On a day like today.

The Bryan Adams Concert.

11^th February, 2011.

First of its kind in the city of Pune.

I was there.

I just had to come home and pour my heart out, somewhere!

It’s been a rollercoaster of thoughts and feelings through today. And I just want a release.

I don’t even know where to start. First I thought I’d blog.

But, I didn’t want to appear drama-full. Or for that matter, offend anyone.

So I’ve resorted to good old, Word.

I’ll decide if it’s safe to share later.

(Obviously (with some alterations) I’ve decided it is.)

 So, this is Larika on

Bryan Adams: A first time concert, from the back of the crowd!

It was a bittersweet experience. I’ve been cooped up at home for a while now. So really, today, I was just happy to be out. (For something other than field work!)
It was for Bryan Adams! And I’m a big fan, of course! So obviously there was this intrinsic excitement, I could not help. I got a pass through a close friend who was kind enough to take me along. (I will always be eternally grateful.) I’m quite sure I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of going, if I were left to buying a pass and coordinating the whole affair on my own. Not having to make a choice is much easier. (That raises a whole load of other questions and reasons.) But, I’ll just say that, I’ll splurge when I’m earning and the money’s mine to spend as I like.

So, like I said, this was the first of its kind in Pune and although I was happy to have a pass, there’s no denying that the zone we were in, was pretty sucky. At this point, being a short person did not help either. It’s made for some pretty tired feet and slightly sore ankles.

But again, I’ll reiterate how… I, like many others, was just happy to be there.

Now, it’s true, I can imagine people who paid good money were probably ticked off at being barricaded at a considerable distance from the action, forced more achingly to have to see vast expanses of empty land before them, only because the organizers were (as I’ve heard it been put tonight) overambitious.

The sound was much too soft, definitely not the decibel level you’d expect to help fuel the adrenaline rush arena rock is supposed to create. (For the people at the back, anyway.) Not that it was an arena, but those epic guitar solos and little wise-cracks between the songs weren’t done justice to, for sure! (You're not supposed to be able to have conversations at rock concerts are you?!)

And again, I was still pretty happy to be there.

I happened to be around people who’d seen and experienced much better. So I could understand where they were coming from, when their take on almost all of it was… well, completely negative.

The only saving grace being, the music!

As much as I understood how they felt, I couldn’t stop it from getting to me.

There I was after all, at a concert for the first time in my life (Sean Kingston’s gig doesn’t really count ‘cause it wasn’t on the same scale and I’m not THAT big a fan, and RIO definitely doesn’t count ‘cause I knew just one song and I didn’t even recognize him when he entered. And then there are some other random ones that are just not the same thing.)…

So, yeah! For the first time in my life, at a full-fledged concert, with thousands of people! And I just wanted to sing the songs with the man himself, even if he did seem like just a speck from where I was.  I really had nothing to compare any of this to. So, apart from the apparent suckiness, I was still for some stupid reason, happy to be there. I guess that’s just the power of the music. To think that this was just Bryan Adams! I don’t know what I’d do if Bon Jovi came to town. I just know I wouldn’t put ANYthing past me.

I’ll be honest; it felt pretty wretched being constantly reminded of how terrible it was from where we were tonight. But, I wonder if the unfairness of it all would have even crossed our minds had we had front row VVIP spots. The truth is, the concept of concerts (on this scale) is entirely new (to the crowd in Pune at least) and some of us, we don’t even know what we’re missing. How much better it could get. So in our defence, what we don’t know doesn’t really affect us. 
So, I’m sorry if we’re the idiots who’re willing to stand 500 meters away from the stage with empty grounds in front of us – big enough to play cricket on, and see the flashing lights more than actual faces and watch the big screens, knowing full well, that youtube gives us a better deal (being free and in our faces and all) and still somehow be excited and happy to be hearing some of our favourite songs being sung live by the flesh and blood that made them famous to begin with!

In retrospect, it all seems pretty silly; 
the hype and the drama.

And it all seems pretty surreal; 
the idol and the dream.         

For me, I realised how the big screens and television and the movies and the media all make some very simple things seem larger than life. 
At least Sean Kingston kinda ‘looked’ larger than life; 
but today made Bryan Adams so real.
He was a tiny figure running up and down the stage. 
Keith Scott was the size of an ant on stage, from where we were; and still, bigger than freakin’ Godzilla with nimble fingers on the giant screen. 
Gary Breit was juggling synths, again, magnified times ten.

I guess that’s what being a superstar is. Being who you are and somehow shifting souls and moving masses even more than half the world away. After a brief conversation while walking back, I began to wonder how many of them do it because it’s all they really know how to do, and how many of them work strategically to be universally appealing. 
And how do they know where all our parallel universes collide to find common ground to enjoy the act they have worked out and ready to stage.

I’m sure there’s no fixed formula for fame. And different people have gotten “there” in different ways. I’m definitely in awe of their impact; how they do it. And I’m even more in awe of the giddy-headed fans, fainting at the sight of their favourite stars, standing in lines hours before their concerts begin.

Respect to both, I’d say.

Whether you’d like to admit it or not, we’re all suckers for the famous.
Some of us, for their work and some of us, for the fantasy-picture perfect lives they seem to lead. Closeted reality, no doubt.

But, why would we care?

‘Cause it’s true, we all just wanna be big rockstars, live in hilltop houses, driving 15 cars!

And I’m sure every rockstar had someone else make them go weak in the knees and blurry in the head before (and after) they made it.

Ugh! I could go on… =)

But, for now, I’ll say that for a first time concert, I’ll admit, it probably wasn’t the best.  But, Bryan made up for that by just being... Bryan!
And I’m not disappointed. My rock-concert-design dreams remain.
I’m gonna see it all, from bottom to top

And,

‘Around the world or around the block

Everywhere I go, the kids (will always!) wanna rock!’