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16/01/06 - SADDLEDOME,
CALGARY, AB Review
by Jackie Wilson: Well, us Brits ain’t used to sitting, and boy, it was gonna be a challenge! My sympathies were extended to Daniel Powter because the crowd were truly a bunch of stiffs! There was no feedback from them and a couple of times I attempted to stand – more like a crouch – and felt like a leper! Personally, I think this reflected in his performance – he didn’t seem to enjoy it as much as he did in Europe. There was not even any crowd interaction for BAD DAY. I assume that despite being Canadian his popularity is limited at the moment. Shame! I tried waving my Welsh flag but as I said, I felt like a leper. We BAddies agreed that we would collectively stand and cheer at Vanvouver – although we thought that with it being his home town, maybe he’d be more appreciated by the crowd. I think DP and his band are sweet… and talented of course. After a short interval BA and the dudes blasted into RS with BA playing that RS guitar. The stage backdrop was dressed with simple white sail cloths. The venue held about 13,500 peeps of a wide age group, and our 3rd row tickets gave us easy access to the barrier when the time was right. We were well positioned just to the right of Gary who very kindly gave us a pose for the camera :) Kathryn got on front row and whilst I could have squeezed in next to her I was very happy on second row - u know me happier in second. That feeling of euphoria did not escape me and from then on in I was, sadly, grinning like a Cheshire cat – thankfully, I draw the line at looking wistfully into Bryan’s eyes and screaming “I love you Bryan” but I’m sure he gets the gist of things *g*. Keith was flicking his plectrums across the stage at Mickey and Gary – the latter making a couple of well timed ducks! :) I’m not sure if it was just me but I didn’t think the acoustics were that great at this venue. Somebody, This Time and Open Road followed and the white sails came down to proudly revealing the tasteful RS backdrop banners. . I love Somebody following Room Service …it flows so well… LOL – well that’s my sorry musical opinion finished with – good eh!!! Bryan changed his mic during This Time – I still can’t work out whether it was to hide his extended instrumental intro because he had forgotten some lyrics and was getting smart by trying to hide this *g* - or was it a techi problem? Benefit of the doubt eh! Open Road became a “Prairie Road” and his harmonica was well positioned in his pocket! LOL. The number of guitar strings BA snapped this gig was unreal! So that kinda ties in with Karl’s strings breaking so many times whilst playing to us in the queue at Coventry – it was cold (and wet!) there too, but not as cold as Calgary. 18 TID gave us the perfect view of that tongue again and after LMANTR I stuck up my banner – “HEY BIG SPENDER, I’VE DRAGGED MY BONY ASS 5,000 MILES TO HEAR THIS SONG BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER-PLEASE BRYAN”. Huh! He half-heartedly read it – he must be getting bored! Tough! LOL. In case you’re wondering WTF Hey Big Spender has to do with anything, BA said he it was a laff singing it at Elton John’s stag night so I thought I would remind him of that :) Bit of a story behind the banner – those of you who’ve had the misfortune to be with me when I’m writing my sad banners know that despite being marginally intelligent I usually fluff up my spelling. On this occasion ‘SPENDER’ accidentally became ‘SRENDER’. Kathryn has not watched all those Blue Peter shows without picking up a few tips!!! Cue a useful torn off piece of panty liner duly sewn in place using the hotel sew kit to make the ‘R’ look like a ‘P’ :)
CSTTWS followed and the crowd were still attempting to warm up – I was waiting for Bryan to get someone to stop him but sadly he didn’t . We bounced to BTY and then BA hinted on the inspiration for writing S069 before blasting into the full-rock version with that green Gretch – fantastic! The crowd was getting warmer. EID pulled on the heartstrings as always and there were a few lighters out there in the crowd and before ya knew it we were singing a few na na na’s. Warming up of course for the WYG stint – and tonight’s lucky girl fitted the demographic almost perfectly - she was a nursery nurse or something rather than a student ;0 She was very beautiful knew the words and Bryan had a good time ;P
The brilliant duo performed I’m Ready with KS on the Spanish guitar and BA supplementing with his harmonica. BA talked about his record company calling him and saying “Hey Bryan send us some of your favourite songs ….. so I sent them all 14 albums” LOL…. He said that the request from the company had got him rummaging through old memoirs and things and that he came across the next song and he’d forgotten just how good it was. Then – the best song all night in my opinion – Hearts on Fire WOW! Played on that big orange guitar (another relatively unknown technical term) and it was truly amazing! Thank you Bryan – please keep it in the set list. The green Gretch was back out for the Kids Wanna Rock duel and BA did some perfect posing for my camera during this one :) Mickey and BA having the usual fun whilst KS was away with his riffs! Heaven gave them a little respite before It’s Only Love and the duel began again… with the big orange one being strummed again the dudes were on a roll.. I can’t remember Keith throwing his guitar in the air this night tho but he played it on his head and his mic stand and the usual extraordinary places LOL! BA had the audience singing to TOTTLGOMIY and then there was the first bow… “thanks to my band” and I swear that I’ve upset Mickey, OMG, ‘cos I heard him say “I wish she’d put that camera away” !!! LOL I actually have a picture of him looking right at me when he said this OMG I so hope I ain’t upset him – I promise NEVER to point my camera at any of them again…….. well, ok I’m lying!
