Bryan Adams & Joan Jett at the TD Garden

      Once upon a Saturday in Syracuse, I was listening to the university's radio station "Z89".  A weekly program called "90's Rock Block" would take requests via AIM (short for America Online Instant Messenger).  I would request "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" by Bryan Adams, and it would not get played.  If I was to request Jewel, Alanis, Joan Osborne, Sophie B, Hawkins, or Garbage (you notice a trend)?  There was a greater chance of these songs getting played, but I was apparently in the minority of Gen Y college students who had a strong appreciation for a 90's ballad (by the trio of Adams, Mutt Lange, and composer Michael Kamen) that was so sultry and flavored with the guitar playing of Paco de Lucia.  It's literally "90's rock, and the 1995 music video with all the domino masks and Amira Casar's kissing Cecilie Thomsen's hand wasn't the raunchy made a huge impression.  Not to mention all the deeply emotional and committal lyrics where someone  figuratively melts when looking into the eyes of the titular woman, who ever that woman may be.  It has this wonderful authenticity and openness that you don't find in "The Thong Song", Crazy Town's "Butterfly" or the uncut version of "Semi-Charmed Life".  I was delighted to finally see Bryan Adams performing live.  Even better, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts had joined the tour as the opening act!

      Given that the tour was reaching Boston's TD Garden in June, and how Joan Jett is a well known musician in the LGBTQ community, I was trying to figure out how to accent my outfit with homages to Joan Jett, Pride Month, and the overall vibe of the evening.  I have gray socks that feature black hearts, and a Dollyrots tee shirt where the cloth is a rainbow tie-dye.  The Dollyrots first came up through Joan's Blackheart Records label, and still remain close with the label's family.  I accompanied those with a faux leather jacket and boots.

      

      Although "I Love Rock and Roll" is maybe more recognizable to today's average music listener than "I Want to Hold Your Hand", I first became conscious of Joan "as a musician" through "Freaks and Geeks".  I was a high school student, watching a show about high school students, and while Jason Segel's character was mourning the death of John Bonham, I was identifying more with both a singer and Lindsay Weir not giving a shit about bad reputations.  It was about 10 years later when I first heard recordings from the Runaways.  Lack of exposure through broadcasting isn't entirely due to little airplay on classic rock stations, but it was more through nationally syndicated late night shows like Rockline when I'd hear an interview with Benatar & Giraldo or Bonnie Tyler.  Not so much through local DJ's.  Pandora and YouTube continue to introduce me to new bands and recordings.  Since the release of the 2010 Runaways movie, "Cherry Bomb" has gotten a resurgence as a feminist anthem, but I regularly go out on a limb to say that "Neon Angels on the Road to Ruin" is my favorite Runaways track.  it's got a heavy blues riff and lyrics that really tested Cherie Currie's vocal ability.  The video of a 1977 Tokyo performance of the song even takes care to recognize the contributions of all five members of the band.  For me, seeing any member of the "Queens of Noise" lineup is (for me) like seeing a surviving member of Led Zeppelin perform (and I'm eying Lita Ford's Beverly, MA show in August). 

      It took longer than expected to catch a bus to Forest Hills station, and Joan's cover of "Riot Girl" was coming to a close as I was getting through security.  Along with Joan's association with the "Riot Grrrl" punk sub-genre, there is a special Pride Month significance when Joan Jett plays the Bikini Kill song so explicitly about  lesbian infatuation.  We were treated to a second helping of Runaways music when she played "You Drive Me Wild".   Sure, I'd love to hear "Neon Angels", but I'm not sure how many singers can still excel that song today.  Probably Lazy Hale.  And  Rob Halford.  She continued with combination of well known and lesser known songs with the audience singing along with "Crimson & Clover".

