A cacophony of shrill honks, screams and shouts.
And as usual, the hapless photojournalists in the crowd bore the brunt of it all. They were shooed out early into the evening. For the luckier ones though, things only settled down around 8.30 p.m., for by then local fusion musicians of the ``Antaragni'' had finished their opening performance. Bryan Adams was expected any minute. MTV Veejay Nikhil Chinnappa did try the usual line -- of how much he loved Bangalore and how lucky he was to be part of the City.
But the people gathered there wanted only Bryan Adams. And when the man of the moment came on stage, everything else was forgotten. Everything else faded out of sight. Bryan, Keith Scott (lead guitar and vocal) and Micky Curry (drums) filled the stage.
For two hours, Bryan Adams showed just why he was so loved. His songs, his energy, his passion, his religion -- they were all there. From ``18 Till I Die'', to ``Best of Me'', to ``Everything I do...'', ``Cloud No. 9'' and all the way to the ``Summer of '69'', he sang almost without a break from 8.30 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.
In between, he invited one of the young girls in the crowd to join him. She turned out to Ms. Kamsha from Delhi and got to sing along with Bryan Adams. Though her effort was not exactly musical, she had the spunk to play along.
Bryan ended with a tribute to the crowd -- ``The Way You Make Me Feel''. At the end of it all, he had the crowd wanting more.
The concert was Bryan's second in India after a Mumbai performance seven years ago. But it was the first time for Bangalore. And it was truly ``...A night to remember'.
Mumbai May 6, 2001 - I'll be back, vows Adams
MUMBAI,MAY 6. On a day like today, 15,000 Bryan Adams' fans are trying to outbeat the 1.5 lakh watts of pulsating rhythm hitting a square 10 on the rock richter.
Who ever thought the 40-year-old Canadian rocker doesn't rule, was never gladder to be proved wrong at the National Stock Exchange grounds at Goregaon. Adams, whose metaphor for life is ``18 till I die'', vent his views about his third rock concert in Mumbai. Sporting a T-shirt, silver 'tulsi mala' and a red 'tika', Adams looked every bit the foreign tourist than the teenage heart-throb rocker that he is.
``Sometimes the songs come very easily and sometimes they take longer and it actually depends on each individual song,'' said Adams, about the evolution of his compositions. ``I don't really concern myself with the business of music, but do my own thing,'' said the star, who has one Grammy ('Everything I Do') and several Grammy nominees to his name.
Speaking about the rest of his band, which includes guitarist Keith Scott, and drummer Mickey Carry, Bryan Adams was nostalgic about all the roadshows and live gigs they had performed together. ``The best part about live shows is that you are performing and the worst is that you are always on the road, travelling,'' he remarked.
``I'm one of the wrong people to be asked about bootlegging and I really hope it stops and the scene changes soon,'' Adams said, when he was asked about the Napsterisation of music. Another issue which received an equally tepid reply was his message to the youth regarding drug abuse: ``I really don't know. What can I say _ just be careful and take care of yourselves,'' he said.
Asked whether he would dole out a song for India as he had crooned 'Black Pearl', inspired by Jamaica, he told this website's newspaper that e hd not found anything inspirational in Indi a yet. ``But India is a great country and one day I'd love to tour the whole of it,'' he claimed.
Adams's new album, which comprises eight hits, will be out by October and will hit the stands soon, he promised. ``I don't really know anything about Indian music,'' said the Robin Hood of pop.
Displaying discontent about the beaurucracy behind organising big events like rock shows in India and not being able to perform in New Delhi and Kolkata, he said he hoped it would be easier in a few years for more and more artistes to get to perform in India.
But to all his fans, soon to moan 'Baby When You're Gone' as soon as the show is over, Bryan Adams has promised he'll be back to steal more hearts.
