Bryan Adams gets reacquainted with Saskatoon fans
He might not remember all the songs, but his fans sure remember the hits.
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Four decades into his storied career, Bryan Adams is still running on his boyish charm.
The iconic Canadian pop star, who turns 60 this year, got reacquainted with his fans in Saskatoon Wednesday night as he brought his Shine A Light tour to town.
Adams impressed from the beginning by reaching into his massive catalogue of music for his signature hits punctuated by grinding guitars and his raspy voice.
Early on, he reminded the thousands who packed SaskTel Centre that he can draw from songs from 14 albums, including his newest, Shine A Light.
“Good thing for you I can’t remember them all,” he told the enthusiastic crowd. “I’ll only sing the songs I can remember.”
He might not remember all the songs, but his fans sure remember the hits.
Lots of singers let the crowd take over midway through a song, but Adams let the crowd sing the first verse of his ballad Heaven before he joined in for the chorus.
Adams has generally been serving up generous concerts on his current tour of about 30 songs, focusing mainly on his more familiar classics with a smattering of new songs. Saskatoon’s show was no exception.
But the Saskatoon crowd seemed to have just as much enthusiasm for the title song, Shine A Light, from his current album, as hundreds gamely swayed their cellphone flashlights along to the tune.
The Vancouver rocker, who began touring in 1981, teased the crowd when he introduced It’s Only Love, originally a duet with Tina Turner by pausing as though she might be there to perform.
Instead, he introduced his guitarist, Keith Scott, with whom he has played for more than 40 years.
Adams and Scott plucked the riffs like they were a couple of teens jamming for the first time and even came to a complete stop.
Fans were treated to a big helping of electric guitar, but Adams also played a few songs, including Here I Am, with just his acoustic guitar and piano accompaniment.
Dressed in black and pumping his leg, Adams encouraged the crowd to dance to You Belong To Me and cameras captured the amateur dancers for the huge screen behind him.
Later, Adams asked for requests from the crowd and served up some oldies from the 1980s like Remember (from his self-titled 1980 debut album), The Best Was Yet to Come (from 1983’s Cuts Like a Knife) and One Night Love Affair (from 1984’s Reckless).
Saskatoon’s show was one of only seven Canadian stops on his current tour.
Adams last played Saskatoon five years ago as part of his Bare Bones tour in a much smaller venue at TCU Place.
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