      During the intermission, a woman sitting behind me was telling me about how impressed she was by the photos that I was taking on my Samsung A2.  I continue to learn more tricks in getting great photos with this model of phone, but what most interested that other fan was being able to tap on a certain person (which tells the phone to focus in on that point of the composition).  Even through the course of the show, I got a better idea of how to better the lighting in a shot, while I was also trying to predict when each camera would stream to big screen behind the stage.  In just a nitpicking observation, I noticed a few seconds' lag time as the signal relayed from camera to screen,  I'd compare it to a pair of televisions getting their signals from the same source wiring, and the set further away is just a second or two behind.  That way, if both TV sets are tuned to the same program, you hear the sets running just short of being synched up.  I'll accept that audiovisual imperfection out of full appreciation for when the concert did manage to achieve with that streaming effort.  Not only were you seeing Bryan Adams and his band on such a large scale, there was a camera positioned behind Adams's main position, and maybe 6 ft overhead which showed a mirror image of everyone in the audience.  As a visual artist, this made for one of my favorite views of the night.  The other was an inflatable car (based on the 1966 Chevrolet Corvair convertible from the new "So Happy It Hurts" music video).  As the helium-filled replica hovered over the audience, its headlights and taillights beamed out from the darkness, the crowd psyched up for the show.

      The song "Kick Ass" from the new album marked the beginning of the show.  Sort of like when seeing Bleachers perform, I was witnessing new material with a style that hasn't deviated that much from the mid-80's sound.  The lyrics may be more of the moment, but style and approach represents how "new" music comes in varieties much more diverse than what may saturate Top 40 radio, MTV, VH1, or the other Viacom music stations.  Continuing to create music suited for their fanbase shows that while versatility in style may work (well) for stars such as Lady Gaga, there are other approaches through which musicians can express themselves and continue this relationship between artist and fans.  As a side note, I can say the same for ABBA.  Their "Voyage" has a quality and sound that's changed very little over their 40 year absence, as they also manage to involve topical issues like the plight of the bumblebee species.  In his ambitiously long 25 song set, Bryan Adams has 15 albums to draw song selections from.  Whether it was "Straight from the Heart" or "Heaven", "Cuts Like a Knife" or "Run to You", Bryan's songs roused memories for each person of their past experiences with the songs.  Transfixed, the audience sung along through the set.  Encouraged by the performers, participation escalated for songs such as a Frankie Valli cover, "The Kids Wanna Rock", and "Shine a Light".  That last song (a tribute to Adams's late father) has all the greater of a communicative effect when you're part of an arena of people voices raised and cell phones aglow as the message of the song impacts us all and carries on to the outside world.   I was explaining to a friend that a big part of why I love attending concerts is that you're sharing that moment not just with the performers but also a concentration of their fans.  The collective (general) identity of the audience members might not be on as average as niche as at a Scorpions or Brandi Carlile show, but you feel a connectivity that transcends differences in age, race, religion, and other concepts that increasingly divide us out in the figurative wild.  It's spiritual, you can feel the messages of being positive figures in the world or rock & roll rebels resonate within and around during those times of community.  Appreciative for all that has brought him to that stage in Boston, Bryan also took the time to specifically acknowledge and thank his longtime guitarist Keith Scott, his mom (who appears with him in on camera in the Corvair, the late Tina Turner (who had appeared on one of his albums), and the fans.  The genuine repartee that Adams and the crowd is another part  that I love about concerts.  It doesn't always happen, and isn't always necessary in a great show, I find that it enriches the moment, the fans, and the performers.  Part of why I'm so eager to see Lita Ford perform (along with her being from that Runaways lineup) is that she seems to be very down to earth and personable.  While the German singer Doro may energize a show like few others, Ford (revered as the queen of the English-speaking metal world) maintains a presence that is very "of the people".

      As I made my way home to a "postgaming" meal of Amy's Kitchen enchiladas, I decided to cue up some quirky whimsy that was at the same time laid back and relaxing.  Surf rock.  Generally, the stream of music featured acts that had come up in the 60's (Dick Dale & the Deltones, the Shadows, and the Pyramids).  From the margins of the moore recent performing arts world, this Pandora station also played music by the Blue Stingrays.  They were a late 90's band where drummer Randall Marsh had joined Ron Blair a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers who returned for the last 15 years and two other Heartbreakers (Mike Campbell and Benmoth Tench) who had continuously played with Petty since the early 70's.  I'd love to catch more shows from current surf rock acts.  The Surfrajettes' label (Hi-Tide Recordings) has  handful of bands that continue the that mid-20th century tradition of music stylings.

      Unfortunately, Bryan Adams didn't perform "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" Saturday night, but I look forward to attending another show next time he comes through town.  The experience was altogether so great that I can't wait to see another of his shows.