He came, he performed and left crooning and swaying fans asking for more. Canadian rock legend Bryan Adams wound up his five-city India tour with a concert in the Delhi-NCR region Sunday night but a concert photo he shared later puts the spotlight firmly on the city’s toxic air.
Adams shared a photo on Instagram, clearly showing the haze over the concert venue. “New Delhi, India, you were incredible tonight. In this photo, if you look carefully you can see my shadow silhouetted in the dust and smoke of the venue over the audience. I’ve never seen that before. Magical India. Namaste,” he posted.
The fans were quick to point out that what Adams saw as ‘magical India’ was actually Delhi’s smog. The city is one of the worst places in the world for air pollution, according to the World Health Organisation. At present, the air quality in Delhi-NCR is “very poor” with the government bringing in the emergency Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
Taking the stage after an opening act by Bollywood singer Harshdeep Kaur, Adams said, “We have been coming here (to India) since 1994. It’s taken long and I’ve always asked our promoters, ‘where is my Delhi show’?” He went on to say, “I have all kinds of songs for you tonight, old ones, a few new ones, I’m not sure how much time you have but we have a long show ahead! Tonight we have the biggest party in India.”
Dressed in a blue T-shirt and jeans, Adams lit on fire the stage which featured an oversized video wall rolling some lyrics, self portraits and videos with his band.
The Ultimate Bryan Adams India Tour had him performing in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Bengaluru before Delhi.
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