We saw both of Canada’s raspy voiced singers in the past four days, both a London’s John Labatt Centre. We enjoyed Brian Adams on Saturday night and Johnny Reid on Tuesday. Yes, they are raspy voiced when they’re singing rock but they can also both sing a beautiful ballad.
Brian rocked the place with all his old favourites – The Kids Wanna Rock, Summer of ’69, Cuts Like a Knife, Run to You, and my favourite, Everything I do (I do it for you) from the movie Robin Hood. Now in his fifties, Brian was full of energy and along with his long-time guitar player, Keith Scott, he had the crowd with him all evening.
Johnny is also full of energy, bouncing through the entire show. A Scottish-Canadian, he charms the audience with his hint of an accent. He even danced his way around the entire arena, singing the whole time, shaking hands and hugging as many fans as he could. In fact, he flirted with every woman and girl in the audience. Dancing Shoes, Let’s have a Party, Right out of the Blue and Let’s Go Higher were on his set list and he often invited the audience to sing along which they did with gusto. Fire it Up, complete with pyrotechnics, was also a crowd pleaser.
Both Bryan and Johnny are great entertainers with an instinct for giving the crowd what they want. They are also brilliant song-writers. And they both know how to make the most of those raspy voices.