04/04/00 - SHAE'S PERFORMING ARTS CENTER, BUFFALO

Review by Jim Santella (News Contributing Reviewer):
'Bryan Adams offers no frills, just good music, on latest tour'
Like the Hydra, a mythical nine-headed creature that had the ability to grow a new head every time one was severed, Bryan Adams continues to regenerate his career every time critics slash at the pop-meister's listener-friendly anthems.
Tuesday night, a packed Shea's Performing Arts Center offered Adams' fans a haven from critical trash-talking. The Best of Me 1999-2000 Tour concert was more than a compendium of greatest hits; it was a volley of pop songs that shimmered with craft and accessibility. You might call it the no-frills tour.

Costumes consisted of white T-shirts and pants, the light show included ingenious black and white squiggles dancing on a white backdrop and the group was stripped down to trio size. The mostly 30-plus audience ranged from those with fists in the air to stage-hugging dance-a-holics who were moved by every ripple of the music.

Is the Badman a music industry punch line or a pop-40 rocker who deftly straddles the line between producing arena rockers ("Cuts Like a Knife") to radio friendly ballads ("Summer of '69")? Live, he is admittedly the real deal. With Adams on bass, Keith Scott on guitar and Mickey Curry on drums, ballads like "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" and "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?" took on a power trio vitality often missing on their over-produced CD counterparts.

"How Do You Feel Tonight?" jump-started the 125-minute set that included four encores and as many standing ovations. "Back To You" followed with more hooks than a tackle box. "Summer of "69" was a meticulously crafted song that gradually built from an introverted acoustic into a full-bodied rock power ballad. Scott wah-wah pedaled his pungent guitar solo into a psychedelic tribute to rockers such as Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton.

Adams really jacked things up with "I Don't Want to Live Forever," following it with a humorous description of one of his early concerts in Buffalo. "I played a noon-time live radio set, then opened for the Kinks at night and ended up jamming in some Buffalo bar."

The concert ended with a bluesy change of pace with "If You Want to Be Bad You Gotta Be Good." Encore material included "Cloud Nine" and an unreleased "The Best of Me." For the Kingston, Canada, native, who turned 40 this past fall, "18 'Til I Die" seems to be as much his life slogan as it is a pop hit.

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Pictures by Jeremy Stephens

The Kman on a solo

Bryan singing