Bryan Adams hands Stagecoach crowd heaping helping of nostalgia

Bryan Adams is one of those "Oh, I know this one" artists. He churned out so many undeniable hits in the 1980s and 90s that whether you were a big fan, a medium fan or not a fan at all, you know his music.

That was evident on Saturday night at the Stagecoach country music festival as he packed the Palomino Stage and had everyone in the palm of his hand in a set that was closer to rock 'n' roll than country, but no one minded. Still sounding great vocally and on the guitar, Adams plowed through his hits, creating multiple memorable moments where the crowd was able to sing along and recall those younger years he talks about so much.

The best example of this was the Canadian rocker's hit "Heaven." He and his band, all dressed in jeans and black shirts, simply played the first strains of the song, and that was enough. The crowd gave a knowing "Woo!" and then just started singing. Adams didn't have to, so he didn't. He smartly sort of let the moment breathe.

"Oh, thinking about all our younger years. There was only you and me, we were young and wild and free," the crowd roared in unison, Adams just sat back and soaked it in. It was the first of many such moments during an impressive 15-song set that was going so well, he gave the fans more than advertised, playing 10-15 minutes past his allotted time.

I'm a sucker for singalongs, so I knew I was going to come away from his set happy, but perhaps what I didn't expect was to come away so impressed with his voice and vibrancy. Adams, now 63, still sounds, to my ears at least, exactly the same, and that isn't often case with artists 30 years after their heyday. He had a freshness about him.

Let's run down the hits that he played, just so you too can flashback to a different time in your lives.

Early in the set, he played "Somebody." A precursor of singalongs to come as the crowd joined in with almost every word. "I need somebody. Somebody like you!"

Midway through what had been a rocking set to that point, he slowed things down and played, of course, his megahit "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" setting off another frenzy as fans fumbled over themselves to get their cell phones recording after he said the first line "Look into my eyes." It was a heartstring-pulling moment as several couples looked meaningfully into each others' eyes, swaying back and forth while singing the lyrics.

Near the end of his set, he blew the roof off the Palomino again with the first guitar strums of "Summer of 69." Another full crowd singalong ensued.

That was followed immediately by "Cuts Like a Knife" and when it got to the climactic "Na. Na. Nah. Na-nuh-na. Nuh-na na" part. Adams turned the microphone around, let the crowd sing it, while he got out his cell phone and recorded the scene. It felt real and unscripted, like he was really moved by the moment and had to document.

Many in the crowd filed out at that point, but he still had a few more hits up his sleeve. He finished the night with "I'm Gonna Run To You" and then closed the night with just himself and a guitar and a harmonica singing "Straight From the Heart," a song he said he wrote when he was 18. I'll do the math for you, that's 45 years ago.

Like I said, I found myself saying multiple times, "That's right, he sings this one too, man."

I did not consider myself much of an Adams fan heading into Saturday's performance, but I gained a lot of respect for him after seeing him live. It was an undeniably fun and nostalgic hour and 15 minutes.

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Stagecoach 2023: Bryan Adams hands crowd heaping helping of nostalgia