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08/01/00 - NAC, OTTAWA,
ONTARIO Review
by Lynn Saxberg (The Ottawa Citizen): Of all the memories Bryan Adams' concert brought back last night, there was one detail that escaped most of the sold-out audience at the National Arts Centre. When was the last time he played the NAC anyway? Adams nudged the crowd. "It was 1983," he said, admitting to some consultation with his guitar player before the show. "But who did we play with that night?" He offered a backstage pass to anyone who got it right. Wild guesses flew through the air. But it wasn't Harlequin. Or Loverboy. Or Foreigner. And certainly not Murray McLauchlan. It was Honeymoon Suite, Adams finally said, only to catch the dismayed reaction of a fan close to the stage who insisted that was his response. (Adams doublechecked with the fan beside him, then got someone to fetch the pass.) It was exactly the kind of connection between artist and audience that's difficult to establish in a bigger venue, and may be a step Adams somehow skipped in his career in Canada, if it's true that he hasn't played the NAC since opening for another band 17 years ago. Ottawans will remember a couple of Corel Centre shows (including the then-Palladium's very first concert) in the mid-1990s and a memorable Ex date before that. By the way, he appears at the NAC again tonight, and as of last night, there were still about 300 tickets left for the 8 p.m. show. Whether Adams still has the star power to fill the Corel Centre is a matter of debate these days. Once Canada's top pop-rock export, his profile has been eclipsed in recent years by Celine Dion and Shania Twain, and maybe even Alanis Morissette. But he's got a new greatest-hits album out (The Best of Me) and a new book, so a theatre tour was a smart move -- it keeps him in the game, shows sell out quickly and it came across as a nice gesture for devoted fans who got the chance to see him in an intimate setting. This tour has the added bonus of raising awareness for Adams' book of photographs of Canadian women. Entitled Made In Canada, its royalties go toward breast cancer research. There was no mention of breast cancer last night. Fun was the operative word during a relaxed, no-frills affair that delighted Ottawa's usually sedate NAC concertgoers. They were on their feet from the first notes of Back To You, obviously catching the sense of occasion associated with the show, and probably determined to get their $100 bucks worth, if they were in the best seats. Prices started at around $50 for the upper balconies. Was it worth it? You bet. Even if you're not a huge fan of Adams' light-rock anthems and power ballads, there's no denying he puts on a good show. There were just three people on stage (Adams on bass, guitarist Keith Scott and drummer Mickey Curry), all dressed in white, with white instruments, stacks of white amplifiers, a white background and mostly white lights -- a minimalistic, back to basics backdrop for Ottawa's first rock concert of the year 2000. It seems Adams has adopted the photographer's rule of using a clean, uncluttered background. While it's always a pleasure to see a good band in the NAC's posh opera, sometimes one wishes the crowd was a little more into it. Last night was an exception: they were totally enamoured, on their feet for the fast songs and singing along for the slow ones (one memorable sight was Mayor Jim Watson on his feet mouthing the words to 18 Til I Die: "Someday I'll be 18 going on 55." Adams' voice sounded great, the gravelly edge intact without sounding strained. He also did a terrific job of playing bass and singing at the same time, something that must be a little like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. The Kingston-born, former Gloucester High student alternated between acoustic guitar on the ballads and bass for the upbeat songs. A final note: With the audience ranging in age from under 10 to over 60, it sure looked like Canada's enigmatic rocker has become a family act. ********** Ian
Nathanson (Ottawa Sun): Bryan Adams did the impossible. The Canuck rocker magically converted the Opera of the National Arts Centre last night into a stadium-rock arena at some points, and something akin to his MTV Unplugged concert at others. Very surreal. Yet the power-trio format of Adams on bass, guitarist Keith Scott and drummer Mickey Curry capably handled themselves, sounding echo-filled when the big kids wanted to rock (The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me is You, 18 Til I Die, Can't Stop This Thing We Started) and pristine when it came time for the acoustic balladry (I'm Ready, (Everything I Do) I Do it for You, I'm Ready). Looking like like three big teens in their 'all-white' glory, Adams and company hammering out hit after hit for the typically Canadian high school crowd. And the loyal legion of 2,300-plus last night were on their feet shrieking and wildly prancing about for a good 21/2 hours. It somehow transported me to 1980s Hoserville all over again -- Summer of '69, Run To You, Heaven, Straight From the Heart. When Adams quizzed the crowd who he opened for when he played Ottawa in 1983, and responded with Honeymoon Suite, the old ghosts of moussed hair, synth rock and (egad!) Haywire came haunting back. Luckily, Adams grew out of that. Or did he? His ability to churn out hook-laden melodies hasn't changed much. Even his plunges into Spanish sounds (Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman) and deep-South blues (If You Wanna Be Bad, You Gotta Be Good) can't escape the pop formula. But on stage his showmanship was second to none. He joked with the band and his audience, even calling for someone out of the crowd to "get your ass up here" and sing harmonies on When You're Gone (the lucky lady was Caroline Periard of Gatineau). Making it look so easy, Scott took centre spotlight for his guitar prowess and the odd Pete Townshend leap to boot, while Curry kept a steady beat behind the kit. As a bassist, Adams proved to be a solid anchor -- not bad for a guy normally suited as rhythm guitarist. As for the all-white design -- amps, guitars, outfits, stage backdrops, lights -- hey, Adams has caught that it's January ... white sale month. The only thing misssing was something off The Beatles' White Album -- okay, the "number nine" echoes on Cloud #9 will have to suffice. Adams is back on stage tonight. ********** Pre
