Live at the Marquee: Bryan Adams brings all the hits to Cork

To celebrate his return, he treated Cork to all the hits, including those from his iconic album Reckless — marking its 40th anniversary.

It was an evening of two halves. First, it was the album set. This was followed by audience requests, which was advertised via QR code. 

Known for his simple “all about the music” approach to shows, the inflatable drone-operated white convertible car was a surprisingly theatrical start to the show.

Meanwhile, a vast on-stage video showed a white convertible robbed of a wheel and repaired by a cowboy.

However, it wasn’t long before Adams himself arrived to the stage — in his black jeans and leather jacket combo — shouting: “Guitar, drums, bass, piano.”

“Hi Cork, my name is Bryan,” he quipped before joking about the marquee’s new location.

“We were waiting across the road and no tent went up.” 

‘Can’t Stop This Thing We Started’, ‘Somebody’, and ’18 Till I Die’ set a “let’s raise the roof off this marquee” tone. Cork reacted by doing just that.

Adams slowed things down with ‘Please Forgive Me’ and ‘Shine A Light’. The crowd, who would have once reached for their lighters, joined in by waving their phone torches instead.

That took the Canadian rocker into a more up-tempo take on ‘Heaven’ and, although it proved to be a crowd favourite, it looked like it divided some fans.

However, the popular singer quickly made up for it with a tribute to his mentor, the late Tina Turner.

“We’re looking for the worst dancers of the evening,” he announced during ‘You Belong to Me’, before sending his cameraman Mark into the crowd with a live cam. With dad-dancing galore throughout the venue, it made for plenty of belly laughs.

Adams’s classic vocals have not lost a note in nearly 50 years, and his rendition of his signature ballad ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’ proved this 10 times over. Every strum brought me back to singing it into my hairbrush in the early 1990s.

Other highlights included the Canadian picking up his six sting for a barn-storming rendition of ‘Summer of 69’ and an acoustic cover of ‘Whiskey in the Jar’.

The chemistry between Adams and his band is undeniable. It filtered down to the audience so much so that, when it came to the request part of the evening, we were all already old friends.

It felt special to be able to witness classic rock in its purest and most intimate form. It was a night that successfully lived up to the tour name — so happy, it hurt.

Out and about at Live at the Marquee 

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