That's what we used to call Bryan Adams 30 years ago. His 1984 album "Reckless" was a big hit throughout 1985, as was "Born In The USA". So, after having seen Bruce Springsteen live 11 times so far, I wanted to see Bryan Adams as well. Last year Bryan decided to tour the album for its 30th anniversary playing it in full at each gig. So I accepted the invitation of a fellow Greek blogger who currently lives in Statford-Upon-Avon in the UK, a distance of 2835km away from his hometown to see him together.
So, after arriving overnight at Gatwick airport last November, I spent the day around London (picking up a copy of the 30th anniversary edition of "Reckless" at FOPP - all the other major record stores in London have now closed), I took the evening train to Stratford-Upon-Avon.
The next morning was spent sightseeing around Shakespeare's hometown. In a future post I hope to report on everything I've seen and been up to, both in London and Stratford, but here I am going to focus on the concert.
We drove from Stratford-Upon-Avon to Birmingham International Airport which is supposed to be a one-hour journey. I could of course complain a little about the traffic, but then again it could be worse. And after a small confusion about finding our way into the correct parking building, we were on our way, on foot to the Birmingham NEC (or LG Arena as it's now known - I should know, because the last time I was there it was back in 1991).
After the customary t-shirt and beer purchases the concert started. We were just in time! And it started with the title track from "Reckless" which funnily enough was NOT included on the album! Bryan explained this was due to the limited space on vinyl records (CD's did exist in 1984 but only in limited quantities and the players were enormously expensive). So, several tracks had to be left out and "Reckless" was one of them. All these tracks though are now featured in the anniversary edition. Following the title track the whole of the original album was played. At first he seemed to be following the original running order with "One Night Love Affair" and "She's Only Happy When She's Dancin'" but then he shuffled songs around a bit, most notably leaving "Summer Of '69" for the end of this section, even after "Ain't Gonna Cry" (the last song on the album "the song on the album that nobody liked").
Contrary to what many people believe he has recorded several other albums before and after "Reckless" and we were treated to a selection of songs from these leading up to his latest covers album "The Tracks Of My Years". In my own humble opinion the ones after "Waking Up The Neighbours" are not his strongest ones, still they brought back memories, as we listened to them once again on the night, including of course the "mega-hit" "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" - 16 weeks at number 1 back in 1991. He played for more than 2 hours (we Springsteen fans tend to track the duration of every other concert we attend), including a generous encore culminating with "All For Love". Oh and he even asked a girl from the crowd to dance with him! From a distance, since she was somewhere in the back rows.
Satisfied, we made our way back to Stratford-Upon-Avon where there was more sightseeing for me the next day followed by the train journey back to London and the flight back to Athens.
Contrary to what many people believe he has recorded several other albums before and after "Reckless" and we were treated to a selection of songs from these leading up to his latest covers album "The Tracks Of My Years". In my own humble opinion the ones after "Waking Up The Neighbours" are not his strongest ones, still they brought back memories, as we listened to them once again on the night, including of course the "mega-hit" "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" - 16 weeks at number 1 back in 1991. He played for more than 2 hours (we Springsteen fans tend to track the duration of every other concert we attend), including a generous encore culminating with "All For Love". Oh and he even asked a girl from the crowd to dance with him! From a distance, since she was somewhere in the back rows.
I'd like to thank my bloodbrother Petros without who this journey would not have been possible. If you're a Greek speaker you can read his own review on his blog.
2835km Review:
Bryan Adams at LG Arena, Birmingham review
Setlist:
01. Reckless
02. One Night Love Affair
03. She's Only Happy When She's Dancin'
04. Run To You
05. Heaven
06. Kids Wanna Rock
07. It's Only Love
08. Long Gone
09. Somebody
10. Ain't Gonna Cry
11. Summer Of '69
12. Let Me Down Easy (acoustic)
13. (Everything I Do) I Do It for You
14. If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
15. Cuts Like a Knife
16. Can't Stop This Thing We Started
17. Please Forgive Me
18. When You're Gone
19. 18 Til I Die
20. Cloud #9
21. The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
Encore:
22. You've Been a Friend to Me
23. C'mon Everybody (Eddie Cochran cover)
24. She Knows Me (acoustic)
25. Straight from the Heart (acoustic)
26. All for Love (acoustic)
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