Thank you for the music!

The show was supposed to start at 6. People started gathering into Palace grounds, in those miles long queues, by 4 itself. No one could relinquish the chance of a better view, better standing position, as close as possible to the rock star. We could get into the arena at about 5.30. And though we knew there were miles of people behind us, this place looked so packed already. Anyway, we found some place and stood too. The evening started at 6.30 with channel V VJ’s screaming into the mic and the crowd going berserk. Just couldn’t wait for the man to come on the stage and mesmerize us – this time LIVE! But chief guest arrives in the end, isn’t it! So the first performance of this evening was by a then-new Indian band called Aasman, and the only song that sounded familiar (and I didn’t say “nice” mind you) was chandu ke chache ne… They crooned for forty five minutes. And when they finished there was a huge applause, not because they were great, but because they had “finished” their performance to give way to the man himself. But that was not to be. After fifteen minutes of wait, there was another band on the stage, who I didn’t recognize then and don’t remember now – so you can imagine how good they were. They were some overseas all boys band, performed topless and received tremendous booing. Not that they were not ruffled, they were, but they were there to perform and so they did. Took about forty minutes. By the end of their performance, the crowd was agitated, irritated and tired. Think about it, people started flowing in at 4, it was over half past eight, so everyone was standing for more than four hours, had been subjected to some unpleasant music for the last two hours, and the man was not to be seen still. There was inactivity on the stage again for some twenty minutes. The irritability was increasing.. big time. Each and every soul present there was getting vocal about it. We so hated him for not showing up till then and it was already 9. And then suddenly mic came to life, stage still didn’t, and we heard a very familiar, a very heavenly – here I am – this is me – I came into this world – so wild and free. Lights came on – and there he was. Bryan Adams! Oh there he was, in flesh and blood. Whoa! What a moment that was, every mouth in that ground roared at the top of its voice to cheer for that man. It was deafening, and most scintillating. No leg was feeling tired any more, no heart was complaining, finally the wait seemed worth. He set the stage on fire, went on to perform all his famous numbers, and we all sang along. Still envy the girl he randomly picked from the audience to sing with him. The crowd moved with him, we sang and swayed and he performed and performed. We swooned as he sang, we swooned as he moved, we swooned to the tunes of his guitar. And these were the fastest two hours of the day (month? Year?). Just didn’t realize how time passed when he sang. So soon it was 11 and the show was over. We could have been there and stood for days if he could perform that long. The rats were not allowed to go any close to the Pied Piper as he threw hugs, kisses, thanks in the air and left. What a night that was, what a night!
Ladies and Gentlemen, this was Bangalore, in 2004. And since then I have been longing to catch a glimpse once again. Bryan Adams is performing in New York in April, and I AM GOING! It is a Friday, I have applied for leave, and I am going to be there, to see him perform again! Can’t wait, New York City, I am coming! :)