Bryan Adams
Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Zagreb / Arena Zagreb / Croatia
Bryan Adams — acclaimed Canadian singer-songwriter, ’80s pop-rock icon, producer, professional photographer, and one of the most successful artists of all time with over 75 million albums sold to date — returned to European stages this December, presenting his latest studio album “So Happy It Hurts” for the second year running. The new European tour continues to carry the same name.
We were already blown away last year by the form, commitment, and sheer energy radiating from the now 64-year-old charismatic musician! Age just doesn’t catch up with him. Not even close. In no way. Not in terms of inspiration, and even less so when it comes to his stage presence, which he radiated in Ljubljana on 4 December 2022. Back then, Rockline was an officially accredited media outlet, while this time the two of us headed to the show as regular concert-goers — the kind who can still put together a solid, credible concert essay, or let’s call it a review worth publishing. The decision to go was made only on Sunday evening, 10 December 2023, and thankfully floor tickets were still available! Available for what? The most bloody-awful rainy day of the week. The only one, really. But once again it was bucketing down like the end of the world. Same as the year before, when we were splashing through Ljubljana toward Arena Stožice. As if we haven’t had enough rain already. But even that just added to the adrenaline rush — fueling extra persistence and stubborn determination to reach the goal, which this time was Zagreb’s Arena.
Roughly twice the size of Ljubljana’s Arena Stožice, the venue wasn’t sold out this time, but it still put up impressive numbers with solid attendance throughout. The band kicked off the show at exactly eight in the evening and played for a full two hours and twenty minutes. Bryan’s lineup remains unchanged — iconic guitarist Keith Scott is still faithfully by his side, a musician Bryan trusts unconditionally. Keith Scott, with his legendary battle-worn Fender, even stepped into the role of Bryan’s mentor and motivator a few times in their on-stage exchanges. The rest of the band is rounded out by bassist Sol Walker, keyboardist Gary Breit, and drummer Pat Steward. The quintet has been performing together in this configuration for six years running. In recent years Bryan has typically only swapped out bassists for touring duty. At this point, the calibration and top-tier musical tightness of the band are practically a given.
Bryan consistently delivers his best. Something would have to go seriously wrong for him not to come through for the crowd. The year before the Zagreb visit he put on a triumphant show in Ljubljana. And the whole positive nature of his performances — where Bryan and the band radiate incredible joy, ease, looseness, and playfulness, all while packing the set with unforgettable hits and career evergreens — is so genuine and all-encompassing that it’s hard to resist the tempting guarantee of a top-tier show. Especially if you were a teenager in the ’80s. Bryan belongs to that league of artists who lift you up at a live show. In every sense.
And the Zagreb temptation delivered a notch higher in emotional intensity and passion. Bigger venue, even more people, even a catwalk that Ljubljana didn’t have. All of it contributed to the show’s energy hitting even harder and deeper. The band stormed the stage with the expected new opener Kick Ass — same as in Ljubljana. First song. Just over three minutes. All red and blue lights, plus a bit of fog. Not a hint of lighting on the faces. Bryan, being a photographer himself, knows exactly how to frustrate officially accredited photographers — and the Rockline crew experienced that firsthand. Trust us on this one. Not a pleasant experience. Crammed into the far right of the photo pit for one song, with zero light. No, you really don’t want to be a photographer at that moment. More important than those funny memories from Ljubljana 2022, though, is the fact that the Arena went absolutely nuts right away! Then came the first proper hit Can’t Stop This Thing We Started, and the spotlights blasted open at full power. Bright as day. Bryan moved to his right-side mic for that one (working the left half of the Arena from the audience’s perspective). He actually has three mics on stage — left, right, and center. Fair enough. You’ve got to keep the whole crowd fired up the entire time! And he manages it with the little finger of his left hand. The vocals remain remarkably full and expressive, as if age simply refuses to leave its mark. Bryan has gained another year since Ljubljana and the Zagreb reunion, having turned 64 in early November, but you’d never know it. He stays incredibly agile on stage, and he and Scott made heavy use of the catwalk several times, which only fired up an already red-hot crowd even further. There’s that characteristic raspy yet incredibly piercing voice of his — though he can also shift into completely clean singing while keeping all that emotional power intact. And he’s astonishingly precise and flawless doing both. Just like the band around him. The sound on the night was, frankly, impeccable.
In the parade of unforgettable hits and classics, “Into the Fire” (1987) once again got the short end of the stick — but there’s simply no other way. That album remains unfairly overshadowed by two considerably more successful predecessors, not least “Reckless” (1984), from which Bryan played no fewer than six songs, led by Heaven — delivered this time in an upbeat rhythmic arrangement with a folk edge — along with It’s Only Love, which he naturally dedicated to the late Tina Turner.
