05/02/2025

Bryan Adams – Spark Arena: February 4, 2025 (13th Floor Concert Review)

BRYAN ADAMS blessed Auckland with his presence last night, in a sell-out show following on from his Christchurch dates, ably supported by JAMES ARTHUR. Carin Newbould was there to report back for The 13^th Floor.

BRYAN ADAMS returned to Aotearoa six years after his last visit, winning over the crowd with a rapid-fire run through of his back catalogue, fulfilling his promise to “try to squeeze in as many songs as I can remember”. Like his adoring audience, he remembered the chords and lyrics to a shedload of his ditties spanning his 45+ year musical career.

James Arthur

British singer-songwriter James Arthur proved to be an exemplary choice of support on this tour. He seemed genuinely chuffed to be there, calling it a “full circle moment” as the first tape he bought and first gig he attended were to see Bryan Adams. In a set lasting 45 minutes, he set the tone for the night, mixing contemplative and heartfelt ballads with more high-energy offerings.

James Arthur

The X Factor winner included all his hits, from Impossible and A Thousand Years to the bouncy synth-ridden Lasting Lover. He plugged his new album (out on 21 March) and is highly likely to sell a few copies to new fans gained from this performance.

Bryan Adams

Adams took to the stage dead on 9pm, as scheduled. Full disclosure – I wasn’t a huge fan. He needed to win me over after years of over-exposure to (Everything I Do) I Do It For You… which was number 1 in the UK for sixteen weeks in 1991. You couldn’t escape it on radio or TV. Obviously it’s popular, selling over 15 million copies worldwide, but it’s just so…. soppy. The “groover from Vancouver” is better, in my opinion, when he’s grooving – the energy of songs like Can’t Stop This Thing We Started, When You’re Gone and The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me is You are just far more fun.

And this gig was heaps of fun. There was an entertaining intro preamble (“Let there be guitars!”), jokes, crowd participation (including lots of topless guys – and a few lovely older ladies – swinging t-shirts over their heads), great monochromatic backdrops and light displays. The production values were spot-on. There were even drone-driven inflatables roaming the arena overhead… not as spectacular as Katy Perry or Pink’s aerial shenanigans at the same venue, but fun nevertheless.

Bryan Adams

Bryan brought along a tight three-piece to accompany him on his hit retrospective, consisting of keyboards, drums and his bizarrely lookalike long-term guitarist Keith Scott. Dressed in doppelganger clichéd rock’n’roll uniforms of black t-shirts and jeans, I’m sure folks at the rear of the arena found it hard to distinguish between the two – other than Scott’s hair being a tad floppier. But while Adams is undeniably a great guitarist, his skills didn’t stand up to Scott’s amazing prowess, as demonstrated in rock form as a prolonged solo in It’s Only Love and as outstanding Spanish guitar for Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman? Adams did show off his harmonica skills a couple of times through the night, though, notably on a frenzied finish to Go Down Rockin’.

There was a lot of love in the room, not only in the song titles and the audience’s clear adoration for Bryan, but in the number of couples dancing and smooching. These songs – and lyrics – clearly mean a lot to people. It’d be a hard-hearted person who wasn’t moved by Heaven or Please Forgive Me. Adams dedicated the moving Shine A Light to his father and Straight From The Heart to his 97 year old mother. He spoke about the “privilege” of performing It’s Only Love on a UK tour with Tina Turner, whom he described as “a great loss to music and to me – she was my friend”. Written when he was 23, it illustrated just how long his career has endured – now 65, his hits span over four decades. His most recent studio album So Happy It Hurts, released in 2022 and supplying the name of this tour, demonstrates that he’s lost none of his songwriting skill, spawning the night’s opening ditty Kick Ass, Always Have, Always Will and the eponymous feel-good track. It was bouncy, catchy and positive and the lyrics “You know, I think it’s contagious/ That stupid grin on my face” proved true – there were certainly a lot of stupid grins and happy faces in the audience… hopefully they didn’t hurt too much.

Adams kept the adoring masses waiting until almost the end before starting up the unmistakable intro to Run to You (with impressive drumming from the stage, and lots of enthusiastic air-drumming from middle-aged blokes in the crowd), followed swiftly by Summer of ’69. The singalong was as loud as I’ve ever heard a Spark Arena audience. Great though the band was, standouts for me were Adams’ acoustic numbers – Here I Am (co-written by Hans Zimmer), When You’re Gone and the encore songs Straight From The Heart and All For Love, delivered from a podium at the rear of the phone-torch studded arena, thwarting those few souls hoping for an early exit.

It was two hours of magical music. Adams told us his band “have had a lovely time in Auckland” and I reckon everyone at the Spark Arena had a lovely time watching them do their thing. I have to admit that Bryan put on a brilliant, happy show that totally convinced me. He came, he grooved, he conquered.

Carin Newbould

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Michael Jeong:

Bryan Adams: