05/01/04 - VIC THEATRE, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

BA and the band sign off the USA New Years mini-tour in style with a corker of a show in Chicago at the Vic Theatre. During the show BA even sang a cover of 'Get Down Tonight' by 'KC And The Sunshine Band'!

Review by Joshua Klein:
"The newspaper today called me an '80s artist," said Bryan Adams, barely after the start of his sold-out show at the Vic Monday night. "I always thought of myself as a '70s artist. And my next song is from the '90s."

Adams had a point. He did start his career in the '70s, and his middle-of-the-road songs do have their roots in that decade's rise of album-oriented rock. Further, Adams landed several of his biggest hits in the '90s, when his brand of sappy ballads became radio staples. But it was during the '80s that Adams' career took off with a string of strong singalongs that still crop up regularly on the airwaves (and sometimes in elevators and supermarkets as well).

Also, as Adams himself pointed out at the Vic, it's been 10 years since he played Chicago, so for all his mock protestations, one might have expected him to take the focus off his more recent material.

Yet Adams' set wasn't simply a nostalgia showcase. The songs ranged from his first hit, the plain "Straight from the Heart," to "Only Thing That Looks Good on Me is You," a plastic pop ditty that sounded like something drawn from Shania Twain's leftover would-be hits pile (indeed, the song was co-written with Twain's husband and songwriting partner, Robert John "Mutt" Lange). And whether the songs were from 1983 or 1993, the fans went nuts with arena-sized enthusiasm.

There's a simple reason Adams has been able to weather the times. While many of his '80s peers offered style over substance, Adams offered neither. Songs like "Cuts Like a Knife," "Somebody," "One Night Love Affair" and "Summer of '69" may be banal compendiums of sentimental cliches and half-familiar riffs, recycled with all the bar-band rough edges sanded off, but they're perfect for proms or just driving down the highway with the windows down and the radio up. As the soundtrack to so many formative experiences, Adams' songs are like renewable resources, good for any occasion or, for that matter, any decade.

Adams proved it by rearranging his power-ballad "Heaven" as a bittersweet, uptempo and oddly contemporary number, and his trademark "Summer of '69" traded bombast for acoustic subtlety. He also made a fan's karaoke dream come true by bringing her onstage to sing "When You're Gone."

No one knows why certain songs touch people the way they do, but there's no denying their effect. With his jeans and T-shirt earnestness at odds with his musical slickness, Bryan Adams might not invite a lot of accolades, but he does deserve a modicum of respect. After all, he knows exactly what his fans want, and he's not ashamed about giving it to them.

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All pictures by Alicja Bodziony

No room at the inn - BA sells out the entire US tour, Chicago is no exception