show article (Ottawa Citizen): Bryan Adams is a busy guy. He's just started a Canadian tour -- to which he's added a second show at the National Arts Centre this weekend -- plus he's got a new best-of album and a new fund-raising book of his own photographs of Canadian women, from Pamela Anderson to Pamela Wallin. By all reports, the tour got off to a rousing start in Halifax on Tuesday night. It's not a full-blown arena shindig, but an intimate evening with Canada's most popular male artist of the last two decades. He is touring with just two other musicians as his backing band, an idea that came up during the making of his MTV Unplugged disc, which he now says was "probably my best album." His new disc, The Best of Me, isn't bad either. The best-of compilation showcases Adams' most romantic songs, including an unplugged version of I'm Ready that transforms the rock hit into a love song. The disc also has a tough backbone made up of upbeat cuts like Can't Stop This Thing We Started and Summer of '69. We've also seen a new aspect of Adams' creativity in 1999, with the publication of the book Made in Canada: Photographs by Bryan Adams. A collection of photographs of mostly famous Canadian women, including Margaret Atwood, Carolyn Waldo, Alanis Morissette, Margo Timmins and Sarah McLachlan, the book's royalties go to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. One of the photographs is of Adams' friend Donna, who was in the final stages of chemotherapy and radiation treatment when he photographed her. "I have ... felt many times throughout the year that it took to do this book that she was the inspiration, helping to guide me along when I wasn't going to get the shot I wanted, and encouraging me to keep at it when people were understandably averse to having their picture taken," he wrote in the book. With so much on the go, Adams' profile has been leapfrogging in recent weeks, after a year or so of living quietly in London between photo shoots. Requests for interviews are now coming in at a rate of some two dozen a week, says Kim Blake, management assistant at Bruce Allen Talent, Adams' management company in Vancouver. "It increases when his profile's up, i.e. a tour in a certain district or region of the world, a new album, his book," she says. "Twelve is an average when he's not working. When he's working, it's at least double that, coupled with requests of all kinds -- not just interviews but 'Please come and do a benefit for me. Please send me money.' " Clearly he can't do everything. So he's clamping down on interviews. In a move that smacks of media manipulation, the notoriously media-shy rocker adopted an e-mail "interview" strategy to round up advance press before his Canadian tour dates. Journalists were required to submit questions by e-mail (to the management office), and Adams would e-mail his answers back. Newspapers had to agree to publish it in a question-and-answer format. No radio, no TV. By "interviewing" this way, Adams could do it on his own time (he's been composing his answers in the middle of the night after performing). It saves his voice. And we're getting a better interview, Blake insists. She's been working with him for 15 years. "He really gets a chance to think about his answers," she says. "As an artist he really doesn't enjoy being interviewed. Because he automatically enters these situations not really into them he has a tendency to be not that interesting, so when he has chance to relax and think about the questions and think about his answers, I find I've never seen him more animated and more interesting." Forget about spontaneity, follow-up questions, letting a conversation develop or getting to know your subject -- not that one can really do all that in the 15-minute phone interview that has unfortunately become the staple of music writing. While there were no topics specified as off-limits, the questions could have been edited before they got to Adams or he could have chosen simply not to answer. And really, how can we be sure it's Bryan Adams out there? Blake assures us it is. "You just gotta trust me because I would never come up with half these answers myself," she says. "They're all his." In the end, we went for it, just like we went for Celine Dion's press conference and Alanis Morissette's conference call. We'd also jump at anything Shania Twain felt inclined to throw us. We don't like it. But when you get that big, you call the shots. Tickets to Bryan Adams' concert at the NAC Opera on Sunday go on sale at 10 a.m. today. They range from $49.50 to $89.50, available in person at TicketMaster outlets and the NAC box office, by phone at 755-1111, or online (www.ticketmaster.ca). There is a limit of four tickets per person. His concert on Saturday is sold out. | |||
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Bryan playing to a soldout NAC |
