A hugely successful artist with a long and varied career, over the course of sixteen (soon-to-be seventeen) albums, Bryan Adams has seen a million faces and rocked them all. Yet, unlike a good number of his peers, he has somehow managed to remain down to earth, keeping his head where others lost theirs, and never forgetting those who helped him along the way.
A showman in the Frank Sinatra mould, it’s notable that Bryan does not forget a single person in the sold-out Motorpoint Arena. He bumps fists with the audience, trades jokes with others, halts the show to allow an overwhelmed fan to be evacuated, waves to those farther away, and even strolls to a second stage for an acoustic encore. It’s expertly crafted showmanship, to be sure, but it’s executed with such joy that it’s impossible not to be swept up in it all, which does much to explain the rabid enthusiasm of his audience. Moreover, you can’t escape the feeling that Bryan would be doing this in whatever venue would have him – his all-consuming passion for rock’n’roll undimmed – and it is his love for both the music and his band that makes the night so utterly enjoyable.
As befitting this new tour, Bryan opens with the song from which it draws its name. A punchy number with an addictive beat and stabbing guitars, Roll With The Punches is a cracking cut, reminiscent of the arena rock Kiss indulged circa Creatures Of The Night, and it comfortably sits alongside Adams’ best. As if to prove this point, he segues neatly into an airy Run To You, the opening notes enough to elicit a substantial cheer from the audience. From there, we’re off, and the early portion of the set finds Bryan tearing through Somebody and 18 Til I Die with absolute abandon.
Allowing a little time for the overheating crowd to breathe, the brief Cloud number Nine finds Bryan exploring a little U2 ambience, before the brisk Make Up Your Mind (dedicated, to wild booing, to meeting up with your ex) gets the pulse racing. Turning once more to Reckless, Bryan opts to play Heaven largely acoustic (all the better to hear the crowd singing along), although the band intervene to bring it to a heady climax.
Dedicated to the late, great, Tina Turner, It’s Only Love finds Bryan and guitarist Keith Scott sharing the mic in an emotional tribute to the fallen singer that culminates in a solo so epic it threatens to immolate the stage. Tina may be missed, but the show must go on and the best tribute Bryan knows is to rock with spirit, which he does on You Belong To Me and a suitably raucous Twist And Shout, both of which find a cameraman on stage capturing the best dancers across the audience (alongside those who have removed their t-shirts to whip them around their heads, as instructed by a giddy Bryan). Again, you can only marvel at the genuine enthusiasm that Bryan consistently radiates and it’s obvious that he just loves the warm interaction between band and crowd.
Following the storming arena rock of Can’t Stop This Thing We Started, which sees the audience trade dancing for singing, Bryan takes a moment to dedicate an emotional Please Forgive Me to his late mother – Denise. It’s a touching moment but you can’t keep a good rocker down and, as Bryan establishes, if you’re going to go down, you’re going to Go Down Rockin’. Armed only with a harmonica and a bag of great riffs, Bryan proceeds to do exactly that, before dedicating Shine A Light to his late father. With more than a few mobile phones piercing the dark of the arena, it’s a heartfelt tribute and it paves the way for the acoustic portion of the set.
It starts with Here I Am, with duties split between Bryan and keyboardist Gary Breit, before Bryan stands alone for a rousing cover of Whiskey In The Jar. It’s too much for some, and the show stops as someone in the pit is taken out by medical services – It must have been gutting to miss the show, but we hope they were able to recover and find their way to a cooler spot in the arena for the rest of the night. Bryan, ever the pro, calms and quiets the crowd, allowing the crew to do their jobs, all the while cracking jokes and reassuring people that the show will go on just as soon as it’s safe.
When the show does restart, we get one more straight acoustic number – When You’re Gone – before Keith breaks out the Spanish guitar for Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? A short, sweet number that is all the better for Bryan relating the time when he was assailed by a Mariachi band playing his song without realising that he was the writer!
The band return to bring the rock on the brilliantly ludicrous The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is you, which sounds immense and even allows for a brief but engaging drum solo from ace sticksman Pat Steward, whose steady presence behind the kit provides Bryan’s band with its essential heartbeat. It’s followed by a similarly brisk Never Ever Let You Go, which finds the stage lit in fairground colours to match the video on the massive screen behind.
Once again, showcasing his rare ability to interact with the crowd on a very human level, Bryan stops to perform a couple of audience requests (reading out the name of the requestees in the process). The first of these, Do I Have To Say The Words is one of Bryan’s more mawkish anthems, but it’s soon swept away by a vital Kids Wanna Rock, which truly sets the arena alight.
With the show having raced past, it’s kind of hard to believe that we’re reaching the end, but this must be the case, for Bryan pulls out the big hitters for a finale that puts a smile on every face. While he misses a trick not to link (Everything I Do) I Do It For You to Robin Hood given the location, he guides the audience by the hand through the song, pacing the front rows (and even getting one audience member to join in), before leading the night’s biggest singalong at the climax. It’s a warm moment that then gives way to a rampant finale of Back To You, a brilliant So Happy It Hurts, a raucous Summer Of ’69, and an extended Cuts Like A Knife, complete with delirious singalong from the crowd.
Rather than leave the stage, Bryan and his band take a quick bow, before launching into Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, which many take to be the final song, as its finds the band leaving the stage straight after. This proves not to be the case however, and Bryan grabs his trusty acoustic to deliver a pair of songs from the very back, strolling through the arena (bumping fists along the way), to round the night out with Straight From The Heartand All For Love. It says much of Bryan’s easy relationship with the crowd that he takes time to greet as many people as he can along the route, and the audience respond (as they have all night) with warm affection.
A two-hour show, such is Bryan’s infectious energy that it feels like half that. A consummate professional, he knows exactly how to pace a set, but it’s his intimacy with the audience that seals the deal. Where some artists of his stature hide behind a stage show that builds exactly the walls that so preoccupied Roger Waters, Bryan’s approach makes a sold-out arena feel like the smallest club. He has time for everyone, a smile for everyone, and he so obviously loves being on stage with a band who, for the most part, have remained with him for decades. This is music as escapism and, for two hours, we found ourselves lost in the heady world of Jimmy and Jody, reliving the best days of our life with a master showman whose gift it is to feel like a friend.
What a night!
