| ||||
|
|
09/02/99 - ARROWHEAD POND, ANAHEIM, CA Review by Jenny Iyer: Well, of course I said no way! Then he said he could let us off early if we needed to see Bryan, so we agreed to help. He let us into the warmth of the arena and gave us a pass to share between the two of us (of course he wanted us to give it back). We had to listen to him make American jokes all night, but it's ok, 'cause he had us sign a list so he would call us back up the next time he need some help in out town, and mebbe next time he could get us some tickets. I so coulda' snuck my camera in in my backpack, because no one checked my bag when we went inside with Guido, but I had left it in the car. Oh well, you live, you learn. So we passed out flyers for a while, then they gave us our photos, and I ran up to our seats (behind the stage) and Rick waited down there for a while to cover for me, but then he left too. I didn't miss any of Bryan's set. Wahoooooo! The Rolling Stones' stage was neat-- yellow and black diagonals (like caution strips) were everywhere on the lights, steps, all along the rusty looking stage (wonder how much the Stones paid to make it look like a piece of crap). A 30 foot runway jutted out into the crowd connecting the main stage with the small b-stage making it look like a basketball backboard. Lighting and mixing boards glowed under the main stage like high-tech arcade games. It was hot, sweaty and smoky even though it was illegal to smoke in there (and yes I could smell some reefer drifting in from other parts of the arena). An announcer said not to stand if you have floor tickets, and the we should please move from the aisles to our reserved seats-yeah, right! The lines that are holding the lighting rigging disappeared in the smoke. There are 4 men suspended up there aiming spotlights. Manual. Heh. I thought The Stones' were more technological than that. The house lights went off and the crowd roared. All of a sudden Bryan took the stage like an army crossing a river, and I took to my feet. He started the familiar chords to "Summer Of '69" and the crowd (yes, the Stones' crowd) was singin' along to the opening verse. It sounded like they knew it. Bryan's hair was shaggy, not long, not short, but shaggy (like the Beatles just after they tried drugs), and he had sideburns down to the bottom of his ear! It didn't make him look young. It didn't make him look old (the lines in his face under all that bright lighting did that). He just looked like himself. BA had a white Fender Precision bass. Keith had a white Les Paul. BA seemed to know what he was playin'. They were the men in white. All that white brought up a few questions like: was Bryan supposed to be a saint or something-the Dennis the Mennis of rock'n'roll is a saint? And second, where the hell is Dave??? I understand that Tommy is a rock slut, and played around with many different bands, but as for Dave, I thought he was into monogamy. Is Dave the one who got married a few years back? Perhaps he wanted some quality time with his wife, either way I missed him. Though the boys sounded good without him, I could tell they were still lacking him in spirit. All three (BA, Keith and Mickey) wore white jeans, BA wore a long-sleeved white shirt, and black boots. Keith wore a tight white T-shirt and black boots, and Mickey wore a white T-shirt and white converse. Even the drum set was set up on a white blanket, odd, eh? Too cheap to provide Mickey with a drum riser? The second song of the night was "Back To You"-- plugged in. I will always love Keith's backing vocals in that song, they just kinda' melt with Bryan's vocals to form a hybrid of their voices. The camera man got an up-close shot of Bryan's hearing aide/ear piece/thing-a-ma-bobber on the video screen. Why does Bryan need that? From my behind the stage vantage point I could really see Keith's bald spot (but do not worry, he wasn't the only Keith on stage that night with a bald spot!). There was a way awesome extended guitar solo at the end, and BA and Keith pointed at each other when Bryan sang the title line for the final time. Awwwww. I didn't know they were ever apart. "Rock Steady"
was song number three, unfortunately no Bonnie Rait. After the line that ends
with "…rolling stone," Bryan held a long pause, and once the crowd
got the hint they roared with approval for the band they paid hundreds of bucks
to see. This version was a very grungy blues. Some jerk with a red laser pointer
kept flashing it at the screen. Bryan did the Elvis thank you (a slurred thanky-you-thank-you-verry-much)
like he was the king-maybe the "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" was next on the set list. They gave it an eerie Pink Floyd-like bass intro. It was kinda cool, weird but cool. The rest of the song had a churning rhythm and a nice high progression on top. Keith picked up a silver Strat, and the three of 'em did backing vocals together (of course only Bryan and Keith were physically close together-at this point I really missed Dave who could really fill out the three musketeers conception). Keith had an awesome, soaring guitar solo. I don't know how, (because this wasn't a very big single) but the crowd sang part of chorus like they knew all the words. Some of the crowd was banging their heads to the beat-- I think Bryan got some new converts that night. "Its Only Love" was next, and again without the female counter part-- Tina turner in this case. Ya know I love Bryan Adams, and I love Tina Turner, but I never really cared for this song; but hearing it live and alone made it shine. It is a damn good song, now that it is given the energy it properly needs. Keith went back to the Les Paul guitar for this song. "This song goes way back for me to the
early 80s. It's a song called 'Cuts Like A Knife,'" Bryan sneered into the
microphone. They slowed "Cuts…" down considerably. Keith switched
back to the Stratocaster. BA and Keith converged on the middle of the stage to
jam together face to face like workmen. Then they put the spotlight on us to sing
the na-na-nas. Bryan For "Heaven" the stage was submerged in blue light. There were only a few sporadic lighters (including mine), and I think most of those were the lights on the floor marking the aisle. Keith switched back to the Strat. Bryan did the first verse with minimal instrumental accompaniment, almost a capella. It was beautiful. Bryan switched
gears to "When You're Gone" so as not to bog down his all too short
set with too many slow songs. "We have a new album coming out in March. It's
called 'On A Day Like Today'. Here's one from it called 'When You're Gone.'"
New??? OADLT??? Has Bryan been smoking some crack? By now Bryan was quite sweaty,
and he finished off the last of not-so-dual-duets by not having the Spice in his
life show up and sing (thank God! If he did I'm sure all the Stone's fans would
have rioted). It's a nice, fast paced little song, much "The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You" had a cool dum-dum-dum bass drum intro that shook the fillings in my teeth. What a lovely, skanky song. I could see the veins in Bryan's neck pumping to the rhythm. Micky's cymbal was flashing like fire behind Keith on the TV screen above my head. Keith had a purple guitar pick stuck in the pickguard of the Strat. Keith wailed on the solo, and went out onto the side wings of the stage to impress a few fans over there. At the end of the song Mickey threw his sticks, Bryan blew up a kiss to the fans in the high rows, and they were gone. Not once did Bryan acknowledge us sitting behind the stage (and believe me I screamed to get his attention). I watched BA and band disappear under the stage, then through a little door, and directly under the seats I was standing on. Oh, ye-ah, the Stones were purty good, too. Bryan's set was honest and simple, while the Stones (entertaining none-the-less) were a bit too showy for me. ********** Review
by Jim Washburn: (LA Times): Adams seems like a nice guy, but not so nice as to keep one from wondering, Why are the Rolling Stones doing this to us? Maybe Adams works cheap; it's very much in Mick Jagger and Company's character to explore bold new vistas in fan exploitation. Witness the "No Security" tour's $300 tickets and $30-minimum T-shirts. One could almost believe that the bare-faced greed of the Stones' touring machine is calculated to leave fans nothing to like about them but the music, to rest their credibility on the stage and nowhere else. Setlist: | |||
|
® 2005 18 Til I Die.co.uk. All
rights reserved.
| ||||
|
For this show Bryan was supporting the Rolling Stones |