A special highlight of the show is the rockabilly-style rearrangement of certain songs. The band steps onto the catwalk — Sol, Bryan, and Keith, with Sol on double bass. They play You Belong To Me, I’ve Been Looking for You, and Only Good That Looks Good On Me Is You. The effect is absolutely explosive! Then comes brand-new When You Love Somebody and a shift into the acoustic section. Bryan and piano. Time to get romantic. Naturally. I Will Always Return and Here I Am. There’s a third acoustic number too, this time with Bryan alone — just him, the crowd, and his guitar, of course. That was When You Are Gone.
The band returns to the stage, and Bryan announces they want to dig into a few tracks from “Waking Up The Neighbours” (1989). First up was an excellent Thought I’d Died and Gone to Heaven — which he surprisingly plays less often live (he didn’t do it in Ljubljana) — followed by the expected heartbreaker (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. Yeah. Bryan is a masterful ringmaster and the crowd was eating out of his hand. Once again it was clear that the majority of his audience is women, girls, ladies. Given the nature of the songs, that’s perfectly logical. It stays logical. It stays essential. It’s what keeps him youthfully spirited — and that’s a good thing.
The MTV Unplugged era wasn’t forgotten either, with Back To You and later When You Love Someone. Bryan also took a moment in the first half of the show to remember his late father with the rousing Shine A Light — a song that could have been a massive hit had it been released in the ’80s. Similar feelings came through in the more recent So Happy It Hurts, which he connected to his 95-year-old mother (visible in the video projected on the giant screen behind the stage — his mum was very much present in it) as the band played that playful track.
The band kept the momentum building. We’d moved into the second half. Bryan delivered two absolute “Reckless” favorites that can never be left off a setlist — Run To You and Summer Of ’69 — then brought things to a deeply moving place with the beautiful new peace ballad What If There Were No Sides At All.
Then came the finale — the most exciting part. Like the Boss, Bryan also takes requests during the show. This time he picked three treats: Lets Make Night To Remember, Inside Out — an absolute rarity at Bryan’s concerts and no lesser surprise from “Waking Up The Neighbours” — and All I Want Is You. The man hadn’t seriously included that last one in his live repertoire since 1996.
Cuts Like A Knife always brings a special touch of nostalgia while signaling that the show is heading into its closing stretch. An adapted Straight From The Heart with harmonica gave everyone one more shakedown, the whole Zagreb Arena roaring along with their singer-songwriter. Then came the expected (cinematic) All For Love, with which Bryan single-handedly kept the entire Arena on its feet, followed by the closing Christmas Time — after which Bryan wished everyone happy holidays. You’d expect the whole band to join Bryan for the finale and knock out at least one more song, but it didn’t happen. Same as the year before in Ljubljana. Still, across the full two hours and twenty minutes we got 31 songs, all charged with the life-affirming, joyful positivity that the one-and-only Bryan and his crew radiate from every stage.
Nothing more, nothing less. The man remains a legend and one of the most impressive live performers around. He thrives on the shows — on the performance, the energy, the connection with the crowd. That was Zagreb. Bouncy, agile — I’d even say exuberant — Bryan once again confirmed the outstanding form of an inexhaustible romantic poet wrapped in a rock-solid formula, aging like fine wine. And compared to the Ljubljana experience a year earlier, Bryan delivered a noticeably different setlist. Zagreb’s Arena is also a different venue altogether, so the show brought fresh and distinct impressions — even more intense ones. A different story, a new one. An absolute must for any Bryan Adams devotee. Given the form he’s shown and his boundless energy, the man will surely be back in our neck of the woods before long. He already has a North American tour booked for early next year, with Scandinavian and British legs to follow with new show announcements. In short: Bryan remains a big-hearted kid who doesn’t stop. He claims he doesn’t have a single grey hair thanks to 40 years of veganism. Well, if he says so. Maybe the more significant reason for his remarkable preservation is the fact that he’s never been married. His neighbors won’t be getting a good night’s sleep any time soon. Long may it continue.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Edita Klemen
Setlist:
1. Kick Ass
2. Can’t Stop This Thing We Started
3. Somebody
4. 18 til I Die
5. Please Forgive Me
6. Shine a Light
7. Room Service
8. Heaven
9. Go Down Rockin’
10. It’s Only Love
11. You Belong to Me
12. I’ve Been Looking for You
13. The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
14. When You Love Someone
15. I Will Always Return
16. Here I Am
17. When You’re Gone
18. Thought I’d Died and Gone to Heaven
19. (Everything I Do) I Do It for You
20. Back to You
21. So Happy It Hurts
22. Run to You
23. Summer of ’69
24. What If There Were No Sides At All
25. Let’s Make a Night to Remember
26. Inside Out
27. All I Want Is You
28. Cuts Like a Knife
—encore—
29. Straight From the Heart
30. All for Love
31. Christmas Time
