THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Blues Festival has had some pretty big names topping their lineup over the years.
But none were bigger than Bryan Adams.
It wasn’t hard to tell.
Fans started lining up outside the Marina Park entrance as early as 8 a.m., waiting to rush the stage area to stake out the best possible spot to watch the Canadian icon perform.
They weren’t disappointed.
Adams, whose crew built a giant video board behind the stage, delivered a rocking evening of fan favourite rock and roll classics, even encouraging the crowd at one point to shout out song titles from his 14-album catalogue, which he then proceeded to sing.
The soon-to-be-60-year-old showed exactly why he became a global superstar, pounding out hit after hit, pausing midway through songs like Cuts Like a Knife, his earliest hit, to allow the frenzied crowd a chance to sing it themselves.
His fans didn’t skip a beat.
Adams opened with Ultimate Love, dove straight into Can’t Stop this Thing We Started and Run to You and kept it up for two hours, adding songs like Heaven, It’s Only Love, Summer of ’69, (Everything I Do) I Do it For You, Somebody and Kids Wanna Rock.
“You’ve been a wonderful audience. We’d love to take you home with us, we’d love to take you home. This next song is one of the first songs I ever wrote. In fact, it could be the first song I ever wrote. I still can’t believe I’m playing it today. But it’s a beautiful night and you’re beautiful people and I thank you for coming,” Adams said, launching into his breakthrough 1983 hit Straight From the Heart, closing his set with All for Love.
It was the culmination of a fantastic day of music that included The Trews covering the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage, lead singer Colin MacDonald rolling around on the stage at one point, so caught up in his craft.
Rising country star Meghan Patrick kept the crowd on its feet, strapping on a guitar and showing the crowd how it’s done. Amanda Marshall, who played Blues Fest in 2017, followed as the lead-in act for Adams, an honour she showed was quite deserved.
Marshall, who rose to fame in the 1990s, connected with the sold-out crowd, most of whom had made their way to the waterfront and felt compelled to join in on hits like Birmingham, Let it Rain and Fall From Grace.
The day also included at least one rock-and-roll hall-of-famer, bassist Prakash John, who over his 50-year career has played with the likes of Lou Reed, George Clinton and Alice Cooper, to name just a few.
In Thunder Bay he got to play with his son Jordan John with The Lincolns, the second act to take the stage, the music slightly delayed because of a late sound check.
“It’s an unbelievable, unexpected blessing at the end of your career to actually end up playing with your kid, who actually qualifies to play with my peers. It’s not like a pity thing,” the elder John said. “And he kicks my butt when he plays because he plays all the instruments really well. I can only do the four strings and the bass.”
The music began just after 12:30 p.m., with local favourite the Chain, led by vocalist Chrissy Ewacha Klaas, who thanked organizers for continuing to allow local talent to take up valuable Blues Fest real estate.
“We’re always excited and proud to be playing for our hometown, always. Every year that they ask us we’re surprised and we’re honoured to play,” she said after her set. “I love having all the people there. All my friends came to watch me play. It’s awesome. I love it,” she said.
Alfie Zappacosta also performed on Saturday, and hung around most of the night back stage, chatting it up with just about anyone who came along.
The Blues Festival wraps up on Sunday with 54-40, Jann Arden and Burton Cummings topping the bill.
