For fans of rocker Bryan Adams in Mumbai, the month of February couldn’t have come soon enough. We had begun counting down the days a long time ago, playing back old albums in anticipation of his third performance in the city. When he did arrive on February 4 at Bandra’s MMRDA grounds, we realised it was all worth the wait.
Outside the venue, thousands had lined up to create incredibly longest queues. It took people around 2 hours just to get in. The show began at around 7 pm, but people were still being admitted until after 7:30 pm.

It began with performances by winners of the Campus Rock Idols contest. Some in the audience cheered, others jeered, hoping Bryan would come soon. They had to wait some more though, as countless advertisements by sponsors followed.
By 7:30 pm, I had polished off two packets of chips and downed two Pepsis. Still no Bryan. Suddenly, there was a blur of black on stage, followed by a familiar voice saying “Wassup” before the opening chords of the track Room Service came on. It took the crowd a minute to register the fact that Bryan Adams was on. The applause that followed was deafening.
From then on, it was a roller coaster ride. The hits came on fast and furious — Let’s make a night, Only thing that looks good on me, Everything I do, Life is an open road, All for love, Can’t stop this thing we started and perennial favourites 18 till I die and, of course, Summer of 69.

An excellent performer, Bryan had the crowd on its feet, compelling us all to interact throughout. Whether it was making us sing alternate lines (almost the entire song in the case of Summer of 69), dancing with his guitar, or making everyone get out their cell phones and wave them in the dark — he kept the fans involved. At one point, he stepped off stage and shook hands with everyone in the front row while singing “You’ll always have the best of me…”
But none of this matched the hysteria when he picked someone from the crowd to sing When you’re gone with him! The lucky girl of the evening was someone called Amruta, a resident of Chembur doing her Masters in Pharmacy. Bryan couldn’t get her name right, but introduced her saying “Please welcome Ruta, who is doing her masters in chemicals.” The girl got an embrace from him and, to her credit, performed the song pretty well for someone who looked so stunned. Bryan also gave her two T-shirts.

Other highlights included some serious playing from lead guitarist Keith Scott, making Kids wanna rock even more memorable. At about 9:20 pm, after introducing his band members, Bryan left the stage. He was back a few minutes later, mischievous smile in place, for an encore — Cloud no 9.
Two more songs, and he was off again. This time, nobody moved. We knew he’d be back. And he was, with the popular Please forgive me -– a first for a Mumbai show.
And then, he was gone. “Until next time,” he yelled, disappearing. It was 10 pm, and the show really was over. Nobody wanted to leave, but, eventually, we all did.
The feeling I got, steeping out into the night, was that Bryan Adams is always welcome. A lot of us would love to see more of him in future. The hysteria for the Canadian rocker is far from over. In fact, I think it’s only just begun.

(Source: http://specials.rediff.com/)

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