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On July 13th, 2004 I sauntered down to City Hall for another instalment of the Ottawa Bluesfest, this one starring veteran Canadian rocker Bryan Adams.
I (mostly) stopped dissing Bryan Adams after I saw him live in Shediac, New Brunswick a few years before, with the glaring exception of that ballad he wrote for the Robin Hood movie. For that catchy piece of cheeseball trash I continue to seek out any and all opportunities to go on and on dissing Mr. Adams. Otherwise, there’s really no denying that the guy puts on a pretty fine rock and roll show.
Not that he’s any Bruce Springsteen or anything, but for a guy who managed to shoot the video for (Everything I Do) I Do It For You with a straight face he can actually rock it pretty good.
And let’s face it, love him or hate him – I manage to achieve both relatively simultaneously – the guy has a seemingly endless list of solid FM radio staples (thank-you Jim Vallance) and in a live setting he can string them together into a pretty entertaining show.
At least he did (again) this night, and the millions of people who surrounded me in the crowd clearly agreed.
It’s funny that Summer of ’69 is such a huge standout hit for the guy, considering how many other home runs he’s had. But it clearly is, and Adams exploited this by teasing the song several times throughout the set. When he did finally launch into the full tune late in the set the anticipation had worked the crowd into such a nostalgic lather that they ate up those two chords like they were written by God.
Okay, memory tricks (and hyperbole) are making me overstate things a bit. But it was a good show.
Todd Man Out 