Back on stage for 1st encore – Cloud #9 – arms in the air; Run to You and after much ‘persuasion’ they stayed on stage for Best of Me *g* No stroking for me tonight but this song is just fantastic. And so, off they go!! BA came back on saying that now there was just us and him and he went straight into Please Forgive Me. I was glad that I decided to video this – I don’t video much ‘cos I can’t stand still for long enough but the acoustics are of course easier ‘cos they’re all slow. It was amazing and then strummed into TWYMMF and, as my video clearly indicates, I named that tune in 2 LOL! I think my words were ‘Oh my God’ – this is why we love him so much!!! He can play that song as many times as he likes :) BA was very loudly accompanied by the crowd for SFTH and then he did three men’s singing all by himself for AFL – didn’t even notice the other two artists weren’t there *g* . Last but not least, RS had it’s second playing with BA telling us about his “crappy Room Service” – he should get a better hotel then eh?? LOL I don’t think it’s possible to have a bad gig of Bryan’s and it grates to read critical newspaper reviews, however, although I thoroughly enjoyed this gig, to me it seemed a little 'dutiful' – the guys did what they are paid (and enjoy) to do, and that is entertain, but there were few, if any, extras, it was very much to the script. Nevertheless, Kathryn and I were very happy and spent the next hour or so getting back together with the other BAddies and taking pics etc. I write these reviews based on notes I might make on the journey the next day; my photos and my memories – so if I’ve cocked anything up – sorry – it ain’t intentional. Kathryn and I returned to our hotel and ordered room service – we were starved!! Up early next morning for flight back to Vancouver and our long awaited trip to with Van BAddies to Grouse Mountain. A very nice night was had by all :)
*********** Review
by Mike Bell (Calgary Sun): Six degrees of good. There’s really no other way to describe the Bryan Adams concert experience. Over the course of his 25-year solo career, and over the dozens of times he’s rolled through town, the Canadian arena rock icon always puts on a show that dabbles with the definition of good. Good, kinda good, pretty good, very good, really good, exceptionally good and, every once in a while, incredibly good. By his very generic nature, he can never be qualified an extreme, such as brilliant or bad, although his recorded output, especially of late, has often not only broached the latter, but skinny-dipped shamelessly and obliviously in its rank, fetid waters. Live, though, he’s never less than good. Jan. 16, in front of a Saddledome crowd of 13,000 or so, was no exception. Adams was good. How good? Well, again, after having witnessed enough of his shows to differentiate, let’s put it in the pretty good category. Not inspired, not remarkably memorable, but still effective. A great deal of that has to do with the fact the 46-year-old is supporting his two-disc greatest hits CD Anthology and, as a result, packed his set list with all of the basic, blue collar, adult contemporary radio faves and wholesome, saccharin prairie luv ballads — Somebody, This Time, 18 Til I Die, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You and Cuts Like A Knife — which, for most, makes the evening worthwhile and, yes, automatically good. In fact, there are few who can compare, especially in this country, when it comes to the sheer comfort of his catalogue of hits. They just kept coming and coming, like an open tap of FM memories, both positive and negative. But, and this is what puts the Jan. 16 show into the lower half of that category, the energy and electricity from the band seemed to be lacking. Adams and his four-piece band, all clad in the service station rock uniform of black tees and bluejeans (fill ’er up boys) did little more than they had to do. The ageless maple syrup and mom frontman, for example, pretty much kept his actions to the middle of the equally as basic stage — singing and strumming where and when he was supposed to. Sure, every so often, he’d saunter to the side for an obligatory solo or token nod to the left or the right of the room. But it all seemed to be scripted and unmotivated stage business, not the genuine improvised fun of the odd past Adams show. Even his banter was pretty much mailed in, from the safe intro to Summer of ’69, which was one of the many singalong faves of the two-plus hour concert, to even the faux intimate invitation for a duet partner on When Your Gone, which fellow Canuck icon Pamela Anderson crappily guests on on the Anthology version. (By the way, to the young U of C woman Adams brought up for a little ’Dome karaoke, you’re no Pammy, doll, but you have a bright future. In nursing, mind you, but a future nonetheless. Kidding!) Still, the crowd connected to him in a way that’s impossible to argue with. There’s not one person who walked out of that arena saying the rocker was anything other than good. Could he have been better? Of course. Possibly three or four degrees better. But, like room temperature, those few degrees don’t really make a difference in how warm it is. Or how good you feel. Vancouver soul pop piano man Daniel Powter was a perfect opener for Adams. He delivered a Coldplay meets Crocodile Rock set of EZ listening from his internationally embraced self-titled debut. Nice. | |||
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® 2006 18 Til I Die.co.uk. All
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Pictures by Jackie Wilson
Bryan gets a loud Calgary welcome when he hits the stage
Keith
Keith again
Gary
The WYGG and Bryan
BA |
