By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Tuesday 12 November 2024, tour travels to India, New Zealand, Australia, US, UK, Europe and runs through 5 July 2025

SETLIST: Kick Ass; Can’t Stop This Thing We Started; Somebody; 18 ’til I Die; Please Forgive Me; One Night Love Affair; Shine A Light; Take Me Back; Kids Wanna Rock; Heaven; Go Down Rockin’; It’s Only Love; You Belong To Me; Cloud Number 9; Rock’n’Roll Hell; The Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You; Here I Am; I Will Always Return; When The Night Comes; When You’re Gone; Always Have (Always Will); Everything I Do (I Do It For You); Back To You; So Happy It Hurts; Run To You; Summer Of ’69; Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman?; Cuts Like A Knife; Straight From the Heart; Hey Baby; All For Love;

You can tell Adams is a photographer because this is the most beautifully visualised arena show we think we’ve ever seen.

• Read on for reasons including where else in the world you can catch this tour

There’s a screen on the entire wall behind the stage and much of it is filled with black and white live footage which enhances the gig experience no end especially if like us you’re three-quarters of the way back standing on this 15,000-capacity’s venue floor.

We’ve been a little sniffy about Adams before not least when reviewing the musical he wrote Pretty Woman in London but here he plays all the hits you’d want in a 135-minute show without encores and it would be fair to say this audience loved it.

We’re not typical Adams fans and our favourite song of his is Mel C duet When You’re Gone which he plays solo on guitar here without the Spice Girl and it goes down an absolute storm.

He doesn’t speak much but he does use the opportunity presented by Tina Turner duet It’s Only Love to pay tribute to the star who died last year and when he interpolates her hits Simply The Best and What’s Love Got To Do With It into the song it’s both respectful and really quite moving.

The atmosphere is akin to a sporting event and when Adams encourages his male audience to whip off their T-shirts and wave them in the air it makes for a fun moment as the cameras pick out those doing it and they respond with joy as they appear topless and singing along on the stage screens.

It reminded us a little of the ‘kiss cams’ that arena acts sometimes deployed before shows to encourage audience participation although perhaps they are now a no-no given a heightened sensitivity to anything even hinting at an unwanted sexual advance.

Instead Adams wheels out giant beach balls the audience can play with at the start of the set and there’s even an inflatable replica of the car on the front of his latest album cover which is powered by drones and flies above the audience.

Adams brings this Roll With The Punches tour to London’s 02 in May and 1 of the reasons we enjoy gigs abroad so much is that they are often so much cheaper than at home.

Tonight’s standing ticket is the equivalent of £41 compared with the £66 you’d pay at The 02. The audiences generally are warmer and more appreciative here also in Barcelona than in London where they have a reputation of, initially at least, being quite standoffish.

If you only ever see 1 Bryan Adams show in your life, this would be the 1 we’d recommend.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Bryan Adams Tickets
• Have you seen a Bryan Adams show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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