by Adam McGrath
I never needed any convincing that Bryan Adams is actually pretty cool. Growing up with MTV and movies like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and The Three Musketeers, I was well aware that the Canadian rocker effortlessly rode a wave of success built on hit song after hit song. So when I had the chance to catch Adams at the Tower Theater Thursday night, I knew it was going to be just plain fun.
all photos by Adam McGrath
Bryan Adams has been touring his Bare Bones act for a few years now, and it’s a great concept. An acoustic guitar, a piano and Adams voice—stripped down, simple and clean. It seems easy enough, but the trick is you have to have the songs, and Adams does. Over the course of two hours, the crowd heard every song they came to hear, plus a few bonuses as well.
Kicking things off with “Run to You”, Adams had the crowd feeling good right away. The set built as he pulled from albums like 1984’s Reckless, 1993’s So Far So Good, and 1997’s MTV Unplugged. Then, without so much as a hint, out came “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”. I was immediately transported back to my youth, and wondered if my 9th grade girlfriend ever made good on her plan to use the song at her wedding.
More of the big guns followed directly, and the crowd happily sang along to “Cuts Like a Knife”, “Please Forgive Me”, and “Summer of ’69”. That brings us to more proof that Adams is a good guy: early in the set, a fellow walked up the center aisle with a sign that read, “Bryan, please let me play ‘Summer of ‘69’ with you!” And when the time came, Adams grabbed an extra guitar and had the dude come up on stage! Vernon from Delaware acquitted himself admirably, and no doubt it was one of the best days of his life.
Adams clearly loves interacting with his fans, and responded well to the quips and shouts from the crowd. At one point, he asked for a woman who loved to dance, and after pointing one out right in front of him, proceeded to serenade her as she stood and danced the whole song. I don’t know if that beats Adams inviting a fan and her friend down from the balcony to the front row, but all of these exchanges further endeared him to the audience.
The Bare Bones show does feature some new aspects this time around, as Adams recently released a covers album called Tracks of My Years, featuring the radio hits he listened to growing up. The two that made the setlist were “Any Time At All” by The Beatles and a beautiful arrangement of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows”. Adams can still hit all the notes, and his signature raspy voice worked great on these covers.
The rest of the set featured plenty more big hits, like “Heaven”, “All For Love”, “The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You”, and closing number “Straight From the Heart”. One more song worth mentioning, though, is “She Knows Me”, the only original on Tracks. It’s really good, celebrating the wonders of a loving relationship, and fits right into Adams’ body of work. Co-written with longtime partner Jim Vallance, it shares many of the same winning qualities as their previous hits.
The Bryan Adams show at the Tower Theater Thursday night allowed me to indulge in one of my favorite emotions: nostalgia. It’s clear that Adams understands his career better than most veteran rockers, but there’s still enough of a new spark there to keep things interesting. If it’s been a while since you visited Adams’ catalogue, do yourself a favor and give it a spin.
