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November 2, 2025

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Rock fans were treated to a remarkable evening as Bryan Adams hit the stage at Rocket Arena for his Roll With the Punches tour.  The show proved that Adams hasn’t simply rested on his legacy as he is still actively shaping what a live rock show can feel like in 2025.

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The show started as Adams surprised fans by appearing at the the small "B" stage at the end of the arena with just an acoustic guitar and played "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" and "Straight From The Heart."

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He then made his way to the main stage while his great backing band tore into "Kick Ass" from his So Happy It Hurts lp. 

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Adams, who is still in great voice, played songs from throughout his storied forty plus year career.  Classic songs like "Run To You," "Somebody" and "Cuts Like a Knife" made the set list as did newer songs like "Roll With The Punches"  "Make Up Your Mind" and "Never Ever Let You Go." 

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The audience was engaged with Adams for the entire show.  From the LED wristbands that were handed out to thousands of fans which were synched to the lights, to the background stories of songs, to even taking audience requests via a QR code that was on the screen before the show started.  Tonight's requests were "Lonely Nights" and "Have You Ever Loved A Woman?" 

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One of the most fun parts of the show was when Adams was in the middle of the catwalk and said that he was going to play a Rockabilly song.  He told the audience that they had three options, they could dance, they could twerk or they could take off their t-shirts and swing them around.  While he went into "You Belong To Me" with a little "Blue Suede Shoes" thrown in, the cameraman panned the audience to find some male audience members who obliged by taking their shirts off, and some even twerked!

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The show closed with two of Adams' biggest songs, "Cuts Like A Knife" and "Summer of '69."  For the final song, Bryan made his way to the "B" stage once again to end the concert with "All For Love."

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Every concert Bryan Adams plays certainly makes the case for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  He is performing at this years ceremony so hopefully the Rock Hall remembers all of the hits and his contribution to rock.

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Speaking of the Rock Hall.  Two recent Hall of Famers, Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo opened the show with a great sixty minute set of hits.  

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Benatar still sounds fantastic as they plowed through songs like "All Fired Up," "Promises In The Dark" and "Hell Is For Children."

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We also got a special treat as they played a brand new song called "Come Together" that features Giraldo on a boogie-woogie piano.

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Their set closed with the second video ever played on MTV "You Better Run" which went into "Love Is A Battlefield."  Benatar ended the show with the song that got things started for her, "Heartbreaker."

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Review by Greg Drugan

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