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19/01/00 - JUBILEE AUDITORIUM, EDMONTON Review
by Mike Ross (Express Writer): The Canadian king of arena rock isn't going to play a theatre without a few tricks up his sleeve. The best one at Bryan Adams' sold-out concert in the Jubilee Auditorium last night was how surprisingly well his big, simple rock anthems translated to the intimate setting. Dressed in white on a white stage while playing white instruments lit by white lights - making the few splashes of colour mean so much more (take it as a metaphor for his music, if you like) - the 40-year-old rocker pulled out his hits while playing bass, accompanied by only two musicians: Keith Scott on guitar and Mickey Curry on drums. While the lack of bombast was refreshing, there were moments of uncomfortable emptiness. Songs like Cuts Like a Knife could've used another guitar. And as a bassist, Adams makes a terrific singer. Only a few times did he manage to hit the pocket just right. Rock Steady wasn't one of them - it was anything but. But once Bryan's Above Average White Band hit its stride, they could do no wrong. An adoring crowd of 2,700 provided enthusiastic backup vocals wherever required. They sang half the first verse of Summer of '69 by themselves and most of Straight From the Heart, as well. By then, a couple of hundred fans had rushed the stage. A Canadian flag banner was brought out: "Bryan Adams Rocks Canada!" which seemed to sum up the sentiment of the evening. With nothing but the star's raspy vocals broken up by guitar solos, it could've become tedious were it not for Scott's tasty playing. Fluent on electric, slide and Spanish guitar, he turned out to be Bryan's secret weapon. He was a pleasure to listen to. And now we come to trick No. 3: Getting an audience member to sit in. It worked beautifully, as it always does. The victim ... er, volunteer this time was Jan the choir teacher from Grande Prairie, brought up to sing backups on When You're Gone. They made fun of her operatic vocal style afterwards. The crowd ate it up. Adams has played out this scenario thousands of times before, of course. Seemingly unaffected by the smaller venue, he knew exactly what to do, how to pace the set, where to slow it down, where to rock out, where to talk. It was amazing to realize that nearly every song he played was a big hit in some form or another. In many cases, they sounded stronger uncluttered by production then they do on record. Even the gooey love ballads seemed to come off better, and not just because he's switched to acoustic guitar. The early highlight was (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. More ballads would follow, sprinkled strategically throughout the two hour-plus show. He's done it again: Say what you like about his songs, Adams is a master showman in any setting.
In 1998, Bryan Adams played the Building Formerly Known as the Coliseum. Before that, in 1994, he was at the stadium-sized Big Sky concert. Last night, it was the Jubilee Auditorium. Is Adams' popularity shrinking? Now that he's turned 40, is he ready to settle down into the soft-seater circuit? It didn't seem that way last night. Here's a wee comparison study: OPENING SONG - 1995: Summer of '69; 1998: The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me (Is You); 2000: Back To You SET LIST - 1995: All the hits; 1998: All the hits; 2000: All the hits. SPECIAL EFFECTS - 1995: Mini-stage interlude in the middle of the crowd; 1998: A bevy of fashion models parading across the stage; 2000: Cool lighting. STAGE DESIGN - 1995: Great big "Hudson's Bay" logo and a 200,000 watt sound system; 1998: Big rock clutter and on-stage bleachers filled with contest winners; 2000: Austere. White on white with white lights. INSTRUMENTATION - 1995: Guitar, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, backup singers; 1998: Guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, percussion, backup singers, uilleann pipes; 2000: Guitar, bass and drums. Adams played bass. OPENING ACTS - 1995: Over three days, every Canadian who ever performed on the Rita MacNeil show, including Rita MacNeil; 1998: None; 2000: None. CROWD - 1995: 30,000 screaming fans on their feet from the start; 1998: 11,000 screaming fans on their feet from the start; 2000: 2,700 screaming fans who remained seated (except for the ones that stormed the stage). OVERALL FEEL OF SHOW - 1995: Meat 'n' potatoes rock; 1998: Meat 'n' potatoes rock; 2000: Meat 'n' potatoes rock - hold the gravy. Are you hungry yet?
