May 19, 1995
Palladium, Ottawa - Jan 16, 1996

It might've been when the crowd broke into a spontaneous chant of "Go, Leafs, Go!" (a pretty good indication that we weren't in the Gardens).

 Or the moment when some fearless guy named Mark, who said he'd driven all the way up from Boston, clambered on stage and not only belted out the first half of Summer Of '69, but did it with stage moves!

 Either way, some time around 9:30 last night, it finally felt as though Bryan Adams was indeed the best and most logical choice to inaugurate the shiny new Molson Amphitheatre, the state-of-the-art $15 million venue now sitting on the site of the late, lamented Ontario Place Forum.

 Up 'til then, Adams had put on a thoroughly polished, crowd-pleasing show, cranking out more hits in 90 minutes than most acts have in an entire career.

 But whether it was the cold or the unfamiliar surroundings or the fact that it took most of us forever to get there, some intangible something had been missing. Call it a sense of occasion.

 That wasn't entirely Adams' fault.

 When he strolled onstage at 8:05 and ripped through the tailor-made opening line from House Arrest - "There's gonna be a party/Gonna make some noise" - the temperature was already dipping toward zero.

 By the time he'd torn through Kids Wanna Rock, Can't Stop This Thing We Started and Cuts Like A Knife, and eased through the first public performances of Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman and its flipside, Low Life, some in the crowd seemed to be clapping their hands just to keep them warm.

 But then Adams started kibbitzing with some woman wearing a Leafs jersey and admitted he was a Canucks fan (he has a home in Vancouver), and whatever iciness had lingered suddenly melted away.

 From then on, it was a romp all the way, through Run To You, to a cover of C'mon Everybody and, yes, Summer Of '69.

 As for the Amphitheatre itself, it resembles a fancier version of Kingswood.

 The seats have more leg room, the sight lines are a little better, and the sound is stunningly clear for an open-air venue.

 One other similarity of note: neither site is exactly suited for a concert in the middle of May.

 If you're going to Adams' second show tomorrow night (there are still some lawn seats available) - or any show before, oh, mid-June - bring a blanket.

 A warm heart is one thing, warm hands are another.

 SUN RATING: 4 OUT OF 5