When Bryan Adams said he liked coming home to Vancouver and performing in front of a crowd, surrounded by blue skies and mountains (“…what could be better than a day like today?”), this was what he meant:

Image by Bryan Adams

Just one of my very well-spent sunny Saturday afternoons. The red circle in the photo above somewhere was where I was sitting with my friend J. We were part of the crowd of 23,000 in the open-air Empire Stadium for the 2010 summer opening of Pacific National Exhibition (PNE). <

This day was special because PNE was celebrating it's 100th year. And who better to kick it open than Vancouver's homeboy - Bryan Adams.

In order for you to understand how important this concert for me, I'd have to tell you a funny story of me and my appreciation for Bryan Adams. I don't think I am the biggest fan, but I think I can be a runner up (LOL). I must've started listening to him in the early 80's around the time he released his 3rd or 4th album. That's as far back as my memory can go, afterall, I'm not really *that* old! (heheheh)

When I was younger, my parents would give me allowance for a week. The first time I set aside money for something I wanted, it was for a set of Crayola. The second time I set aside money for something I wanted, it was for a Bryan Adams cassette tape. And we were poor; my allowance wasn't that huge. So when I bought my Bryan Adams cassette tape for a really cheap price, I thought I'd hit the jackpot. Little did I know that it was a bootleg! (A 10 year-old didn't know any better).

Anyway, who hasn't gone through their awkward elementary and high school years without listening to at least one Bryan Adams song? Who can forget “Everything I Do, I Do It For You”? Don’t tell me I’m corny. HAHAHA! I’m sure you’ve danced your prom night away with one of his power ballads from the ’90s!

Decades forward, and there I was at his concert. I couldn’t believe I was listening to him live. It felt like I went back to when I was a little kid, only this time, it wasn’t the bootleg copy that was playing, it was Bryan Adams himself serenading me. I’m telling you, that stadium was filled with so much excitement, and I was sitting faaar from the stage, but I didn’t care. I just closed my eyes at one point and let it all sink in.

He sounded the same, perhaps even better – the rough rockstar voice; up to the No’s, Oh’s, and Yeah’s — even if I shut my eyes the entire time, I’d know it was him rocking it all out. He is so good with the guitars too. He played one hit song after another, and when he played Summer of ’69 — which, I said before, what I was going to come hear him sing live and that if he did I can just go home after. Of course I was kidding, but you know what I mean :p — Anyway, when he played Summer of ’69, everyone was on their feet, either singing along or just cheering him up.

If I can pick favourite moments from the concert (it was about 2-hours long), I have these 3:

1.) When he performed “Heaven”, the crowd sang the first stanza.
2.) When he played “Summer of ’69″ – of course
3.) When he came back for encore and played “Cloud Number 9″

Of course, I can’t possibly narrate to you how how the rest of it went. You just got to be there Besides, this blog entry is only for the Bryan Adams part… the opening act was The Beach Boys – who were also awesome, really old but awesome. Even if I ended up with a sunburn in my neck, my nose looked like ripe tomatoes after, and I have tan lines in my arms, my $30 ticket was really worth it all.

The concert was so unforgettable, and have since renewed my appreciation for Bryan Adams as a performer.

If only my sunglasses could talk