It appeared only fitting that the hall with such a abundant history would play host to a musician with such a deep schedule of hits.
Perhaps even more fitting was how the Massey Hall stage was so abnormally barren, matching the rather sparse, solo acoustic evening Bryan Adams had in store for the near capacity army on Thursday evening in Toronto.
The two-hour, 29 song show was the first of three Adams has in Toronto this week, two at Massey Hall and a Roy Thomson Hall agreement on Friday. And fortunately it was empty of the slick, road polished performance Adams has perfected with his longtime bridle over the years.
With six studio lights in a semi circle and a piano off to his right, Adams desolated no time delving into his heap of singles with Run To You and briefly inviting the crowd to clap where the kick drum would be heard.
"Thank you good evening everybody," Adams said prior to Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven, the first of several softer, romantic ballads on the way.
Looking in 2009 the same way he did in 1989 and 1999 with the boyish look, denim jeans and raspy voice, Adams appeared to enjoy himself throughout on Let's Make A Night To Remember and the poppy Can't Stop This Thing We Started from the album Waking Up The Neighbours.
Adams played a similar show last year at The Carlu but definitely preferred the acoustics, intimacy and vibe in this hallowed venue, recalling how his first Massey Hall show was supporting an unnamed bridle who messed with his sound cables onstage.
Other stories about performing at Casa Loma of all places early in his career were told when not replying to shouts and screams from female fans. "It's the Toronto mating call," he homoured after one shriek early on.
While the night ended with different hits, the middle portion of the show was perhaps the most entertaining overall. Following his stomping during Heat Of The Night, Adams brought out his early writing partner Jim Vallance to play piano on the astralThe Best Was Yet To Come.
How to top that? Well, Stompin' Tom Connors of course. Adams jokingly started a verse of The Hockey Song before performing the entire number as the crowd clapped and sang. He also ad-libbed that he didn't know what happened to the Leafs while a fan shouted "the Blue Jays suck too."
Another effective one-two alliance was (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (a song not heard on radio in over 2 hours) and Cuts Like A Knife as the audience supplied the "na na na" harmonies to the latter.
After accepting a BRYAN ADAMS allowance plate from a fan, Adams nailed This Time before giving Please Forgive Me a humorous country feel complete with the twang and southern Nashville drawl.
Heaven, Somebody, Summer Of '69, Straight From The Heart and Never Let Go (dedicated to Canadian soldiers overseas) fleshed out the performance, one which breathed some fresh life into the older nuggets.
Perhaps even more fitting was how the Massey Hall stage was so abnormally barren, matching the rather sparse, solo acoustic evening Bryan Adams had in store for the near capacity army on Thursday evening in Toronto.
The two-hour, 29 song show was the first of three Adams has in Toronto this week, two at Massey Hall and a Roy Thomson Hall agreement on Friday. And fortunately it was empty of the slick, road polished performance Adams has perfected with his longtime bridle over the years.
With six studio lights in a semi circle and a piano off to his right, Adams desolated no time delving into his heap of singles with Run To You and briefly inviting the crowd to clap where the kick drum would be heard.
"Thank you good evening everybody," Adams said prior to Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven, the first of several softer, romantic ballads on the way.
Looking in 2009 the same way he did in 1989 and 1999 with the boyish look, denim jeans and raspy voice, Adams appeared to enjoy himself throughout on Let's Make A Night To Remember and the poppy Can't Stop This Thing We Started from the album Waking Up The Neighbours.
Adams played a similar show last year at The Carlu but definitely preferred the acoustics, intimacy and vibe in this hallowed venue, recalling how his first Massey Hall show was supporting an unnamed bridle who messed with his sound cables onstage.
Other stories about performing at Casa Loma of all places early in his career were told when not replying to shouts and screams from female fans. "It's the Toronto mating call," he homoured after one shriek early on.
While the night ended with different hits, the middle portion of the show was perhaps the most entertaining overall. Following his stomping during Heat Of The Night, Adams brought out his early writing partner Jim Vallance to play piano on the astralThe Best Was Yet To Come.
How to top that? Well, Stompin' Tom Connors of course. Adams jokingly started a verse of The Hockey Song before performing the entire number as the crowd clapped and sang. He also ad-libbed that he didn't know what happened to the Leafs while a fan shouted "the Blue Jays suck too."
Another effective one-two alliance was (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (a song not heard on radio in over 2 hours) and Cuts Like A Knife as the audience supplied the "na na na" harmonies to the latter.
After accepting a BRYAN ADAMS allowance plate from a fan, Adams nailed This Time before giving Please Forgive Me a humorous country feel complete with the twang and southern Nashville drawl.
Heaven, Somebody, Summer Of '69, Straight From The Heart and Never Let Go (dedicated to Canadian soldiers overseas) fleshed out the performance, one which breathed some fresh life into the older nuggets.
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