A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.
Bryan Adams photography by Dod Morrison Photography: http://www.dodmorrison.com/
Three years ago Bryan Adams was in Aberdeen shining a light https://5d-blog.com/bryan-adams-at-pj-live-aberdeen-sunday-22nd-may-2022/ . This year it’s the Roll With The Punches tour.
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I love the buzz on arrival at P&J Live when everyone is excited for their evening’s entertainment. Coming up the escalator from the car park we could hear the lovely vocals of Danny Mortimer floating down from the VIP Bar as we checked out the merchandise. We visited the, well appointed, bathrooms, before heading in to find “our spot” ready for the advertised 8pm start.
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What a show Bryan Adams puts on for his fans! He played a good mix of the hits that we all know and love as well as some of his newer material. The production is second to none with amazing graphics on the back screen intermingled with shots of the crowd. Before the music began a massive silver boxing glove flew round over our heads, ready for the opening song of Roll With The Punches. As they were in Scotland the band had all adopted the kilt for the evening. Keith Scott on guitars and Bryan Adams himself both seemed to enjoy swinging them around as much as they could all through the set!
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The set list included Run to You, 18 Till I Die, Heaven, Please Forgive Me, Summer of ‘69, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, as any Bryan Adams fan would hope, as well as my own favourite Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman. They were intermingled with songs from the new Roll With The Punches album which this tour is of course promoting, so there was Make Up Your Mind and Never Let You Go.
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Before the show started there had been a QR code on the screen so that you could request a song. Diego had asked for Whiskey in the Jar, which had also been requested the night before, and Bryan Adams loves to sing, so he was happy to oblige. Someone called Steve had asked for a Proclaimer’s song and so they played 500 Miles, with Bryan declaring he was not sure he was brave enough to sing it in Scotland. At the end of it he asked us to apologise to The Proclaimers for them! It was a definite crowd pleaser with everybody singing along.
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As if playing us the songs we love and taking our requests was not enough to please us he also shared some lovely stories, such as Tina Turner getting him into the UK music scene and being his friend. Bryan Adams wrote Shine a Light when his father died six years ago and was sure we all had someone we would like to shine a light for, as we have all lost someone. Accordingly the phone torches around the arena were lit up making it gorgeous to look round at.
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The best story was about the song from the movie Spirit, which features a horse. Bryan saw a video of a beautiful horse running on TikTok and decided he wanted that horse in his music video so sent the lady who posted the video a DM. Of course she did not believe it was really Bryan Adams at first, there are so many fake celebrity accounts out there, but he was able to persuade her and soon enough arranged to go to New Zealand to film her horse running along the beach for his video! He spent the day with her and her family – what an amazing experience that must have been for them!
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The last two songs of the encore were played with Bryan and his guitar on a tiny stage behind the sound desk. I must admit my friends and I watched the whole show from back there in the hope that we could get close to the singer I’ve loved for as long as I can remember – and it paid off. He was so close we could see each hair on his legs and it was just brilliant. He sang us Straight From The Heart then All For Love and it was just the most amazing ten minutes! I have always been a Bryan Adams fan and he is now even more firmly in my heart. Now if only I could teach Bryan, my husband, to play guitar and sing like that…
Further information: https://www.bryanadams.com/
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Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.
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