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Bryan Adams rocks the E.A. Rawlinson Centre

Feb 19, 2014 | 5:45 AM

All that stood on the E.A. Rawlinson stage on Tuesday evening was a single microphone and a black piano, with a backdrop featuring a skull in a top and with a banner saying “Bare Bones Tour.”

Just after 8 p.m., Bryan Adams would walk onto stage wearing a top hat and holding his guitar.

Before he could say anything, the audience gave him a standing ovation.

Adams opened with “Run to You” before he explained the evening would feature just him on guitar and Gary Breit on piano.

At 54, Adams looked like he hadn’t aged in a decade and it was the same with his voice.

Because of that, the evening had a very intimate feel, with Adams sharing stories of his decades of travelling and song collaboration with some of the top musicmakers like Barbra Streisand.

He talked about one of the first times he was in Saskatchewan and being pulled over by the RCMP after one of the men he was with mooned the officer. 

He even had the audience cracking up with laughter, even asking, “Is this the whole town?”

And at a few times throughout the evening he had the audience singing along with him.

Of course Adams played all the classics like “Back to You,” “Here I Am,” “When You Love Someone,” “Summer of ’69” and “Back to You.”

He played his big hits from the movies Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (“Everything I Do”) and The Three Musketeers (“All for Love”).

At one point, Adams even asked the audience for a request and played “18 for Life” after one fan yelled it out.

Adams played for just under two hours and ended the evening with “Straight from the Heart.”

swallace@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahthesquid