Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Bryan Adams to rock Grand Arena
Four concerts as part of ‘Get Up World Tour’
LEGENDARY rocker Bryan Adams will be in South Africa for four concerts as part of his Get Up World Tour and he’s happy to get some recommendations on a great bush getaway.
Speaking to Independent Media this week, Adams confirmed he would be in the country from December 9 and on stage at the Grand Arena, GrandWest in Cape Town on December 14.
Asked whether he’d be taking some time out while here, he said: “You mean have some time to go into the bush? I hope so. There are a few days off while we are in SA and I’m looking for recommendations.”
Adams added that he had family in the country and looked forward to spending some time with them.
He has visited SA a number of times and, with a long-established reputation for having outstanding live concerts – this world tour sees him performing many of his biggest hits.
These include Summer of ‘69, Cuts Like a Knife, Please Forgive Me, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You and Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman.
Adams’ career in the world of rock ‘n roll started in the late 70s when, at the age of 15, he became a temporary vocalist for band Sweeney Todd.
In 1978, he met Jim Vallance in a music store in Vancouver. Vallance had just cut ties with rock band Prism and was looking to focus on a career as a songwriter and studio musi- cian. The duo met at Vallance’s house a few days later, starting a formidable partnership and friendship that lasted for more than three decades.
The album Cuts Like a Knife was released at the beginning of 1983 and marked Adams’s break into the big time with his hit Straight From the Heart. In 1986, 18 Till I Die was released, taking the top spot on the UK charts and making it his third number one in a row
The next 20 years saw a prolific number of mega-hits establishing Adams as one of the greatest songwriters of our time. He also collaborated with many artists, including the likes of Roger Daltrey, co-writ- ing tracks for Under A Raging Moon, a tribute to The Who’s former drummer Keith Moon, and in 2013, he wrote and sang with Michael Buble from his album To Be Loved.
Adams also wrote and performed songs for a number of movies, from Never Let Go from The Guardian starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, Never Gonna Break My Faith for the film Bobby, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination and You’ve Been A Friend To Me for the movie Old Dogs produced by Disney.
In 2010, Adams released One World, One Flame and the same year performed a duet with Nelly Furtado called Bang The Drum, which was co- written with Vallance for the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
While Adams released a new album Tracks of My Tears in 2014 which reached number one on the Canadian charts, it contained cover songs and only one new song written with Vallance. The album Get Up, which saw him reunited with Vallance, saw his first new material in seven years. It was released in 2015 and at the beginning of this month, he released two new songs: Please Stay and Ultimate Love.
Commenting this week on how the new releases had been received on the tour, Adams said: “I love them and they seem to have gone over really well. It’s always tricky adding in songs that haven’t been tested.”
For his SA fans, Adams said: “I’m really looking forward to the gigs, we’ve always loved playing there. We’ll be playing all the songs you know and love and have possibly heard before, plus we’ll be featuring some new songs from the album Get Up. Come and see the show, we rock.”
Also known for his activist and humanitarian work for many causes, Adams’s first big charity appearance came when he opened the US concert of Live Aid in 1985, while he also performed at the Nelson Mandela birthday party concert at Wembley Stadium in 1988. He has also campaigned with Greenpeace chairman David McTaggart for the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.