Bryan Adams - Friday 29th April - Bournemouth BIC

Bryan Adams offering standing tickets seemed too good an opportunity to miss, so an afternoon off work, a cheap(ish) B&B for the Friday night booked and it was off to the seaside. I've not been to the BIC (or indeed Bournemouth) for a number of years. the venue was fine, but at the risk of being snobbish I was underwhelmed by the town. For somewhere that prides itself as a destination for stag and hen dos's these days, where were the decent places to get a drink? Does a town centre really need 3 or 4 Wetherspoons!? When one of the best bars is the Slug and Lettuce, you know that some decent independent places are needed!

Honourable exception goes to the "Goat And The Tricycle" - a decent pub with a range of darts / pool / shove ha'penny and beer selection (although even there, the lager options were so-so).

Still, the main reason for being there was the gig, so we got in fairly early to secure a decent spot. Some people had clearly been "enjoying" the afternoon more than we had and their hours in the Wetherspoons were taking their toll even before the show started with some people in front of us too drunk to stand to even welcome Bryan onstage. Happily they realised their situation and vacated to the comfort of the toilet / side wall.

So the show? Well, pretty good actually. A few less ballads that often the case (good news) and my non-favourite "Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman" dropped for the much better "Please Forgive Me" thanks to a shout from the audience. And our tweets requesting "Remember" may or may not have had an influence to that being added at the end of the show (not a natural place for it to be honest). BA's vocals were good, band excellent as always - especially Keith Scott on guitar and the band appear to have fun which comes across to the crowd who respond in kind. Glad we went.

Back to the "Goat And The Tricycle" afterwards for some late night darts which included a fantastic 130 checkout from yours truly in the early hours. V happy!

Setlist
Do What Ya Gotta Do
Can't Stop This Thing We Started
Don't Even Try
Run to You
Go Down Rockin'
Heaven
Kids Wanna Rock
It's Only Love
This Time
You Belong to Me
Summer of '69
When You're Gone (Acoustic)
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
Here I Am
Somebody
I'll Always Be Right There
Please Forgive Me
Cuts Like a Knife
18 'til I Die
The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You
+
Brand New Day
C'mon Everybody / All Shook Up
She Knows Me (Acoustic)
Straight From the Heart (Acoustic)
All for Love (Acoustic)
Remember (Acoustic)