In May 2022, Bryan Adams took over the Albert Hall for three nights to play albums from his breakout period – 1983’s mainstream breakthrough Cuts Like A Knife, 1987’s Into The Fire and 1991’s Waking Up The Neighbours, a 16 million seller thanks in no small part to Kevin Costner’s flaming arrows.
That he skipped 1984’s monster hit Reckless in favour of Into The Fire’s relative consolidatory flop is curious – as is the fact that only the Waking Up The Neighbours recording has crowd noise on it; did nobody come to the first two nights? But for all the Royal Albert Hall’s dense and muddy recording acoustics and Adams’ addiction to stodgy roadhouse rock, the evolution of a bar-room behemoth can be faintly traced. The heartland rock of Cuts Like A Knife still has some rust stains on its blue collar and an ear for a Buddy Holly hookline.
