BANGALORE: You have seen him on the television, heard his music and probably ‘declared your true love’ too through his mushy and emotion- filled songs. But Sunday, was a day that will be marked in the lives of 20,000 people who came to witness the legendary Canadian rockstar, Bryan Adams perform in the city for the fourth time. It was an experience par extraordinary to watch how the 51-year-old still had the magnetising power to draw crowds of such insane numbers.
With not an inch of ground visible, all the three sections of concert, silver, gold and VVIP were packed with fans from all over the country. People came from the far corners of India to experience the magic and the phenomena known as ‘Bryan Adams.’ “I bought my tickets from Chennai. The concert was superb and brilliant,” says Rebecca, who came to the city to watch the live performance.
Bryan sang most of his hit old timers like Everything I do, Please forgive me, Run to you, Straight from the heart and Heaven. He also sang a teaser called Friend to me from his new album called Bare Bones.
The 51-year-old still had his boyish charm that made thousands of fans go weak-kneed on the eve of Valentine’s Day. Couples swayed to his music as they whispered the lyrics into each others ears. Thanks to the concert I am sure it was the perfect start to one of the most romantic day in the year.
Like most of his performances, this time too the singer called out to his fans, to come on the stage and sing with him.
There was only one condition, they should know the lyrics of the song he would sing next, if they didn’t he warned the crowds that he would embarrass them on stage. So, he randomly chose a young lady and got her on stage and asked, if she knew the lyrics.
She replied unabashedly that she didn't and the only reason she raised her hand was to meet him. Though a little moved by the gesture, Adam did politely yet firmly request her to leave as, ‘he did not want to waste anyone’s time.’ He threw the offer open to crowd once again, and this time chose another young girl, a student of economics. The two sang the duet and also gyrated a bit, which drew quite a lot of whistles and cheers.
Though everyone loved the concert once they were in, but the journey to the venue was a nightmare for most. Anjali says, ‘The event could have been organised in a better way.
The crowd management was very poor. I had bought the silver tickets and could barely see a thing.” Rebecca seconds the mood.
She was quite disappointed with the arrangements. “I came from Chennai to watch the concert. I was not told that I had to exchange my e-ticket for a pass stub. Only once I got there was I told about it. The queue to the venue was endless like an ocean,” says Rebecca.
The parking was another problem.
Ashwin who also came to see the concert was furious with the way the vehicular traffic was handled. “It was a disastrous end to a perfect evening.
It took me 45 minutes from the parking to the main road which is less than 500 metres away,” says Ashwin.
Though during the concert the fans were ecstatic, the buzz soon died out when it was time to leave. Hopefully next time around the organisers will pay more attention to detail.