It’s been quite some ride for Canadian Rocker, Bryan Adams. Forty-two years after the release of his self-titled debut album and knocking 100 million albums sold, an armful of multi-platinum albums as well as record breaking chart toppers he’s been there and done just about everything and finally he’s back out on the road doing what he does best.
Like most artists his touring life has been on hold for two years but that enforced break only seems to have invigorated the ever-youthful Adams, who strode confidently on to the stage with the Arena shaking “Kick Ass” replete with spoken intro from John Cleese. If ever a song symbolised what was to come for the next two hours, then this was it. It was bold, brash, uplifting and inspiring and best of all it lit the touch paper for an explosive evening of feel-good Rock ‘n’ Roll and with a few lighter waving ballads thrown in for good measure.
Adams knows his crowd well and followed through with a couple of swift uppercuts in the form of “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started” and “Run To You” from his major breakthrough Reckless album.
“Shine A Light,” a song co-written with Ed Sheeran, showed Adams adept touch at crafting a memorable hook, while “Heaven” had the entire Arena screaming hysterically before singing the first verse loudly and proudly.
Over the course of the evening Adams delivered a well-paced set liberally sprinkled with songs from his more recent repertoire, including the uplifting “So Happy It Hurts” and “These Are the Moments That Make Up My Life” together with a bunch of stone-cold classics such as “It’s Only Love,” where he teased the crowd with a “will she/won’t she” appearance from Tina Turner – alas it was the latter, although his long-time sidekick Keith Scott, did deliver some rather tasty guitarwork in her place.
“Rebel” was dedicated to his two grandfathers who returned to Canada after the two World Wars and listening to the lyrics with that backstory made for one deeply moving song.
Of course, “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” elicited 10,000 screams with almost as many mobile phones swaying in the air. His acoustic takes on “Here I Am” and “When You’re Gone” that preceded this gave the crowd a moment to catch their breath.
Adams himself has barely changed since bursting onto the scene with his ever-youthful look and simple attire and with a voice as powerful and rasping as it was four decades ago it’s as if “18 ’til I Die” isn’t too far off the mark for him.
“Summer of ’69” was an absolute banger and really is Adams at his very best while “Cuts Like A Knife” took us back to his very early days as a blue-collar Rocker.
A rather nice touch featured Adams taking requests from the crowd meaning the vintage “I’m Ready” and “One Night Love Affair” were aired, before Adams stood alone with an acoustic guitar to end the evening in laid-back fashion with “Straight From The Heart” and “All For Love,” bringing an intimate camp-fire sing-along feel with a few thousand close friends to Newcastle.
Review and Photos By Mick Burgess
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