Even after four decades of making music, on his fifth visit to India as part of his Ultimate Tour, Bryan Adams has never failed to impress whenever he has performed in Mumbai.

After an opening act by Harshdeep Kaur, the raspy-voiced Canadian rocker and his four-piece band of drummer Mickey Curry and longtime lead guitarist Keith Scott, bass guitarist Dave Taylor and Gary Breit on Keys, treated fans to a night of 20 old and 2 new songs from his 2017 album ‘Ultimate’. Friday night's jam-packed Jio garden in BKC saw mostly 40-something-aged fans and new fans that’d come to hear Adams belt out those famous radio hits.

What they got was a rock solid performance from the 58 year old singer/songwriter/producer who till today, hasn't lost an ounce of his likable onstage persona nor his showmanship. Clad in a dapper black tee shirt and black pants, Adams strapped his guitar and cranked it up seconds after emerging onstage. The crowd was instantly engaged with the rocking opener Ultimate Love, followed by Can’t Stop this thing we started and it was obvious that this was to be a night of unabashed chugging rock music and loud guitars. 

Sailing through newer material as easily and as seamlessly as through his signature tunes, Adams seemed comfortable, poised and right at home (this is his fifth visit) as he gleefully belted out songs for two solid hours. He gave memorable versions of Run to You, Its Only Love and the massive power ballad Heaven early in the set that helped to establish the tone and the pacing for the night. He moved from there to the crowd favorite Cloud No. 9, You Belong to Me, to the catchy, melodic pop of Back to You, whilea large screen at the rear of the stage flashed images of female models dancing, clips from vintage videos or live, real-time crowd shots, Adams pleased everyone to no end. The screams were left for the anthemic Summer of 69 and 18 Till I Die where the crowd joined in on every word.

Not to be omitted were Bryan's '90s-era ballads Everything I Do (I Do It For You) to his soulful strumming on Spanish guitar to Have You Ever Loved a Woman. Old favorites Cuts like a Knife sounded fresh, as an eager crowd sang along to fill out the familiar "nah-nah-nah" chorus much to Bryan's visual delight. LED tubelights falling into the stage area added a bit of gloss to the songs with its colored effects as he sang Please Stay.

Before he could call it a day, Adams recounted his early life with his parents, his first piano, to his dad who passed away this year, his wheelchair bound mum, and the need to look after elderly people, especially parents. The night ended on a sober note with a solo acoustic version of Straight From The Heart, complete with his own harmonica accompaniment, during which Adams asked everyone to hold up their lit phones to fill the sky with thousands of tiny lights, which resembled a starlit night.

Adams was in total command and enthralled the 10,000 strong crowd who didn’t mind sweating it out in the October heat. Adams expressed his undying love for India saying “India is one of the best places I love to play”.  Surely this won’t be his pen –Ultimate visit.

By Verus Ferreira