Bryan Adams Live at The Olympia

Truth to tell, yours truly wasn’t really looking forward to seeing the Groover from Vancouver, yet again. Having witnessed him at Slane a decade ago and at The Point several times, his brand of MTV-friendly rock and cheesy balladry has worn thin over the years. This time though it was different. Appearing solo and acoustic with just a piano player to fill out the sound, this was a stripped-down version of his greatest hits and all the better for it.
There’s no denying the enduring popularity of the man, especially among the females in the audience. Looking in remarkably good nick for a guy of 50, Adams asked at one point where he might find a good pint of Guinness to which several replied in unison, “At my place.” He knows his audience and gives them exactly what they want. Early rockers such as ‘Cuts Like A Knife’ were mixed with ballads like ‘Heaven’, which he said was written about a male stripper. He even sent himself up, transforming the syrupy ‘Please Forgive Me’ into a country song complete with mock Nashville accent. Inevitably, the reaction to ‘Everything I Do, I Do It For You’ – one of the best-selling singles of all time – was ecstatic, while his best known anthem, ‘Summer Of ‘69’, also went down a storm.
He shone vocally on the soulful ‘The Right Place’, which he explained was written for, but never recorded by, Ray Charles and even cheesy numbers like ‘The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You’ sounded better in their pared-back form.