Project Description

BRYAN ADAMS

@ Rod Laver Arena

21/03/19

(Live Review)

Reviewer – Alyssa Borda

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BRYAN ADAMS // Photo – Len Panecki

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Canadian rock royalty rocks Rod Laver Arena with a sonic and visual feast!

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Mahalia Barnes and the Soul Mates were the support act for the night and rocked the stage immediately. Mahalia showcased amazing vocals and stage presence, dressed in a groovy black and white dress. Ben Rodgers (her husband) joined her on bass with the rest of the band.  The songs had a soul, funky edge to them, especially ‘Live Your Life’ – a beautiful song performed and written with her husband was dedicated to their oldest daughter. Mahalia really shined on this song. ‘Proud Mary’ – the final song was an absolute highlight and the crowd loved it too.

Bryan Adams and his band members entered the stage looking sharp, dressed in a black suit at 9:03pm to a mighty round of applause. He opened with Ultimate Love (released in 2017)  with a stunning video backdrop on a huge high definition screen. It was clear his voice was in fine form. Next up was his nineties classic ‘Can’t Stop This Thing We Started’ and it is easy to see why it was number 1 on the Canadian singles charts for three weeks!

The hits continued with ‘Run To You’ – an absolute rock classic from 1984. The accompanying black & white video focused on a woman’s legs running down the street – classic 80’s! The crowd were absolutely loving it and many were screaming and clapping along. A new song ‘Shine A Light’ was next and went down well with the audience.

Another certified gold hit ‘Heaven’ followed and was classic Bryan Adams. The entire audience were singing along against a backdrop of  high definition video of astronauts in space. ‘Go Down Rocking’ was a great song performed beautifully with a gold Gibson guitar with Adams rocking out hard!!

‘You Belong To Me’ turned the video camera on the audience, projecting their faces on the giant screen behind the band. Bryan and his two guitarists turned their backs to the crowd and then cheekily tapped each others backsides – quite the sight! ‘Summer of 69’ then starts. What a riff! Bryan and his guitarist run down the stage in opposite directions and there was risque black & white video of a naked woman with lyrics painted all over her.  Everyone was singing!

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BRYAN ADAMS // Photo – Len Panecki

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‘Here I Am’, with Gary Breit on the piano was a beautiful song written for film followed by ‘Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron’.  The latter was a soft emotive song with the acoustic guitar and apparently a huge hit in Taiwan, Azerbaijan and Portugal. An original duet with the Spice Girl  Mel C  ‘When You’re Gone’ followed and was in interesting inclusion. The crowd loved it though and Keith Scott was completely rocking it! 

‘Everything I Do, I Do It For You’ was one of the highlights and an epic performance by Adams, showcasing his stunning vocals. He then stops singing the chorus to let the audience have a turn before starting again. The ultimate compliment for an artist! ‘Back To You’ was next, performed with a 6 string guitar by the amazingly talented Keith Scott.

 The video screen lit up with over 100 portraits which kept decreasing in size and multiplying for the classic I Need Somebody’ and the crowd were on their feet. Bryan had the opportunity to take a quick snap of his guitarist facing the audience during the song too! The hits kept coming with ‘I’ll Always Be Right There’ and the lights focused purely on Bryan and Keith throughout the entire song.  ‘Cuts Like A Knife’ (another crowd favourite) was next with the audience singing loudly and Adams yells

 

‘Can you hear me’ can you hear me out there’?!

 

Another ripper electric guitar solo from Keith as the crowd sings…Nah na na na na na na na!! Such an epic sound resonating through the crowd. Yellow lights beaming, ’18 Till I Die’ starts. Adams walks to each side of the stage to engage with audience for a more personal feel. Carina, a fan from Melbourne mentioned he had an amazing voice and loved how he was great at getting the crowd on their feet.

‘Hearts On Fire’ was a request from a fan called Steven. Performed with a Martin & Co guitar, Adams then exclaimed – ‘I’ve got 14 albums cant fit them all in! ‘Please Forgive Me’ was a phenomenal performance and the heartfelt red lights added an emotional depth to the song and was complimented with stunning vocals. The crowd sang along to every word and there was rapturous applause at the end.

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BRYAN ADAMS // Photo – Len Panecki

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 ‘It’s A Brand New Day’ was the final song before the encore where he introduced the rest of the band, including Mickey Curry his long time drummer. The encore started at 10:50pm with ‘I Could Get Used To This’ The second song performed was a cover – ‘ I Fought The Law’ by The Clash. The colour video of the crowd looked amazing on the big screen, then Adams launches into ‘Whiskey In A Jar’ with a harmonica which I absolutely loved with the acoustic guitar and the fans were going wild too!!

A story then follows  – ’10 shows a month, that’s 120 a year. Not sure how I am going to keep going but with a crowd like you I think I can!!!….My parents saved up $1000 for a college education but instead it was used for a piano to be purchased in the summer of 1970. You have to work at everything…don’t give up on your dreams’. He then said thank you to his Mum and Dad, mentioned he had lost his father last year but Mum was still going strong at 91.

He then played ‘Shine A Light’  from his 14th studio album, which was released only last month. This particular song was written with Ed Sheeran and the audience raised their mobile phone lights in the darkness, with some extraordinary high notes by Adams. This was complimented with black and white video footage of the crowd, making a beautiful finale!!! What a show!!

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BRYAN ADAMS // Photo – Len Panecki

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Check out Len Panecki‘s gallery of the show here

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Check out BRYAN ADAMS below
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