Bryan Adams saw his research bear fruit 15 years ago when he wowed fans at his Dundee gig with his knowledge of the city’s magnificent marmalade.
The raspy-voiced Canadian rock giant spread the love by showing he cared enough to research the city’s past glories, telling tales between the tunes.
Adams had audience members out of their seats (and eating out of the palm of his hand) when he performed the intimate date at the Caird Hall.
He was in the UK to promote his new album, 11.
Although he wasn’t initially meant to be playing in Dundee.
In March 2008 he announced a full UK arena tour with his band which would start in Nottingham on October 25 and finish up at the 02 in London on December 5.
There would also be dates in Glasgow, Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham and Cardiff to promote the release of the 11th album of his career.
Adams wanted to be playing every night
Adams was no longer releasing albums at the pace he set early in his career – five records in the first seven years – but he didn’t seem too interested in slowing down.
In fact, he could barely stand taking a day off.
Nearer the time, he decided to begin filling holes in his schedule with solo acoustic shows and announced a performance at the Caird Hall on October 26 2008.
“Sitting in a hotel isn’t my idea of being on tour,” Adams said.
“I just can’t stand sitting around doing nothing.
“With these acoustic shows, I can book every day on tour.
“And I like being able to show up with just my guitar.
“I can cover a lot more ground, and it frees up my work.”
It was no surprise the singer had decided to perform in the city.
He was armed with the knowledge that some of his biggest fans were from Dundee.
Bryan Adams played two memorable shows in 2001
Adams had brought his stadium-filling anthems to the Caird Hall in January 2001, which came about through his desire to play in front of Scottish audiences again.
All 2,300 tickets for the evening concert sold out in 48 hours.
Adams didn’t have another free date on the calendar so he instead decided to perform a second show during the afternoon to cope with the overwhelming demand.
“I am really looking forward to coming to Dundee, and I’m delighted the response has been so good that we are now doing two shows,” he said at the time.
“That is terrific.”
Adams said his heroes were The Beatles and the Rolling Stones — ironically, both bands in the 1960s had also played two concerts in the same day at the famous venue.
Mind you, neither of those bands performed two lung-busting two-hour sets!
Both shows were a huge success, as Adams and his band powered through songs from his then-latest album alongside his extensive back catalogue of greatest hits.
Fast-forward seven years and there were similar scenes when Adams announced the solo acoustic show just three weeks before his UK arena tour got under way.
His Dundee fans snapped up the tickets — looking forward to witnessing their hero delivering a bare-bones approach with just his trusty old six-string for company.
The singer didn’t disappoint.
The Courier reported: “Canadian rocker Bryan Adams wowed fans at the Caird Hall in Dundee last night.
“The chart-topping superstar played an acoustic set comprising high points from his 30-year career to a packed hall of appreciative fans.
“The stripped-down sound saw Bryan on stage alone with a guitar for most of the gig, although he was joined by his band’s pianist, Gary Breit, for some songs.
“The intimate atmosphere was enhanced by the singer’s between-song banter, which took in the history of Dundee’s long association with marmalade and the unreliability of internet reports.”
Adams knew all about Keiller’s world-famous marmalade.
For the first half of the 19th Century, the firm’s brand of Dundee marmalade, available to the working classes at prices they could afford, was the forerunner of today’s best-selling brands.
The firm was favoured by the royal family, who visited the Mains Loan factory – including Princess Diana in 1983.
Adams, ironically enough, was Diana’s favourite rock singer.
He was well-versed and had clearly done his homework!
During the show he spoke about his life and times.
It turned out that had Santa not delivered the “wrong” Christmas present, those same Dundee fans may never have heard his dulcet tones that evening.
He revealed how he asked for a drum kit for Christmas, but his dad got him a guitar instead, reckoning it would be more “neighbour friendly”.
Adams has been Waking Up The Neighbours ever since.
Canadian star’s biggest song was Caird Hall crowd-pleaser
In Dundee he performed 30 songs during the two-hour show including Cuts Like A Knife, Summer of ’69, Please Forgive Me and Can’t Stop This Thing We Started.
And, of course, one song in particular was greeted with more rapture than any other, his smash-hit (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, which was the theme from the Kevin Costner film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
The record sold several million copies worldwide, and was at No. 1 in the charts for 16 weeks, smashing the previous record held by Slim Whitman by several weeks.
Despite his phenomenal success, Adams proved he was a down-to-earth guy and said he knew it was a great song but never imagined it would be such a hit all over the world.
Adams also spoke of his love of the Scottish people and the country’s scenery.
The Courier concluded: “The event, which was one of only two acoustic shows on his UK tour, was added to the schedule at the last minute earlier this month.
“With tickets only going on sale three weeks ago, the almost-full venue was testament to the 48-year-old’s continued drawing power.”
Drawing power?
Adams also showed plenty of staying power when he returned to these parts in August 2016 and was almost blown off stage when he performed an open-air gig in Montrose.
High winds throughout the afternoon put the open-air gig in serious doubt but Adams shrugged off the elements and delivered another epic Tayside performance.
He is certainly due a return visit soon.