Bryan Adams gives a performance 'straight from the heart' at PPG Paints Arena

Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams remembers the first time he ever played in Pittsburgh.

“The first time I ever played in America properly, I opened for The Kinks here,” he recounted to the audience during his show Friday night at PPG Paints Arena. “I started when I was 15 but things stick with you. I don’t forget my past, and I’m grateful.”

Adams, whose career spans 50 years at this point, has had massive success as a songwriter and performer, with hit songs like “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” and “Summer of ‘69.” He hasn’t performed locally since before the pandemic, and he returned as part of his “So Happy It Hurts” tour, to promote his 2022 album of the same name.

Opening was Dave Stewart, one half of the Eurythmics, who is touring with the band’s songbook and a group of talented women who help him sing and play these classic songs. It was a perfect way to start the evening.

The headliner carried that high energy on for the rest of the night. He may be pushing 65, but Adams carries himself like he’s still 18. Coming to the stage, he wore a black leather jacket, which he eventually removed to reveal a black T-shirt, with jeans and black-and-white canvas sneakers. He cut a youthful figure onstage, gesturing to the crowd and striking rock star poses with his guitar.

His voice, which has always had a rasp to it, remains strong, taking on a gruff edge on the guitar-heavy, upbeat songs and turning sincere and soaring on his many power ballads. With his impressive backing band, the tunes sound just as good as they did in the ’80s and ’90s.

With a 27-song, two-hour setlist, the crowd certainly got their money’s worth out of Adams. The set was split between energetic rock songs like “The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You” and the ballads he’s so well known for, like “Heaven.” There were even a couple of rockabilly songs—featuring an upright bass, played by Solomon Walker.

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Before playing “You Belong to Me,” the first of the two rockabilly numbers, Adams announced, “This next song is a rockabilly song, and rockabilly is another way of saying dance music, my kind of dance music.” When the song began, a camera searched the crowd for the most exuberant dancers, projecting them on the big screen behind the band.

And there was no lack of enthusiasm in the crowd. From the first four bars of “Summer of ‘69” to the repeated singalong “na na na”s in “Cuts Like A Knife,” the voice of the audience made itself heard.

When the band played “Shine A Light,” a song that Adams wrote for his father, who passed away five years ago, he said, “If there’s someone special you want to shine a light for, do it now.” The whole lower bowl of the arena blazed with pinpricks of white flashlights, gently waving back and forth as he sang.

The coolest form of audience participation came toward the end of the night, when everyone played a game that Adams called “let’s remind the singer.”

This involved concertgoers making requests of songs for him to play on the spot. Some of the audience members in the front of the crowd already knew this game and came prepared with signs.

He played “One Night Love Affair” at the suggestion of a group of ladies, and it was a real crowd pleaser. The second audience request was a little stranger.

A woman named Rhonda with a sign that said “I drove all the way from Buffalo to hear ‘Star’” got Adams to play the little-remembered theme song from the 1996 Robin Williams film “Jack.” Adams dedicated the song to Williams.

That wasn’t the only significant dedication of the night. For the encore, Adams sent the band off and performed alone with his guitar, and that’s when he talked about his mother. “She’s going to be 96 next week, she’s sharp as a pin and FaceTimes me every day,” he said.

He explained that his mother was always supportive of his career, allowing him to drop out of school at 15 to pursue music and letting him use his college fund to buy a piano when he was 18 so he could begin writing songs.

“And that’s why I’m playing guitar here tonight,” he said.

He dedicated “Straight From The Heart,” his first top 10 hit in the United States, to his mother.

She also appeared in a video package of a car, which played before Adams took the stage and then again when he played the song “So Happy It Hurts.” Both times during the video, a massive balloon shaped like a car floated over the crowd, printed with “Bryan Adams” on one side and “So Happy It Hurts” on the other.

He also played “It’s Only Love,” a song that originally featured Tina Turner, and dedicated the song to her memory. “It was a great loss to music, and a great loss to me personally, because she was a great friend to me. She took me on tour and changed my life as a young musician,” he said.

Everything about the evening felt nostalgic and heartfelt. It’s clear that this musician still really loves making and playing music.

Backed up by a powerhouse group of musicians, especially guitarist Keith Scott, who got the crowd roaring with a number of electrifying solos, Adams brought arena rock to the venue.

Setlist

“Kick A**”

“Can’t Stop This Thing We Started”

“Somebody”

“18 Til I Die”

“Please Forgive Me”

“Shine A Light”

“Kids Wanna Rock”

“Heaven”

“Go Down Rockin’”

“It’s Only Love”

“You Belong To Me”

“I’ve Been Looking For You”

“The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You”

“I Will Always Return”

“Here I Am”

“This Time”

“(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”

“Back To You”

“So Happy It Hurts”

“Run To You”

“Summer Of ‘69”

“Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?”

“One Night Love Affair”

“Star”

“Cuts Like A Knife”

“Straight From The Heart”

“All For Love”