CROWD SINGALONGS - 1995: Yes; 1998: Yes; 2000: Yes. ********** Review
by Sandra Sperounes (The Edmonton Journal): It was billed as the Best of Me tour but, whoa, the sound system was the worst. For the first few numbers, Bryan Adams and his two-man band sounded no better than an old, hissing transistor radio. You might expect that kind of audio quality at the Skyreach, but not at the cosy Jubilee. Mercifully, the sound seemed to improve as the evening went along -- or perhaps my ears simply adjusted to the buzz. The level of Adams' showmanship also improved during the proceedings. Off the top, he looked as if he was about to pull an Elton John: perform hit song with minimum effort; raise hand to crowd; stand back and drink in raucous applause. Then repeat for next three hours. But after storming through a string of his hits -- Back To You, 18 'Til I Die, Can't Stop This Thing We Started, Summer of '69, and It's Only Love -- Adams started to interact with the sold-out crowd of 2,700 and relax. Soon, he and guitarist Keith Scott and drummer Micky Currie were playing back in some bar with 2,700 of their closest friends. Appropriately, the turning point of the night was Adams' hugest hit, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. From then on, Adams gave it his all and looked like he truly enjoyed playing the umpteenth rendition of Cuts Like A Knife and Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman. To keep it interesting for himself, Adams also played Rock Steady, a bluesy number he recorded with Bonnie Raitt, and When The Night Comes, a tune written for Joe Cocker. "I never recorded it because I gave it to one of my heroes," Adams said. Surprise! He still does have a sensitive side after 20 years in the biz. The most touching moment came during When I'm Gone -- when a choir teacher from Grande Prairie was given the chance to sing with Adams. "I'm looking for a woman who can sing," Adams bellowed several times as a few anxious women tried to paw their way onto the stage of the Jubilee. In the end, Adams picked Jan, standing way at the back of the main floor, binoculars in hand. After the two hugged and Jan was given a lyric sheet, she warned the audience about her singing. Adams shrugged. "You could sing out of tune for all I care. "I've been doing it all night and no one's noticed," Adams said with a devilish grin. Actually, his voice was dead-on for most of the night. He only appeared to have troubles early on with Straight From The Heart. As for Jan, she couldn't match Mel C's belting vocals on the original version of When I'm Gone, but she did a swell job and even added an operatic lilt to some of her harmonies, making Adams giggle in the process. Not to be outdone, he warbled along with her. It's a moment Jan and I will never forget. ********** Pre-concert
article and interview by Jeff Holubitsky (Edmonton Journal): Tickets: Sold out -- but from 5 to 6 p.m., Adams will be signing CDs and books at the Chapters store on Calgary Trail South. Born: Nov. 5, 1959, Kingston, Ont. Early days: At 16, Adams quit school to concentrate on music. He joined a few bands and met songwriter Jim Vallacne. Together, the two sold songs to Juice Newton, Bachman-Turner Overdrive and Joe Cocker. Selected discography: His first disc, Bryan Adams, was released on A&M in 1980. Over the last 20 years, Adams has released more than 10 albums, including Cuts Like A Knife (1983), Reckless (1984), Waking Up The Neighbours (1991) and his latest, The Best of Me (1999). Selected hits: Cuts Like A Knife, Straight From The Heart, Run To You, Summer of '69, 18 'Til I Die and his biggest, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You from the Robin Hood -- Prince of Thieves soundtrack. I am Canadian: In recent years, the music industry has questioned Adams' level of patriotism. His 1992 album, Waking Up The Neighbours, didn't meet Canadian content regulations and received limited radio airplay. Adams now makes his home in London, England. Ironically, he recently published a book of his photographs entitled Made In Canada. It features portraits of 80 Canadian women, including Joni Mitchell and Celine Dion. - - - For a year or so back in the '70s, Bryan Adams and I lived in the same neighbourhood in North Vancouver's Lynn Valley, nestled between Seymour and Grouse Mountains. We attended the same high school (Argyle), though I graduated before he arrived. We were inspired by the same brilliant teacher: Lloyd Burritt. He introduced Adams to transcendental meditation and Stockhausen; me to Stravinsky and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Adams was also a good friend with my younger brother Warren, who loved to tell me about his talented pal's exploits long before he went on to conquer the world. Strangely, even though I was familiar with Adams' name and the rest of my brother's somewhat motley crew of friends, I never actually met him face to face. Now, our paths cross again. The following interview -- based on some of the (often embellished) yarns and memories of the old Bryan Adams of North Vancouver -- was conducted by E-mail: I've heard you always knew you'd be a rock star and used to drag your acoustic to Argyle school to play new songs in the courtyard. Tell me about it? Well it's a nice fantasy, but I would have been way, way, way too timid to actually perform in front of anyone in a courtyard at that age. I never owned an acoustic guitar when I lived in North Vancouver, for the year I went to school there. I only had an electric one, and the only time it left the house was to jam session with other musicians at maximum volume. Is it true that when you got the job in Sweeney Todd, replacing Nick Gilder, that you started wearing the top hat and tails to school? What did Miss Seeger say? When I left school at 15 to join that band, I didn't actually replace Nick Gilder. They had another singer called Clark Perry and I replaced him. Once I got the gig, I never went back to school again, I absolutely hated it! I don't remember Miss Seeger. Lynn Valley had a pretty strong music community which played all kinds of styles. Why did you stick to pop when the driving force of punk -- DOA for