Bryan Adams "Unplugs"



On September 26th several hundred Bryan Adams fans gathered in
New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Centre
to witness a historic event.  Bryan, the Dudes of Leisure and
several honoured guests would be filming an MTV Unplugged
special, to be aired later in the year.  For several weeks
prior to the taping Bryan and the band rehearsed acoustic
arrangements of their old hits and threw in three new and
wonderful songs for good measure.

The Manhattan Centre is a medium sized entertainment complex
adjoining the New Yorker Hotel in the West Manhattan district. 
The hall has a seating capacity of several thousand, but for
this night, it would seat only 250-300 lucky people.   The
stage was small and the seating was arranged in theatre style,
with balcony seating to the right and left.  Behind the stage
florescent triangular shaped pieces of cloth were draped in a
zig-zag pattern and they shimmered and picked up the colours
of the stage lights as they changed.

In spite of this being an acoustic event, the atmosphere in
the hall was positively electric! The audience was ushered in at
7:40 pm.  Everyone was instructed on where to sit and how to
act once the show started.  Shouting, clapping, singing and
having fun were all allowed and encouraged!  At 8:00 pm the
Julliard School of Music string ensemble was seated in the
stage left balcony space that had been reserved for them.  The
rest of the band filed out on to the stage where they stood
during the whole performance.  They were greeted by applause
and cheers from the audience.  Only Bryan was yet to come out
on stage. 

The band looked great!  Everyone was wearing black
trousers and shirts.  Danny wore a very elegant black leather
blazer and Keith was decked out in a beautifully tailored
black suit. An old friend of Bryan's,  Patrick Leonard joined the
band on the piano.  Michael Kamen conducted the Julliard School
of Music's string ensemble.

Suddenly the producer announced "Ladies and Gentleman, Bryan
Adams!" and a cheer rose up from the audience that shook the
floor.  Bryan walked out from a door at the side of the
theatre.  He was dressed in black trousers and an olive green
t-shirt and he was waving and smiling as he made his way to
the front.  Truly this would be a night to remember! 

The set list included:
* Summer of 69
* Back To You (a new song and a predicted hit - not a real
  rocker but not a ballad)
* Cuts Like A Knife
* Depend on Me
* I'm Ready
* Fits Ya Good
* When You Love Someone (a beautiful new love song)
* 18 Til I Die (featuring the Julliard string ensemble)
* I Think About You (done in a fast, country style with Dave
  playing upright base)
* Hey Elvis (Lance does his thing playing Elvis!)
* Blues Jam: If Ya Wanna Be Bad, Ya Gotta Be Good & Let's Make
  a Night To Remember (this was a great combination with a whole
  new bluesy flavour to it)
* The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You
* A Little Love (my favourite of the three new songs - I kept
  humming it all night long)
* Can't Stop This Thing We Started/It Ain't A Party
* Heaven
* I'll Always Be Right There

The audience was treated to a number of retakes, a spur of the
moment rendition of "Underwear"  and the clowning antics of
Tommy Mandel.  Tommy was so immersed in playing the accordion
during "A Little Love" that he passionately threw his head
back at one point and klonked the microphone with the accordion! 
Then he said, "sorry, my fault!"  The song had to be stopped
so many times and started over again that Bryan  remarked "Pretty
soon we're gonna call this A Lot Of Love!" 

The unusual arrangements of some of Bryan's classic hits were
a pleasant surprise.  "I Think About You" played with a country
flavour, complete with Dave playing an upright base (he played
a regular acoustic guitar for most of the songs) and the whole
audience clapping and slapping their knees.  Keith played the
mandolin for "Cuts Like a Knife," giving it a beautiful new
sound, as did the uilleann (Irish) pipes that were present in
several songs.  In a total departure from tradition, Mickey
even left his drum set and stood at stage left with Dave to
sing back up vocals for "18 Til I Die."

The MTV Unplugged television show is scheduled to air on
November 28th in the United States, December 9th on MTV
Europe, and December 13th on Canada's MuchMusic.  The scheduled
release date for the CD in the US is December 9th as well.  Exact
dates have not been confirmed for Europe and other parts of the
world at this time.  Although the show will only last for one hour,
it took two and a half hours to film.  This was due to the many
retakes and Bryan's informal chatter between songs.  The special
is a "must see" and combined with the CD, it is a wonderful
Christmas gift from Bryan and MTV to all of his loyal fans.