BRYAN ADAMS - Live in Mumbai, India. (4th Feb, 2006)

BRYAN ADAMS - Live in Mumbai, India. (4th Feb, 2006)
The opening act - The Superfuzz Bigmuff from Delhi - came on stage at about 18:45. They were pretty good int their 30 minutes of fame and the crowd, unlike during international acts was quite sporting too. Enough said, Superfuzz thank you for coming but what everybody was really hungry for was THE GREAT ONE - BRYAN ADAMS.
The techies started flitting on and offstage checking the lights, bringing on the guitars n basses; teasing the crowd mercilessly (especially BA's technician). Then finally after an agonising 30 minutes, everybody vacated the stage, the lights dimmed, the crowd suddenly went silent and five dark figures appeared from backstage.
As I saw that one of them had the ROOM SERVICE strat strapped on, I had an instant cramp in my stomach due to sheer excitement while screaming my guts out for it was known that THE GOD was here. I couldn't believe it and as I write this review (*****) on the 5th Feb. at 1:30 am, I still can't.
The haunting opening riff of Room Service hit my ears leading into what would be a rollercoaster ride of 24 songs and 2 and 1/2 hours. After that rocker, the band cruised through Somebody and This Time (a joy to hear live). He paused to tell us we were the loudest He'd seen (heard) in India (Well, Mumbai does rock pretty damn hard). Also that we looked fantastic. Thanks Man!! As he introduced Open Road, the band settled into the standard setlist ripping through one song after the other to MASSIVE sing alongs. I mean BA didn't need to sing at all given that a (from what I hear) 35,000+ strong crowd was doing lead vocals on stuff like 18 Til I Die, Can't Stop, et al. The chants of the Summer Of '69 lead riff were on for a good couple of minutes even after the song had ended. After the ever so beautiful Everything I Do, He launched into Cuts Like A Knife sending the crowd into frenzy. Later, it was time for a girl to get lucky with the WYG routine. The Lucky girl turned out to be Amruta (BA only managed to catch Ruta leaving the Am out of it). Boy did was she a powerhouse or what!! When BA asked her if she knew the song she gave a firm, "You Bet". This girl doing her Masters in Pharmacy (impressive) sang her heart out. Go Girl!!!!
A little later He picked what was (I believe) the GEM of the evening - Hearts On Fire, which featured some wonderful guitars by the great K-man (but the best was yet to come). Next up was Kids Wanna Rock (a sight for sore eyes). The mid-song guitar battle was a total laugh riot with the 'crying' act that they put on (guitars doing sounds and faces doing expressions = HILARIOUS). Quarter of a century in music and on stage has made these guys not only Great musicians but also A-grade showmen. Heaven (and I'm Ready a little while earlier) was played to a sea of mobile phones giving the many love birds out there a few romantic moments. Everyone by now was deeply caught in the magic of BA's music. He decided to get down to some serious business, to unleash the man few would dare to challenge on the axe - KEITH SCOTT. Its Only Love had him doing an Oh-my-God-what-is-that kind of a thing only he can do with the guitar. That song truly rocks. They ended the set with The Only Thing and went off the stage after the usual band introduction (Bryan Adams - Guitar, Vocals; Keith Scott - Lead Guitar; Mickey Curry - Drums; Gary Breit - Keyboards, Piano; Norm Fisher - Bass). But everyone knew it was much too soon.
They came out for the encore consisting of Cloud Number Nine (featuring an ocean of swaying hands), Run To You (awesome) and The Best Of Me (which had BA actually coming down into the crowds). They once again took a bow and left.
BA again came back (this time He was alone) to bid a goodbye for the last time. He did it with Please Forgive Me (as beautiful as ever), All For Love (a Masterpiece) and Room Service. (I was a little disappointed not to find Straight From The Heart there). He walked across the stage, took his bows, gave his thanks and finally left the stage and this time for real. He came, He played and left us all satisfied to the core. And the people made sure BA had a night he will not forget for a long time.
Even though He has followed almost the same structure throughout his shows for nearly 8 years (I could predict almost every song in the show), its not just His music that makes him such a phenomenon, but the energy that He exudes on stage and His ability to do so much more with the music beyond the album recordings. Its not for nothing that He is one of the Top Live Acts in the world today. BOW TO THE MAN. A special thanks to Karan for cutting me through the line getting me as close as 10 feet to BA. Good to see you again.
Setlist :
01. Room Service.
02. Somebody.
03. This Time.
04. Open Road.
05. 18 'Til I Die.
06. Lets Make A Night To Remember.
07. Can't Stop This Thing We Started.
08. Back To You.
09. Summer Of '69.
10. Everything I Do (I Do It For You).
11. Cuts Like A Knife.
12. When You're Gone (with Amruta).
13. I'm Ready.
14. Hearts On Fire.
15. Kids Wanna Rock.
16. Heaven.
17. Its Only Love.
18. The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You.
19. Cloud Number Nine.
20. Run To You.
21. The Best Of Me.
22. Please Forgive Me.
23. All For Love.
24. Room Service (Accoustic).
- Varad Wategaonkar (Mumbai, India).