Nobody could blame Bryan Adams if he had second thoughts about choosing Derry as the venue for his only Irish gig this year. When his Lear Jet touched down in the Maiden City last Wednesday, army bomb experts were busy examining suspect devices under the city's busiest bridges, one of which turned out to be 140 pounds of home-made explosive. For two days, Derry was plunged into traffic hell, a situation that didn't augur well for the smooth running of the biggest open-air gig ever held in the area. Even if you find it impossible to forgive him for Everything I Do, I do It For You, the ballad which for 16 weeks festered like a fetid boil at the top of the charts, the Canadian rock star should be given credit for going on with the show.
At stake were not just the 9,000 fans who had travelled to the city to sing along to the Adams oeuvre - which includes Summer of 69, It's Only Love and 18 Til I Die - but the very future of rock gigs in the North West. Bryan Adams's performance on a football pitch in the Waterside area of the city has got everyone speculating about who will be next. Maybe Westlife or, whisper it, U2?
"We have been trying to attract major artists to the city for years and we are competing against Belfast and Dublin to bring them here," said David McLaughlin, the man who has been dubbed the mastermind behind Derry's biggest rock gig. "We have managed to do smaller scale events in the past, last year we created a 5,000 arena on this site for Disney on Ice just to prove that we could handle events of this size. That was the biggest thing I have been involved in until now. We have also proved that we can do a significant amount of the groundwork for the promoter and that there is a lot here for the artist when they come".
In what was McLaughlin's final service as venue manager with Derry City Council, he managed to persuade Eamon McCann of Wonderland Promotions to try and convince Adams that the gig could be a success. These days McLaughlin is the deputy chief executive of Derry's Millennium Forum theatre, but is keen to act as a consultant to the council towards a plan that would see the establishment of an annual three-day rock festival.
"We hope that this will be the first of many annual events we have here . . . the mood this week has been extremely positive, they have really taken it to their hearts. The majority are from the city but there are people here from London, Scotland and Manchester . . . what we are about is positively promoting the city, to negate the negative images of not just this city, but Northern Ireland over the years," he says.
The Prehen Playing Fields, where the gig took place, is a gem of a venue that began filling up from 6 p.m. with die-hard Adams fans in their 30s and 40s. Also present were hordes of screaming teenyboppers, who loved the singer's duet with Sporty Spice, Mel C - one lucky student from Limavady was even called on stage to perform When You're Gone with Adams. Even if it is a fraction of the size, the field, in its own way, is as scenic as Slane. There are stunning views of the River Foyle and across it, rolling hills create the feeling of a natural amphitheatre.
"I can't believe such a big star has come to Derry, let's hope he tells all his rock 'n' roll friends and more of them come here over the years," said Mary, a local woman queuing at the burger stand as the sun broke through the clouds.
Despite Adams's international status, the support acts were all home-grown. Fresh from signing a major record deal, Juliet Turner, from nearby Omagh, cut a solitary figure on stage but still managed to charm the crowd with a 40-minute set of hits from her albums Burn the Black Suit and Let's Hear it for Pizza. Local band The Undertones, now reformed minus lead singer Fergal Sharkey, were also on the bill.
But the audience - including a few cheeky gig-crashers watching from boats on the river - were here for Adams. "I can't believe it's taken me so long to get here," said the Groover from Vancouver, who belted out an impressive number of hits for over an hour. His inoffensive brand of rock delighted the crowds, before a triumphant fireworks display signalled the end of what is hoped will be the first of many major rock gigs on this football pitch by the Foyle.
