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Bryan Adams performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on July 30, 2023. Jane Hu\/STAFF.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\tBryan Adams performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on July 30, 2023. Jane Hu\/STAFF.<\/p>\n
SAN JOSE \u2014 Wednesday evening\u2019s sold-out Bryan Adams and Pat Benatar double bill at SAP Center showed why there is still a place for old-school rock and roll. Legends of the airwaves in the 1980s, these two acts delivered hit after hit, lots of showmanship and a couple of novel new concert wrinkles that left the audience hoarse from singalongs.<\/p>\n
There was definitely an older vibe to the evening. Many in the audience were alive during the summer of 1969. They came wanting the hits and Adams delivered the goods. His two-hour, 26-song set spanned the breadth of his four-decade career, including two songs off his latest album, Roll with the Punches, released earlier this year.<\/p>\n
It was an interesting opening to the show. When the lights came up on the main stage, Adams was nowhere to be seen. Then a spotlight shined on a small stage in the back of the main floor and there he stood, acoustic guitar in hand, immediately launching into \u201cCan\u2019t Stop This Thing We Started,\u201d before going straight into timeless classic \u201cStraight From the Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advancing to the main stage down one of the aisles, high-fiving concertgoers along the way, he already had the crowd massively behind him. Joining his Canadian backing band, Adams turned up the fire further with the rocking \u201cKiss Ass,\u201d from 2023 album So Happy It Hurts, followed by two songs off the multi-platinum Reckless, \u201cRun To You\u201d and \u201cSomebody.\u201d Whether singing or storytelling, Adams\u2019 voice was as clear and strong as ever.<\/p>\n
Singing along was encouraged and Adams even the lyrics to several of the songs posted on the video screen in case anyone\u2019s memories had faded. During \u201cRoll With The Punches,\u201d a giant boxing-glove-shaped balloon floated overhead. During \u201cYou Belong To Me,\u201d Adams encouraged the crowd to get up and dance while a roving videographer displayed their best moves on the giant screen.<\/p>\n
Entering the arena, attendees received wristbands that flashed and pulsed with various colors during the show, synced to the music, transforming the room into an ever-changing kaleidoscope of choreographed color.<\/p>\n
The last leg of the set began with his enduring 1984 hit, \u201cSummer of \u201869\u201d (Reviewer\u2019s confession: It was truly the \u201cbest summer of my life;\u201d the last year in college before getting drafted.) After closing with \u201cCuts Like A Knife,\u201d Adams retired to the B-stage once again for an acoustic rendition of \u201cAll For Love\u201d to close a well-received evening.<\/p>\n
Adams\u2019 Canadian band offered outstanding support, led by the exceptional drumming of Pat Steward, keyboardist Gary Breits (especially on \u201cHer I Am\u201d) and guitarist Keith Scott. Scott\u2019s extended solo on \u201cIt\u2019s Only Love,\u201d an Adams duet with Tina Turner, was especially noteworthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was really good to me,\u201d Adams said of Turner. \u201cShe took me on tour when I was 24. We sang together every night. I\u2019m gonna do my part and Tina\u2019s part, so please be kind, I ain\u2019t no Tina Turner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like the shows of the 1980s, Adams\u2019 set was simple, authentic and all about the music. He involved the crowd with singalongs, and he told many funny and sometimes poignant stories. He clearly still enjoys what he\u2019s doing and he delivers the music with heart, energy and youthful spark.<\/p>\n
Pat Benatar was a great act on her own. Along with long-time husband, guitarist and songwriter Neil Geraldo, the band raced through an hourlong 11-song set that featured all of the well-known hits and even introduced a new song, \u201cCome On People.\u201d For the latter, Benatar noted that current times are a \u201cmess\u201d and encouraged the need for togetherness and unity.<\/p>\n
She started off with the hard-rocking \u201cAll Fired Up,\u201d which featured the first of many scalding Giraldo guitar riffs and built momentum from that point on. As with Adams, the crowd came for the hits, and Benatar didn\u2019t disappoint. After \u201cPromises In The Dark,\u201d the first song she and Giraldo penned together, she covered \u201cWe Belong,\u201d \u201cHell Is For Children,\u201d \u201cYou Better Run\u201d and \u201cLove Is A Battlefield.\u201d The band closed with its first top-40 hit, \u201cHeartbreaker.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benatar at 72 still has a strong and powerful voice, although she shied away from some of the high notes on \u201cLove Is a Battlefield\u201d and \u201cWe Belong,\u201d Nevertheless, she and Giraldo were a powerful an appropriate opening act for Adams.<\/p>\n
About The Author<\/p>\n
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