Rain audience will be Adams’ family

Spencer Patterson

Friday, May 7, 2004 | 8:40 a.m.

Even though the Canadian-born singer/songwriter/guitarist has two albums worth of new material in the can, he says his show at Rain at the Palms will consist entirely of old favorites.

"Most people want to hear the hits. Not many want to hear songs they don't know," Adams said in an e-mail interview with the Las Vegas Sun this week. "My album isn't out in the States and won't be until sometime in September, hopefully, so I'll probably wait to play the new songs."

That means fans can expect to hear such Top 10 hits as "Cuts Like a Knife," "Run to You," "Heaven," "Summer of '69," "Somebody" and "(Everything I Do) I Do it For You."

Though, as the 44-year-old Adams cautioned, "I play all of them. Well, maybe I skip a few. I can't play 14 albums in one night!"

Backing Adams will be his longtime band: Kevin Scott on guitar, Norm Fisher on bass, Gary Briet on keyboards and Mickey Curry on drums.

Some of the other excerpts from the email exchange, which Adams participated in from his London home.

Las Vegas Sun: How long has it been since you played Las Vegas?

Bryan Adams: March 5, 2002, to be exact. We did a special show there for DreamWorks, where we played "live to film" for a soundtrack I wrote with Hans Zimmer for "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron." Basically, it was my band and a few other musicians playing live to a movie screen. It was quite interesting.

Sun: When do you expect your new material to be released?

BA: I've just finished recording two new albums of music, which will come out this year. As of this interview, I don't have an American record deal, but I'm sure it will happen.

Sun: You've had several hits on movie soundtracks over the years. Why do you think you've been so successful at providing companion music for films?

BA: A lot of it had to do with working with film composer Michael Kamen, who recently passed away. He and I and Mutt Lange wrote lots of songs for various film projects that he was asked to write scores for.

We had three consecutive number one records together and a few of these songs went on to get nominated for Academy Awards as well. I enjoy the process of working on films. It's exciting to put your head into a character, sort of like acting, but you do it from a musical perspective. I love it.

Sun: What's your take on alt-country/indie rocker Ryan Adams' hostile reactions to fans who call out for your songs at his shows?

BA: Hey, I'm just waiting for Yan Adams to come next. Seriously, anyone that has a name so similar is probably setting themselves up for some sort of flak. But at the end of the day what's in a name? It's about the music, not the name. He's done well getting himself out there contrary to the fact that he has to deal with my legacy, so good on him.