Bryan Adams
- Rock Metal Machine
- Jun 2
- 7 min read
Artists: Bryan Adams
Venue: London, O2 Arena
Date: 19th May 2025
"Bryan Adams remains one of the best live acts in Rock and Metal, and it was a pleasure to groove with the Vancouverite once again."
I still remember my first Bryan Adams concert very well, especially given it was my first concert in general. He was the main support for ZZ Top at the Milton Keynes Bowl on a hot sunny July day in 1991. There is even a very nice, wide-angle photo of that day in the program that I bought later that year during the continued ‘Waking Up The World’ tour. Since then, I have seen him somewhere between the late twenties and early thirties. Up to around fifteen years ago, I made every tour without fail and often more than once during the same series of dates. What with similar venues over the years and multiple visits on a tour, the number gets a bit hazy. Finance and personal circumstances have curtailed my every-tour approach in recent years, and I was surprised it’d been around seven years since I last saw him at the small release party for ‘Shine A Light’. It thus goes without saying that excitement was high for another BA show.
I’ve only been to a couple of gigs at the O2 Arena, one of which was Adams many years ago. I’d forgotten how big it was, holding roughly 20k and I was already aware as we took our seats that the show was a sellout. I suspect he could still sell out Wembley Stadium or multiple nights at the O2 if he wanted. As the (approx.) 20:00/20:15 start time rolled around, the venue had filled nicely, especially the floor. I did spot the second stage and knew he was doing a mini-stage section, but failed to notice there were no drums which in hindsight kind of gave away what he might perform there.
Choosing a set-list for Adams must be a nightmare with fifteen, soon to be sixteen, studio albums to pick from. If you go with lots of early material, the new fans might be disgruntled. If you go for less old and more new, the old-school fans will be frustrated. If you do a bit of both and leave out the middle, fans of my generation will end up miffed. It must truly be a “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” part of the tour planning. For this tour, Adams opted to go without a support act and do an extended set himself. Tonight, across the roughly two-hour-plus show (I must confess I didn’t check times either end for an exact number), Adams delivered twenty-nine songs, including six from ‘Reckless’, three each from ’18 ‘Til I Die’ and the upcoming new ‘Roll With The Punches’ and four covers. Sadly, none from ‘Into The Fire’ and only two from ‘Waking Up The Neighbours’, plus a pair each for ‘Cuts Like A Knife’ and ‘On A Day Like Today’. A no-show for ‘Thought I’d Died And Gone To Heaven’ is always a sad point, but I was rewarded with another old favourite.
A silver inflatable boxing glove advertising the new album was an amusing touch as everybody waited for the show to start. As the lights dimmed, the answer to my thought, “Will he go for something old or something new to start?” was answered. A blast of funky guitar announced the arrival of Adams and his “Dudes Of Leisure” cohorts – the great Keith Scott (guitar), Pat Steward (drums) and Gary Breit (keys) – with the title track from the new album. There was a fine cheer to greet the Groover From Vancouver. I will no doubt write this in the album review, but that ‘Roll With The Punches’ riff strongly reminds me of the saucy ‘(I Wanna Be) Your Underwear’ from 1996’s ‘…Die’ record. This was followed by a ‘Reckless’ double-hit with ‘Run To You’ and ‘Somebody’. I thought it was a nice slot for the latter, but even now looking at the set-list, ‘Run To You’ always feels like it should be later. That said, two Keith Scott solo scorchers can never be turned down. Then again, add the ’18 ‘Til I Die’ title track and you have a nice party trio to get the juices flowing. ‘Cloud Number Nine’ always seems to go down well and the mellow start was rather lovely before another newie in ‘Make Up Your Mind’. It was then back to ‘Reckless’ with the always stunning ‘Heaven’, where I have always loved the live version ending, and ‘It’s Only Love’. With half of the first eight dedicated his most popular album, it was a fine start to proceedings.
