Two years on from the first time I finally managed to see Bryan Adams live and it’s back to the Hydro for “ding ding” round two, this time on his Rolling With The Punches tour. With no act, a shame as I know the US are getting Pat Benatar, the show was timetabled to start at 8pm. The positive side of this was getting an extra hour in the very non-Glaswegian sunshine.
A lengthy piece of film ran with some classic rock number for almost 15 minutes before Adams and his merry band finally walked on stage. Initially this irked me as I felt it ate into what I assumed would be a 90-or-so minute set, but this was forgiven when the show ran for well over two hours. Indeed the staggering thirty songs pumped out until 5 minutes after the d show-end time should frankly embarrass many “younger” yet established acts who seem to think that sixty minutes qualifies as a headline set. Adams (and most of his band) out-age many of them by a factor of two and can still rock an arena and give great value for money.
The set, though focussed on the album (out at the end of August) the title track of which opened proceedings, was as comprehensive as you could hope for given the vast amount of material that Adams has released since 1980. Most of the classics were in there – “Run To You”, “Cuts Like A Knife”, “Summer of 69″… the list could go on.
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A trio of songs mid-set were chosen by fans via a QR code displayed on screen prior to the show beginning. This time around we were treated to “Thought I’d Died and Gone To Heaven”, “500 Miles” (yes, that one) and “Kids Wanna Rock”. The latter is, as Ross would have it, and absolute banger and played live has so much more edge to it than the recorded version. Hell, AC/DC couldn’t write a better hard rock classic. Watching Adams play it, leaning into the mic and stomping his foot, there was a definite feeling that he was channelling his inner Angus Young.
As with the show two years ago everything was relatively stripped back, the focus very much being on the music and the band themselves. One huge video screen (very well choreographed by the team in charge), some lights and two massive inflatable drones were all there was to distract from / enhance the performance. Thing is, Adams and co don’t need any glitz. The songs are superb, the musicianship is without doubt and Adams’ voice… while many other singers from his era are starting to lose the high notes in particular (no discredit to them, we all age), Adams doesn’t seem to be struggling with any of the material.
Oh, and he and the rest of the band managed to carry off kilt-wearing like born naturals.
As the gig came to a close, we had the band take a bow and then play another couple of songs. Half ten was approaching and as “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” (hey, nothing wrong with a good cover) finished, the band strode off stage. Only Adams strode off the front of the stage, through a very long channel cut through the crowd by security with rope and to a smaller stage which had subtly been erected towards the rear of the arena.
Once there, armed with an acoustic guitar, he serenaded the audience with “Straight From The Heart” and “All For Love” while bathed in the lights of countless mobile phone torches. With these final final songs complete he was escorted out of a side entrance, but not without high fiving and handshaking an impressive number of people on the way out.
He’s funny, he’s engaging, he’s backed by as good a band as you could hope for and he has a back-catalogue any artist would be jealous of. They know how to pick decent covers to play live as well. Rock and roll is timeless. Bryan Adams is timeless. Same again in 2027?
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Photos by Coops Gig Photography
Thank you, Mosh, for your detailed, helpful review. Good to know you enjoyed the show. Look forward to seeing him & his band in Canada, this Fall.
Thanks David! A great live show deserves a good review to go with it and I hope I did it justice!