The Kids Still Wanna Rock With Bryan Adams

So Happy It Hurts Tour Hits Charlotte

This November it will be 40 years since the release of Reckless, the fourth studio album from Canadian rocker Bryan Adams. The record would go on to sell over 12 million copies and climb all the way to number one on the Billboard 200 with all six singles released achieving Top Twenty status on the charts. Catapulting Adams from rock and roller to rock legend, Reckless was the soundtrack to a good part of my youth. In fact, “Heaven” was the big winner for many high school prom themes in the spring and early summer of 1985 and I still have the souvenir glass to prove it.  Almost 40 years later the kids still wanna rock when Bryan Adams comes to town. Of course, now the majority of the “kids” are in their 40s, 50s, and 60s but the crowd at Spectrum Center proved that rock and roll never really leaves your soul. In fact, I saw many families there with their children and perhaps even a few grandchildren, to share the music they love so much and take in the Charlotte stop of the So Happy It Hurts Tour.

“Around the world or around the block

Everywhere I go the kids wanna rock…”

Getting the night started was another 80s music legend, singer, songwriter, musician, and producer Dave Stewart who is best known for his musical partnership with the great Annie Lennox, in Eurythmics. Dave is performing  Eurythmics Songbook on this tour and bringing all his classic hits to life. 

Dave came out guitar in hand and a full band of talented musicians backing him up. His set featured a variety of different singers, including his daughter Kaya Stewart, as they rotated out for specific songs. The light show for Stewart’s set was off-the-charts fabulous. A bevy of beautiful white lights shone down upon him as he came out to the edge of the catwalk to get up close and personal with the fans in the front row. I never got a chance to see Dave perform back in the day and wow, he just blew me away. It was a top-notch performance in every way. Of course, he couldn’t leave without giving us a little “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” as the fans clapped and sang along. It was a fantastic set and a great start to the evening. 

After a short break,  a small blimp began flying around the floor area of the venue. Emblazoned on one side with Bryan Adams and the other with So Happy It Hurts, the name of the tour and of Adams’ latest record. This was a cool way to not only advertise the album but keep fans entertained during the intermission. As the blimp made its way to the backstage area, the lights went dark and it was finally show time! 

The set began with a short video clip for “Kick Ass” before the musicians took the stage and Bryan began to play the opening notes of “Kick Ass” from the So Happy It Hurts record.  The lights were dark and moody reds and you could barely make out a silhouette of Adams as he stood by a microphone stage right. Shortly into the song, he made his way to the center of the stage and eventually out onto the catwalk to welcome the crowd at Spectrum Center to the show. 

With an estimated 100 million records sold worldwide, number-one hits galore, and sold-out tours, the award-winning Adams has nothing left to prove and yet he does, every single time I see him perform. I first saw Bryan in concert back in 1983 on the Cuts Like a Knife tour and he still has all the energy and joy he had back then. He is a one-of-a-kind performer and his love for music shines through every time he is on stage. 

His set included all the hits everybody wanted to hear plus some newer songs sprinkled in.  When an artist has been around as long as Adams, sometimes the newer material goes unnoticed and underappreciated as fans just want to hear all the oldies. But in this case, I think his newer material is just as good if not better than all the classics. “So Happy It Hurts” fits right into the evening alongside all the hits and “Shine A Light” is the loveliest song he has ever written and absolutely breathtaking live as the audience lit up the arena with their phone lights, singing in unison. 

His vocals were spot on as he enchanted us with “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” just one of the many songs he wrote for film.  The night had us rocking to “Run To You” and of course had us all on our feet singing along to “Summer of ‘69.” He included a touching tribute to the late Tina Turner as he performed their duet “It’s Only Love” combined with some of Turner’s song “The Best.” We had an acoustic section of the set and Adams even took audience requests including one of my favorite songs and one I had never had the pleasure of hearing him play before, “Star.” 

After closing with “Cuts Like a Knife,” the band took a final bow for the evening. Yet, there was still more to come as Adams returned for solo for a two-song encore which brought the house down. What a show! Here’s hoping that Adams continues to rock us all for many more years. 

See the Full Gallery of the Night Here!

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