2006 will undoubtedly be remembered as the year of memorable performances by world-famous stars in Bulgaria.

Perhaps the concert of the year was Depeche Mode, which took place on June 21 in Sofia’s Lokomotiv Stadium. The boys from the legendary new wave-style band did a two-hour show with brilliant sounds, unique illumination effects and projections on swinging video walls. A crowd of 40 000 people sang together classic tunes such as Personal Jesus and Enjoy the Silence. The band, of course, also performed tunes from their latest album Playing the Angel, which they were promoting. The concert in Sofia was part of their world tour, which began in 2005 and ended in August 2006. To warm up the crowd there was veteran Bulgarian rock band New Generation, who sang for half an hour before the long interval that preceded Depeche Mode’s appearance on stage.

Depeche brought with them a team of 150 technicians. They built a huge stage of 40m by 18m, and huge monitors weighing six tons each. During Depeche’s visit, it was said that their concert surpassed by magnitude even Metallica’s legendary performance in 1999 in Bulgaria’s second biggest city Plovdiv.

Indisputably, another historical performance was Bryan Adams’s concert in Sofia on November 29. As a contrast to Depeche Mode, Adams only brought a team of 31 people with him, but still managed to do a memorable performance. Here is The Sofia Echo freelancer Bryan Grandjean’s take on the concert:

The show was a winner from start to finish, a non-stop parade of hits, a truly fulfilling experience. Perhaps the show was helped by the fact that Sofia was the last stop on Adams’ 2006 European tour. But one had the feeling that the guy could keep touring forever thanks to the master showmanship of one Bryan Adams, who runs and moves around the stage so often that he must have shed a good five pounds by the end of the night. The concert kicked off with one of his later songs, Room Service and never slowed down. Backed by his killer band, the idol performed classics such as Summer of ‘69, Heaven, Back to You, Can’t Stop This Thing We Started, Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman, 18 Till I Die, Please Forgive Me, All for Love; the list continues.

The obvious highlight of the show was when Adams chose a young Bulgarian woman from the audience, Maria, to help him sing When You’re Gone. It was a nice touch. The show was also a delight for the senses, with a superb sound system, professional light show, and two large screens that beamed real-time images from the stage and the crowd. Just when it appeared the show was over, Adams returned to the stage alone to perform several acoustic numbers, including Straight from the Heart. The crowd ate it up, like culturally starved street dogs hungry for real talent – and that pretty much sums up the show for me. Bryan Adams was the real deal that cold Wednesday night in Sofia. Time has only confirmed that the man from Kingston, Ontario truly knows how to entertain pop fans around the world. 

Shortly before Adams, Bulgarians has the pleasure of seeing live another world-famous performer – Seal. Like Adams, Seal also chose Sofia to be his last stop of a 20-day tour. The concert took place on October 26 in Sofia’s National Palace of Culture. To warm up the fans, Bulgaria’s Grafa unveiled a new album’s first single.

Seal opened with a short guitar intro followed by the songs The Beginning and Killer. The hits My Vision, Just Like You Said and Whirlpool followed. The singer certainly did not disappoint his fans and sang the classic Desert Rose, during which he was given a red rose from a member of the audience. The concert finished at 10.15pm with an encore of the song Get It Together during which the crowd of 5000 people stood ecstatic on their feet.

Simply Red were also among the greatest ever performances to take place in Bulgaria. Their concert on September 1 was part of the famous band’s European tour. Simply Red’s fans were even happier to be able to see their idol Mick Hucknall and his band, as they cancelled their performance in neighbouring Greece because of transportation problems. Bulgarian band Te were chosen to whip up the crowd at Sofia’s Winter Palace stadium. Simply Red came on stage at 9.10pm and left an hour and a half later, after an overwhelming performance of songs from most of their discography. The greatest euphoria was inspired by the hits Stars and Sunrise.

Yet another memorable performance was Sting’s on June 12 in the Black Sea town of Nessebar. About 15000 fans gathered from around the country to see their pop idol perform classic hits from his 30-year career. The concert was part of his Broken Music Tour and was Sting’s second performance in Bulgaria. Sting, who first visited the country 10 years ago, sang classic songs such as If I Ever Lose My Faith, Fields of Gold, Shape of My Heart, Englishman in New York, and Every Breath You Take. Roxanne, Sting’s hit while still with The Police, which made him world-famous in the late 70s, also rocked the stadium. The concert, which lasted about an hour and half, finished with a brief encore during which Sting sang Desert Rose and the ballad Fragile.

Hard rock band Halloween and jazz-singer Christine Anders also performed in Sofia. Kavarna, the small Black Sea town that has blossomed as a favourite venue for concerts, and especially hard rock, kept up its new-found tradition, hosting Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Alice Cooper and Apocalyptica.