23 April 2012

Performance

Only days before I packed my bags and left Switzerland, back in 2009, I had the chance to spend an evening with a fellow Zurich resident - and 12'999 other fans. In front of what could be considered her "home crowd", Tina Turner rocked Hallenstadion and left me high on emotion. Not to mention very hoarse.

That was then. This is now. Three years hence, I started to miss that experience of a live concert. Of an ecstatic crowd singing along with a band up on stage. Of the giddiness around which song may be coming next. Of thousands of lighters swaying along to the tunes of a ballad. With the exception of the last point (strict smoking bans replaced the zippos with iPhone screens), it all came back to me last week.

And it was only appropriate that it was Canada's very own Bryan Adams who introduced me to the northern way to rock. With his countless smash hits, the great guitar riffs, and by addressing his audience in surprisingly fluent French, he won over the 15'000 people at the sold-out Bell Centre in no time. And when a random fan got picked to perform up on stage with the singer, and delivered a mind-blowing performance, it became obvious that this town knows how to have a good time.

The uninhibited enthusiasm came as a relief, considering how I had disparingly categorized my fellow concert goers as "middle-age suburbans" as I arrived at the venue. In hindsight, I realize that they we had just aged in parallel to the star, and were keen on a night-long drive down memory lane. And Bryan was happy to come along.

The next morning, still spellbound (and yes, hoarse again), I keenly returned to the event calendar website, to see who else was coming to perform in the near future. And what I found surpassed my wildest dreams. On August 31st, yours truly will join the Joyride!

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