Review: Bryan Adams at Warwick Castle Live brings endless rock anthems with Spice Girls surprise twist

When you’ve been rocking as long as Bryan Adams, you’ve got performing down to a fine art. He promised early on to “fit in as many songs as I can” but on top of endless rock anthems, he also gave some surprises - including with his Spice Girls support act, Mel C.

Everyone expected their chart hit When You’re Gone but they threw in another twist in a love-in that showed the mutual respect and affection the pair have for each other. That all started back in 1998 when the Canadian singer gave her the chance to shine outside of The Spice Girls cocoon on his eighth studio album, now Adams has released his 16th album, Roll With The Punches, today.

Adams was performing last night(Thursday, August 28) at the opening of the annual Warwick Castle Live series of outdoor gigs, in the shadow of the famous landmark. Texas follow tonight(Friday), Pet Shop Boys tomorrow(Saturday) and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Concert on Sunday.

Albeit looking slightly weathered, Adams is a Peter Pan of soft rock music. He’s still lithe in his tell-tale denim jacket and black jeans, oozing timeless rock chic with a guitar always around his neck. More importantly, he still has the same energy and gravelly, distinctive voice that has stood him in good stead. From his first few notes, it sends shivers as one of the most recognisable voices in the music business.

What’s more Adams knows how to command an audience, coming out all guns blazing for openerThat’s Rock’n’Roll as two huge inflatable balls emblazoned with Roll With The Punches bounced into the crowd. The vibe instantly surged.

When Run To You and Somebody followed, he had everyone eating out of his hand. With such a large back-catalogue, hit after hit followed and Adams only veered off once for a cover and that was for iconic anthem Twist and Shout.

The tempo moved from free-spirited bangers like 18 Til I Die and Only Thing That Looks Good On Me Is You to his romantic classics like Heaven. Yet the momentum never lulled.

He’s got an experienced band touring with him, including his right-hand man, guitarist Keith Douglas Scott, who was allowed the spotlight to shine on his own in guitar sections of hits including (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. After all this time, that song still gets the biggest reaction and someone near me even facetimed a friend to beem it to them live from the gig.

It was about an hour into the 90-minute concert that Adams brought on Mel C. Earlier on, she’d warmed up the crowd with her eccentricity and impressive voice on a mix of her solo tracks and Spice Girls songs. She’d gushed of Adams: “I love this man. He means a lot to me. He gave me the confidence to go on as a solo artist”.

Back on stage, everyone expected them to surge into their duet When You’re Gone but they surprised the audience by a rendition of another Spice Girls hit. Singing Say You’ll Be There in a paired down guitar-led version, it was a more soothing alternative to the chart-topper without the pop electronics in this unexpected twist.

“Who knew you’d get to see a reimagining of the Spice Girls tonight,” joked Adams, before the pair performed an acoustic version of When You’re Gone. Slightly more haunting than the rockier original but sounding just as appealing. After many hugs, he shouted “love you Mel” after she departed the stage.

Continuing with the hits and banter, Adams was personable right through to the end. A fun section with the camera spotting lively members of the crowd taking off their T-shirts to wave them in the air kept the atmosphere lively until timeless anthem Summer of ‘69 rocketed the mood to another level.

With the audience begging for more, the singer, left alone on stage with his guitar, closed the gig with a beautiful acoustic finale of All For Love, from The Three Musketeers movie, before thanking the crowd for “being wonderful”.

There were even many more hits he didn’t get time to squeeze in and the gig didn’t even include most of his new album. Yet there was an air of satisfaction from the crowd as they flooded out of the walls of Warwick Castle grounds.

Charming, talented and still with a voice that stops you in your tracks, Adams is one of the greats to tick off. Few things get better with age, but Adams is one of them.

See Warwick Castle’s website here for details of Warwick Castle Live’s other events and concerts this weekend. Bryan Adam’s album Roll With The Punches was released today on Bad Records.