‘You Belong To Me’ from 2015’s ‘Get Up’ got an airing before the party piece ‘Can’t Stop This Thing We Started’ from my beloved ‘…Neighbours’. It always goes down well and did tonight. The large screen behind the stage showed suited cogs and wheels. ‘Please Forgive Me’ will always be a special song to me, reminding of an important time, and as always, it had the hairs on the back of my neck standing just hearing it. The other ‘Get Up’ cut, ‘Go Down Rockin’’ preceded a rather fabulous ‘Shine A Light’ where the majority of the crowd held aloft their phones with the light on. It was quite a sight to see it from up on high rather than the floor – very impressive. ‘Here I Am’ made a rare (for me at least) appearance and the chilled-out track sounded just as good performed live with Adams on the acoustic. We’d gone a few tracks without a lively old(er) school sing-along, so it was perfect timing for the popular ‘When You’re Gone’ with Adams on his acoustic as much of the crowd sang and clapped along. Scott, at this stage, donned what looked like his twelve-string for a little Spanish flavour to the menu and ‘Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman’. I have to highlight the next track, newie ‘Never Ever Let You Go’, which features Adams and Liz Hurley on a rollercoaster. The colourful video full of pinks, purples, greens and teals (purple and teal being my colours) was replicated by the lighting, bathing the large audience in the same shades. It looks bloody marvellous.
I was ready for a bit more singing myself and Adams gave me exactly what I needed with the fantastic ‘Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You’ and one of my all-time favourites, ‘One Night Love Affair’. It feels like it isn’t played often, although I suspect it probably is more than I realise. ‘One Night…’ was an audience request that Adams had asked for, and he added a second with a cover of ‘London Calling’ from The Clash. With just Adams minus guitar and keyboardist Gary Breit on stage, most people knew it was time for ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’. I never get tired of hearing it and judging by the singing, neither do many others. Oh, and there’s that solo from one of the finest guitar players in the business. Adams donned his acoustic once again for an upbeat ‘Back To You’ before the entertaining ‘So Happy It Hurts’. The big screen showed the video which, unless my memory has failed me, features Adams’ Mum in the car. To top it off, they had an inflatable car floating around the arena.
I think pretty much everyone was waiting for “those chords” and sure enough the place erupted when ‘Summer Of 69’ arrived. I am quite happy to admit that despite being nearly fifty, I happily lived every note of the song. It was a barnburner when it was released and it remains a superb song to this day. I never get bored of hearing it. That pretty much continued for ‘Cuts Like A Knife’ as those “Na Na Na” chants rang around the auditorium. The main set closed with the Frankie Valli cover ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Of You’. A Rock & Roll type number, the type of which Adams has added on previous tours. It was obvious the night wasn’t over and all eyes centred on the mini-stage. I mentioned the lack of drums on there compared to the older days so it should have been fairly obvious it would be an intimate acoustic ending, and so it proved to be. ‘Straight From The Heart’ saw Adams serenaded the crowd, and they likewise back, before the whole thing came to a close with ‘All For Love’. To this day, even with just Adams singing, I still change voices for Rod Stewart’s and Sting’s parts. Of course, the phone lights were out again and looked glorious as they provided an illuminated backdrop for Adams. With those two songs finished and a rousing applause for Adams as he left the mini-stage, , another show came to an end.
If you are one of the countless millions that have seen Adams live, you won’t need me to tell you that he put on another sensational show. I have only seen one band more (Thunder, due in part to support slots) and one band roughly the same (Bon Jovi), and I have never known him (and his glorious band) to deliver an average show, let alone a poor one. I could see him the same number of times again and never get bored. I think my record was three in a week at Wembley Arena, and they were as good every time. He may not opt for the theatrics like Iron Maiden or KISS, but like Bruce Springsteen, it never really matters – the music and the performance do the talking. Sure, I’d have loved a few more from ‘…Neighbours’, but that is a small personal quibble. My friend who also attended, her second Adams show, absolutely loved it as well. If money had allowed, I would happily have gone to Liverpool, Nottingham or Birmingham and done it all over again.
I felt in the mood for some live tunes when I got home, even though it was nearly 01:30, and played a few tracks from Adams’ live release ‘Wembley ‘96’. I was at that show and it is one of my favourites (we did that tour twice in four days as well). The faces may be younger and the bodies more youthful, for all of us, band and fans, and the audience/stage bigger, but tonight sounded just as good to me sitting there later that night as it did thirty years ago. Bryan Adams remains one of the best live acts in Rock and Metal, and it was a pleasure to groove with the Vancouverite once again.
Review: Dave Scott
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