example -- was really taking off? Punk never really stirred my soul. At that time I was into '70s bands like The Who and loved singers like Stevie Marriot, Joe Cocker, Rod Stewart and Janis Joplin. The new wave singers weren't even touching them. I wanted to hear a voice not a squeak. Summer of '69 is more my era than yours, but every time I hear it, it takes me back to the valley. (That summer I actually did buy a $45 acoustic from Bob Dalrymple at North Shore Music.). There are great stories about when you hung out with your friends that are quintessentially rock 'n' roll. Do you still draw on those memories? I draw on my memories but blended with a lot of fantasy ... but let's set the record straight on something! The Summer of '69 has nothing to do with the actual year 1969. It's about making love (69 -- get it?) and looking back at the good old times. Tell me about skipping out of school and driving around with my brother and Liam and Rory, while you endlessly talked about music. How did you know for sure that's what you'd do? I skipped school all the time, mostly because I hated the school we were in. I talked about music incessantly because the music then was amazing. Think about it. CCR, Cream, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles and the Stones ... and then in the late '70s -- Elton, Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder ... the list too, too long. It was inspiring to turn on the radio. That was over 25 years ago. I always knew I'd be in music someway. I used to dream about working in a record store and listening to all the new vinyl as it came in. The problem was my hair was way too long (half way down my back) and nobody would hire a 15-year-old hippy to work for them ... Even when you were renting Jeff Taylor's basement and washing dishes at the Tomahawk, you were determined to achieve success. Do you still have that drive? I don't know who Jeff Taylor is É and I certainly could not have afforded to rent even a guitar string -- never mind a basement! My drive was merely to be in music in some way or another. I do have great memories of one person from that era those name is Lloyd Burritt. He was my electronic music teacher at Argyle Secondary. He taught us TM (transcendental meditation) in class while listening to Stockhausen -- imagine that. I don't think it exists in the curriculum today ... it should. Do you remember those days as a struggle or as fun? Well, it certainly wasn't easy. I worked for years in clubs all over Canada and never got paid. It wasn't until I left the club scene and actually started writing songs and working in the studio as a session singer that I can remember actually being able to pay my rent. It was fun too, don't get me wrong, but I had to work really hard to keep my head above water. I owed my mum money at one time and I was determined to pay her back -- which I did. Apparently you used to tell your buddies that one day you'd play the Coliseum and when you did you'd give them all free tickets. Apparently they're still waiting. How does everything change when you hit the big time? Ha! that's the best blag I've ever heard for a free ticket!! Tell your brother I'll give him a pair of tickets anytime. The story is your mother took out a loan and bought you your first quality equipment. She was your biggest fan then and it must have been fantastic having that support. What's your relationship with her now? Mum never took out a loan for me, I had a scholarship fund that had $1,200 in it that both my folks had put away for my "further education" -- I cashed it in and bought a piano with it. She was there making sure her boys were fed. It was hard for us in the early '70s. I can remember mum working three different jobs a day -- for months. I will never forget getting a Christmas hamper from the Lions club one year. It was one of the most generous things I have ever encountered. She tried to disguise it from us, in embarrassment, but my brother and I knew cuz we saw the guy bring it inside. We had hit the bottom and were living in Ottawa, it was then we realized we had to head west. My relationship with my mother is wonderful still, I wish I saw her more, but she is taking care of her husband, in other words, she is still looking after someone else. You've never met a more unselfish woman in your life. You were never large of stature, but I understand you always had a lot of guts. Do you remember the time you got even with the older guy who treated you unfairly? Apparently, you were standing between Warren and his friend Chris, boosted yourself on their shoulders with your hands and retaliated with your boot. Can you talk about it now? It would make a classic Keith Richards-type story. I was in a few scraps as a kid, but I certainly don't really remember anything like that. Boys in school always talk big and scrap ... it's part of being young. In those days, substance abuse was rampant among the kids in our neighbourhood and even after you made it big, I've heard you went through some wild times. What's your message to kids now? Well, I would say stay high on life -- it's the best high of all. For years you kept dressing the same way we all dressed in Lynn Valley -- jeans, long-sleeved shirt with rolled up sleeves. In a way it was like you were still rooted in the neighbourhood. In the last few years your look has changed. Are you getting a touch softer? Since when did you become the style police? Geeez! I still wear the same stuff. Another Bryan Adams story: Just after you started making the big bucks you pulled up to the Park Royal Hotel in your brand new Porsche, went in for lunch and got kicked out for the way you dressed. (For the record, my dad owned it at the time.) Did this stuff happen much? I have never owned a Porsche, but I do remember not being able to dine there once because my clothes were too casual. How do you think rock 'n' roll has changed since those days? I think it changed, but so has everything. Who would have thought you could just flip on a computer and you can download any song that you want for free? Say good-bye to the long-term buildup of an artist.
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