by Nikki M. MascaliStaff Writer
WILKES-BARRE — Bryan Adams may be on his “Bare Bones Tour,” but there was nothing bare about his show at the F.M. Kirby Center Wednesday night. With just the Kirby’s brick backstage wall as his backdrop, Adams’ sound was much larger than just him and his guitar and the occasional piano accompaniment by Gary Breit.
Clad in a basic black button-down shirt and jeans, Adams played the receptive audience of 1,261 nearly 30 songs from his extensive hit list during the two-hour show. “Run to You,” one of his most popular songs, started the evening off. Tapping his microphone for percussion, Adams encouraged the first of many clap-alongs and said, “Welcome to the ‘Bare Bones Tour.’”
“Tonight We Have the Stars,” from 2008’s “11,” followed and really drove home how fantastic Adams’ voice has remained. It was one of just two tracks from his most recent release. Adams donned a harmonica rack for the early standout “Back to You,” a song that also gave Breit his first on-stage appearance.
“In case you didn’t get the memo, this is the band,” Adams joked, gesturing toward Breit at the end of the song. “The object is to see how many songs we could remember.”
“Here I Am,” from the 2002 movie “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron,” was the first of several soundtrack songs of the evening. A stunning version of another, “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” from “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” had the crowd singing along before it rose for a standing ovation.
An emotive rendition of “Thought I’d Died and Gone to Heaven” from 1991’s “Waking Up the Neighbours” preceded a passionate “Let’s Make a Night to Remember.” A rollicking “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started” followed.
Adams, bathed in red light, delivered a searing version of “Heat of the Night” before taking a Bob Dylan-esque turn on “Not Romeo Not Juliet,” a song with a great piano solo written during a year Adams spent on the road. He switched guitars for “Cuts Like a Knife” and “This Time” before going back to his 1955 Martin guitar for the touching “Please Forgive Me,” which he said “sounds like a country song,” and even adopted a country twang for a verse.
A great “Summer of ’69” came about halfway through the show, followed by the second offering from “11,” “Walk On By,” which was by far the most stripped-down song of the night.
Adams and Breit gave a jazzy, Ray Charles twist to “Right Place,” a song Adams originally wrote for — but never gave to — the late legend. It was eventually recorded by Taylor Hicks of “American Idol,” who Adams said did a great job with it, “and it really pissed me off,” he joked.
The set proper closed with a dynamic rendition of “The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You,” during which the musician became so animated he broke a guitar string.
His 20-minute encore began with “Somebody” — and a torrent of forbidden camera flashbulbs from the audience. Adams gestured for the crowd to rush the stage during “You’ve Been a Friend to Me” from the new John Travolta film “Old Dogs.” Adams and Breit delivered a simply gorgeous, goosebump-inducing version of “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” from “Don Juan DeMarco.” Breit’s incredible piano playing, which replaced the Spanish guitar of the original, added even more depth to the fervent song.
After the poignant “Never Let Go” and tender “Straight From the Heart,” Adams closed the show with “one last request,” the timely “Christmas Time.”
Peppering Wednesday’s intimate performance with anecdotes and jokes as he rolled with audience shout-outs, Adams did not disappoint. The show was never lacking without a full backing band, and hearing such stripped-down renditions of his well-known songs added a deeper appreciation of just how superb a singer, songwriter and musician he is.
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