Bryan Adams - vocals, guitar; John Hanna - keyboards; Keith Scott - guitar, vocals; Dave Taylor - bass, vocals; Jim Wesley - drums
This show was recorded at the funky Lost Horizon club, which was a hot spot for students of Syracuse University during the 1970s and '80s. Adams, who already had made a name for himself with a debut LP and plenty of co-songwriting credits for Bachman Turner Overdrive, Loverboy, and Kiss, was promoting his first U.S. release, You Want It, You Got It. Adams had developed into a seasoned pop hit writer, but he was just at the beginning of his performing career, so parts of this show are a bit shaky.
Still, it is great to hear Adams onstage with so much obvious enthusiasm and a keen desire to be the Bruce Springsteen of Canada. His songs would never be as profound as those by The Boss, but he certainly was capable of writing an infectious rocker. This show, taped early in 1982, has a good number of songs that would eventually become radio staples, among them "I'm Ready," "Fits Ya Good," and "One Good Reason." His real breakthrough would come two years later with his fourth LP, Cuts Like a Knife.
Adams kicks off the set with an energetic version of "Remember," followed by a take on "Jump," a song he co-wrote for another Canadian band, Loverboy. Adams rocks hard through the entire concert with a strong band, especially on "I'm Ready," which closes the main portion of the show. Guitarist Keith Scott, in particular, is exceptional.
Adams would end up touring with this band non-stop for nearly two years, and by then he was one of the hottest live rock acts in North America. Ironically, the young Canadian, who presented a very hard rockin' live show, would see his greatest commercial success writing and recording mushy ballads such as "Heaven," "Everything I Do, I Do For You," and "Please, Forgive Me." None of those songs are in this performance and Bryan Adams clearly knows what his fans really want, as one of his future songs would say, "the kids wanna rock!"