BRYAN ADAMS- WEMBLEY ARENA Friday 29th October 2004 reviewed by Cars

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After joining both queues into the Arena & then discovering we were in fact meant to be in the third queue we finally got inside. Had a jolly good frisking by security (well it was the deadly & dangerous  Bryan Adams we were seeing), treated ourselves to portions of chips that contained a quarter of a potato by cost half a months wages, then got to our seats. We were around half way back, to the side, I was happy enough with the view though I think my 2 mates were cursing me for not booking standing tickets! After spending nearly an hour playing our own version of Finding Wally trying to find our colleague who was standing, (Jo - who I might add looks nothing like Wally & did manage to indicate to us that Cilla Black was also in the audience - see I told you what a wild crowd Bryan attracts), support act Speedway was a pleasant suprise. You may only know them for their rock remake of Genie In A Bottle - don't judge them on that. I have their album & they are incrediably good. Bryan took to the stage around 8.45 belting out the title track from new album Room Service, followed by current single Open Road. From then on he mainly stuck to his older stuff, explaining to the crowd that it is exactly 20 years since Reckless was released so they'd be playing as much from that album as possible. At this point I had moved from seat K80 to Cloud 9! Reckless is one of my favourite albums ever, by anybody, so hearing him play 7 out of its 10 tracks tonight was beyond fantastic for me. I absolutely defy anybody to mock Bryan Adams after seeing him live. He is without question one of the greatest show man ever. Whether you're at the back, front, middle, wherever he can make you feel as much part of the gig as anybody. I love it when singers interact with the crowd & he did that in abundance tonight. Pulling a volunteer from the audience to sing Mel C's part of When You're Gone, to leaping down & grabbing peoples cameras to take photos for them, to taking requests for songs via banners in the crowd, to good old fashioned I sing it you sing it stuff which always seems to be lacking in newer artists gigs nowadays. Take note guys - lighten up & have more fun! He played for 2 & a quarter hours doing 2 encores. Maginificant stuff! Highlights would be hard to pick as there really wasn't a "going to the toilet" moment (you know, where everyone gets up for the loo in one particular song - usually from a new album!). If I had to pick a favourite moment it was probably Back To You. A song that is possibly his finest, yet one probably not many non fans know (you can find it on MTV Unplugged album - go & buy it!) I can't praise this night enough so for fear of gushing I will just leave you with the setlist & promise you that you will not find a more enjoyable, fun gig than a Bryan Adams one. SETLIST : Room Service Open Road 18 'Til I Die Let's Make A Night To Remember Can't Stop This Thing We Started Kids Wanna Rock Back To You Summer Of '69 Everything I Do (I Do It For You) Cuts Like A Knife When You're Gone Not Romeo, Not Juliet Heaven It's Only Love The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You (1st encore) Friday Night In London Cloud Number 9 Run To You One Night Love Affair Somebody Best Of Me (2nd encore - acoustic) Flying All For Love Straight From The Heart 10 out 10 (would have given it more if I could have!)

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