Kick Ass!!

My apologies for being explicit but I can't define a Bryan Adam's live concert better.

On the 4th of Feb., I made a trip to Mumbai to witness the man in action, Live! Well, it wasn't a very well planned trip. As in,I managed for the passes just a day before the show and hence, we didn't get any reservations for going to Mumbai. As a result of that, me and a friend of mine (who finally made it for the show) tried to hitch-hike in order to reach Mumbai. But thankfully, we didn't have to flaunt anything to get a ride as a bus came to our rescue.

Mumbai was 'hot', in a true and literal sense. We made it to the venue well before time and got into the queue of fans...Waiting for the gate (read, gateway to heaven)to open. Surviving on water, we fought the scorching sun and the crowd. And sincere thanks to the females around who were trying their bests to keep our minds away from the oddities. We finally entered (with that company of women) at 6pm. I literally ran across the ground to be the first one standing besides the barricade. And I got a reasonably decent place from where the stage was some 50ft. away.

The show didn't start right away. We had to stand there waiting for the arrangements to get complete, as we saw numerous rounds of sound and light testing. Suddenly the stage went dark and we all held our breathes. And the silence was broken with a voice on the microphone, announcing that some 'x' band was going to perform first. A "boo" reverberated. No one there was in a mood to see just any band perform, especially when one had paid a whopping sum of 800 or 1200 for a pass! But still we appreciated the first strumming of the six strings. Afterall, we were there to appreciate music. This performance went for about half an hour or so, followed by some cool, swinging Salsa performances by some artists.

And once again there was darkness on the stage, once again we held our breathes...But this time we went breathless! The man, Bryan Adams...He was on the stage! The stage came to life once more, sparkling with those neons and some fireworks...Balloons went high up on the arrival of the diva! Within no time, the stage was set for action. Mr. BA standing in the middle with his acoustic guitar in his hands. A couple of guitarists were on his sides, the drummer at his back and a synth besides the drummer...I could hardly hear the first words of BA in the middle of the roaring crowd. But I guess it was some exchange of civilities, the normal stuff. Then the woofers came to life, going over the roars and howls of that mad crowd. We all started rocking to his first number, Room Service...And then one after another. Before starting his all time hit Summer Of '69 he said,"If you haven't heard this then I don't know where have you been!". How so very true...!

He sang about 6 songs and then said a bye to Mumbai. The stage went dark again. People started shouting "We want more...". And to my surprise, he reappeared and said,"Do you want more..?". In unison we said "Yeah..". He was like,"You got it..". Those were the opening words of his hit song Best Of Me. I was immensely moved by this way. It was awesome...One has to be there to feel it, can't put it into words. He again disappeared and came back, as if he's upto some hide and seek! But this time, he entered alone, with only his acoustic in his hands. The stage was dark and a spotlight was following him. He ended the show with Please Forgive Me..

This extraordinary journey of this ordinary man lasted for exact two hours. But it was the experience of a life time.