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12/01/06 - CREDIT UNION CENTRE, SASKATOON, SK Review by Sila Polkinghorne
(The Star Phoenix): Take a moment and count 'em - Bryan Adams must have a hit for every year in his two-and-a-half decade career. In fact, his recent greatest hits collection, 'Anthology', has more than 30 of them. And probably the two biggest of all those enormous hit songs came together, midway though Adams' concert Thursday night at Credit Union Centre. Even before the opening notes of 'Summer Of '69', the crowd roared, as Adams gave away the title by insisting the upcoming tune had nothing to do with a certain period of time. The crowd sang the first few lyrics, and they were on their feet, cheering and no doubt remembering a time when they first heard that song, or danced to it, or hit the open road with that song blaring on the stereo. Then, Adams, armed with his acoustic guitar, slid right into '(Everything I Do) I Do It For You', and the lighters emerged from pockets all over the audience, numbering more than 9,000. Maybe a few clasped a loved ones hand a little tighter. It's a sappy tune for sure, but c'mon - that song spent what seemed like years on top of the charts. We've all sang along a few times. Admit it. Adams followed those heavyweights with the formidable 'Cuts Like A Knife', with the crowd singing along with the "Na Na Na" refrain. From there on in, there's no doubt everyone is going home happy. Too bad, though, that Adams began the concert with the title track from his most recent album of new material, 'Room Service'. The hard driving track lacks the distinctive hooks that mark Adams' material from the 1980's and early 1990's. But Adams, dressed in his ever-present black t-shirt and blue jeans, did deliver plenty of those, in quick succession, starting with 'Somebody' and heading into 'This Time'. "We've got a lot of catching up to do", he told the crowd in his scratchy voice. "There's gonna be a lot of songs." Those raspy vocals have served Adams well over his career, and the best moments of the night happened when the four-piece backing band dropped away, leaving the 46-year-old heart-throb to sing with minimal accompaniment, like on a very early tune called 'Lonely Nights'. My throat feels a little scratchy just hearing that voice. Newer material including '18 Til I Die' and 'Open Road' was catchy, and no one can doubt the popular appeal of 'Can't Stop This Thing We Started', 'Back To You' and 'Remember'. The band also rumbled through 'Kids Wanna Rock' and the encore included 'Run To You'. Adams brought an enthuiastic crowd member to duet with him on 'When You're Gone', which Adams recently recorded with Pamela Anderson in her singing debut. The singer has a lot to draw on - when you have so many memorable tunes, there's no doubt your audience is going to have a sweet time. Vancouver's Daniel Powter opened the evening with a 30-minute set of piano-pop and an impressive display of his falsetto voice. He got a warm reception, but Powter didn't have enough power in the pop to energize an arena-sized crowd. | |||
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Adams rocking Saskatoon in the Credit Union Centre |
