Bryan Adams Oriental Theatre Review

Saturday, May 9, 2009
By Aaron Keker

ORIENTAL THEATRE, Chicago, Illlinois – Twenty-six years ago, an unknown Canadian rocker in Bryan Adams released his third studio album Cuts Like a Knife and it has been rock stardom for Bryan ever since.

As Bryan Adams entered the Oriental Theatre carrying his six string acoustic guitar, the audience roared with excitement.

Bryan Adams waved and then placed his fingers on his acoustic and commenced his rock star intimate evening in Chicago with “Run to You.”

During the song, Bryan Adams pointed to the audience and they would sing along.

Two hours later, including several standing ovations, he closed his performance with “All for Love.”

A majority of the evening, Bryan Adams was accompanied by his on stage entourage and pianist Gary Breit.

Before Bryan Adams performed “Here I Am,” he fired back a comedic line to a screaming man, “I love it when my sister comes out.” The moment that line was said, you knew it would be an entertaining evening.

Bryan Adams performed mega hits like “Summer of ’69,” “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” “Heaven,” and “Straight from the Heart.”

Bryan Adams informed the audience right before he performed “Summer of ’69,” that it is “The most misunderstood song.”

Bryan Adams performed newer songs like “Tonight We Have the Stars,” “I Thought I’d Seen Everything,” “Walk on By” and “Mysterious Ways” from his latest album 11.

Bryan Adams had an invisible suggestion box that started with Gary Breit’s suggestion of “Not Romeo Not Juliet.” The audience’s suggestions included “Cloud Number Nine,” “Kids Wanna Rock” and “It’s Only Love.”

Finally, Bryan Adams performed a cover song by Willie Dixon “I Just Want to Make Love to You.”

Whether it is Bryan Adams firing a comedic line, to him performing a mixture of newer and older hit songs, this by far ranks as one of the best acoustic shows that I have ever seen. The way the Oriental Theatre concert-goers provided Bryan Adams with several standing ovations before the encore, and their overall enthusiasm that evening, who knows it may have ranked as one of their favorite concerts too? Bryan Adams definitely produced a night to remember. Below is the set list for Bryan Adams at the Oriental Theatre.

Oriental Theatre Set List:

1. “Run to You”
2. “Tonight We Have the Stars”
3. “Back to You”
4. “Here I Am”
5. “Let’s Make a Night to Remember”
6. “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started”
7. “I Thought I’d Seen Everything”
8. “When You Love Someone”
9. “Heat of the Night”
10. “I Just Want to Make Love to You”
11. “Not Romeo Not Juliet”
12. “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”
13. “Cuts Like a Knife”
14. “Mysterious Ways”
15. “This Time”
16. “Please Forgive Me”
17. “Summer of ’69”
18. “Walk on By”
19. “Heaven”
20. “Cloud Number Nine”
21. “Kids Wanna Rock”
22. “It’s Only Love”
23. “The Right Place”
24. “The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me is You”

Encore:

25. “Somebody”
26. “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?”
27. “Never Let Go”
28. “Straight from the Heart”
29. “All for Love”