Let There Be Rock's Live Act of 2024
- Let There Be Rock
- Jan 18
- 4 min read
🏆 Live Act of 2024:
@ Halifax Piece Hall, 23rd June.
For the second year running the chosen ‘Best Live Act’ of the year has come from an artist performing in my home town of Halifax, at the historical and increasingly popular temporary summer time music venue that is The Piece Hall. For those of you unfamiliar with it, it is a unique grade I listed former Georgian cloth hall, dating back to 1779, the oldest of its kind in the world.
Over the past three years the large open-air courtyard has played host to an ever increasing number of world renowned performers, from a variety of musical genres. This past year I was very lucky to see The Stranglers, KoRn and Bryan Adams play there. Some big names for a once run down area of a small northern town.
The biggest and best of those was Canadian pop/rock legend Bryan Adams. An artist who’s 1985 album ‘Reckless’ launched him into the stratosphere of popular music. Like many, I was a big fan of his growing up in the late 80s and early 90s. The once multi-platinum number one charting musician, highly in demand on every tour, and more accustom to playing stadiums in cities rather than smaller niche venues, was always going to be a popular choice. As you can imagine, getting hold of tickets was tense to say the least, and the less said about dynamic pricing and ticket touts the better. An experience that left a bitter taste. especially for those that didn’t manage to get tickets in the first wave of pre-sale.
Thankfully my friend had managed to secure tickets, and as it turned out I wasn’t the only one excited to be finally getting the chance to see the Canadian icon live. Despite the fact I had heard mixed reviews about his current performances, and rumours that he tended to favour his more pop-based hits rather than his early 80s rockier numbers, it didn’t dampen the excitement.
As it turned out the 23rd of June was a hot summers day. In an open-air venue a warm evening can make the atmosphere that little bit more special. The opening acts set a surprising tone for the evening, alternative rockers Vivas and electro-pop outfit Cassyette were a surprise choice of support, certainly a lot heavier than the radio friendly pop/rock hits that the Bryan Adams faithful were used to. It got me thinking, would this be the tone set for the evening? Would he dare to delve back to those 80s rock classics?!
By 9pm the excitement had reached fever pitch and the Canadian legend appeared on stage, set to rock the place fully looking the part, wearing his leather jacket, guitar in hand, and launching two massive inflatable balls into the crowd. The opening track was ‘Kick Ass’, and that is exactly what he was here to do! This was not just going to be a concert, this was going to be a party!
With a set list that felt like a hit parade, ‘Can’t Stop This Thing We Started’, followed by ’18 Til’ I Die’ and everybody singing along. Then a surprise early inclusion, ‘Kids Wanna Rock’, my absolute favourite track from the ‘Reckless’ album, not too many people knew it but it went down a storm none-the-less, and he played it with gusto.
The sound was incredible in the historic venue, the atmosphere electric, and the set list had everything, including a heartfelt tribute to the late great music legend and former collaborator Tina Turner. He performed their hit single ‘It’s Only Love’, followed by a melody of Tina’s classics, ‘The Best’ and ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It’. It was well received. There was also a touching moment after the music video for ’So Happy It Hurts’ had played behind him on the screen during the song. Bryan pointed out that the lady in the car next to him was his mum, who was his biggest supporter throughout his career and now in her 90s. The Halifax crowd responded in typical Yorkshire fashion with a chant, “Bryan’s Mum, Bryan’s Mum…”, clearly moved by the response he asked us to carry on whilst he went to get his phone to film it and send to her.
For sure I wasn’t going to get my way all evening with the rock numbers, he had to play those 90s pop ballads at some point, and THAT number one song, ‘Everything I Do (I Do It For You)’ from the Kevin Costner film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Taking to the piano, further demonstrating his talents, the entire crowd sung along impeccably, phone lights held aloft.
After an emotive mid section, it was time to roll out those radio classics, ‘Run To You’, which the crowd went wild for, and ‘Summer of 69’, every DJs most requested (and sometimes most despised) track was off the scale, every single person belting out the lyrics and dancing around. There’s something to be said for seeing the favourites performed live, this wasn’t your family wedding or nightclub DJ playing the track. This was the man himself performing the songs he wrote live in front of you. A very special moment for even the most casual of Adams fans.
The set was concluded with an encore of sing-alongs, an acoustic version of ‘When You’re Gone’, his hit with Melanie C of the Spice Girls, and closing the show, ‘Straight From The Heart’, which rounded off the most perfect of evenings. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined such a world renowned musician as Bryan Adams playing my home town.
The summer of 24 doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but is sure to be just as well thought of. For an artist who has been performing since the early 80s the energy from him and his band was incredible, no signs of slowing down and seemingly unaffected by age and time. The fact that he is still performing at this level some four decades into his career is amazing. Note perfect and still churning out the hits, he certainly rolled back the years. Rediscovering my love for his music, is it any wonder he was my number one played artist on Apple Music for the year!
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