Bryan Adams at The Music Center at Strathmore

Bryan Adams

The Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, MD, was a perfect place for Bryan Adams to stop on “The Bare Bones Tour.” Bryan Adams entertained the crowd with his vocals, acoustic guitars, harmonica and a little help from a talented pianist. Still Bryan was able to rock out a few numbers and dug deep into his musical library to please his die hard fans. Adams interacted with the crowd, showed a sense of humor, and upgraded the seats of two lucky fans during his two hour set featuring 26 songs.

Bryan Adams has been writing songs for over 30 years. In the 80s, he was a star with his pop rock songs. In the 90s, Bryan reached success with high charting ballads. His catalog of music gave him plenty to choose from. Certainly the arrangements would be changed to fit this stripped down tour. The songs performed solo or with an accompanist made the performances much more intimate, and at times more interactive with the audience.

Bryan went back to his 1984 hit album “Reckless” to open the show with “Run to You” followed by “It’s Only Love.” With these songs Adams set the tone, yes the rock songs might be stripped down but they are still going to rock. Fans looking for wonderful arrangements of his hit ballads were not disappointed. He included the Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated number one hit “(Everything I do) I Do It for You.” He also included the hit ballad “Please Forgive Me.” Purists may not have liked his version of this song, because he sang half of the song as a country song.

Bryan Adams

Throwing in half of “Please Forgive Me” as a country song showed only part of Bryan Adams sense of humor – which he let shine in the intimate setting. He dedicated the love song “I’m Ready” to a vocal female fan in the audience. Halfway through the show he picked out two far away fans in the back upper balcony and moved them up front. Someone shouted out “Freebird” so Bryan covered a verse of the southern rock classic.

Bryan shared colorful antidotes through out the evening, and fans got to see a different side of Bryan Adams they may not have seen on other tours.

Gary Breit was exceptional on the piano when he joined Bryan Adams. Standing out on many songs, especially “(Everything I do) I Do It for You” and on Adam’s chart topping “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” to highlight just a couple. Gary played his role perfectly showing his virtuosity while taking nothing away from Bryan. Instead, Gary complimented and added to Adam’s music and acknowledged the crowd with appropriate bows.

LINK

Watch and listen to a “Bare Bones Tour” preview video.

Watch and listen to Bryan Adams sing “(Everything I Do) I Do it For You.”

Watch and listen to Bryan Adams sing “Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman.”

Strathmore’s 2012 calendar.