Bryan Adams - BBC Radio 2 Live in the Park, Hylands Park, Chelmsford, Britain, 9-6-2025

Here's another album from the 2025 BBC Radio 2 Live in the Park Festival that took place earlier this month. (I'm writing this in September 2025.) This is the set by Canadian rocker Bryan Adams.

The festival mainly took place on September 6th and 7th, 2026. I've previously posted three sets from the 6th. Adams was the headliner for that day, so his set was twice as long as the others I've posted. After this, I'll post the sets from the 7th.

Adams has been extremely successful for a very long time. He's sold close to 100 million records worldwide. He had many hit albums from the early 1980s until the late 2000s, though his sales have slowed a lot since then. His most recent album, "Roll with the Punches," was released just a week prior to this festival. He played three songs from it: "Roll with the Punches," "Make Up Your Mind," and "Never Ever Let You Go."

Other than those, he generally focused on his earlier hits. He kept banter between songs to a minimum, squeezing in a lot of songs for the time he was allotted. He's 65 years old at the time of this concert, but he still sounds energetic and good.

This album is an hour and 16 minutes.

01 Kick Ass (Bryan Adams)
02 Run to You (Bryan Adams)
03 Somebody (Bryan Adams)
04 Roll with the Punches (Bryan Adams)
05 talk (Bryan Adams)
06 18 til I Die (Bryan Adams)
07 talk (Bryan Adams)
08 Shine a Light (Bryan Adams)
09 Heaven (Bryan Adams)
10 talk (Bryan Adams)
11 Make Up Your Mind (Bryan Adams)
12 talk (Bryan Adams)
13 You Belong to Me [False Start] (Bryan Adams)
14 You Belong to Me - Blue Suede Shoes (Bryan Adams)
15 talk (Bryan Adams)
16 When You're Gone (Bryan Adams with Melanie C)
17 The Only Thing that Looks Good on Me Is You (Bryan Adams)
18 Never Ever Let You Go (Bryan Adams)
19 [Everything I Do] I Do It for You (Bryan Adams)
20 Back to You (Bryan Adams)
21 So Happy It Hurts (Bryan Adams)
22 Cuts like a Knife (Bryan Adams)
23 Summer of '69 (Bryan Adams)
24 talk (Bryan Adams)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/GBa6n6Pj

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/0yLdirePNuDCVvr/file

The cover photo is from this exact concert. 

Various Artists - Elvis: The Tribute, Pyramid Arena, Memphis, TN, 10-8-1994

Here's another interesting tribute concert, with loads of big stars. All of the songs performed were made famous by Elvis Presley. 

This concert seems to have mostly disappeared down the memory hole. An album of highlights from the concert was released, called "It's Now Or Never: The Tribute To Elvis." However, it's only 45 minutes long, containing just 15 songs. But the full two plus hour long concert was broadcast on TV at the time, so excellent sounding video footage of it exists.

This concert took place in 1994 despite the lack of any big anniversary or other important timely reason for it. Instead, the Elvis Presley estate decided that Presley's music was being forgotten by younger generations, so the concert was meant to help bring his music back into the spotlight.

As you can see from the album cover or the song list, a great many music stars performed in this concert. A few more - Jon Bon Jovi, Jeff Beck, and Cher, at least - backed out at the last minute. I found that mentioned in a newspaper article, though it didn't give a reason why. 

I used two versions of the video files of this concert, converted them to audio format, and broke them into mp3s. During that process, I cut out some material. There were several sections of a few minutes each that consisted of short films highlight different aspects of Presley's life. I removed all of those, plus their intros, since they were meant mainly to be seen, not heard. I also edited out some more talk by the announcers. However, I kept all the intros relevant to the songs. Plus, of course, I kept all the music.

The concert was mostly hosted by Karen Duffy, an MTV DJ, and singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson. But actor John Stamos introduced a few acts, and TV host Phil Donohue introduced one, and sometimes one act introduced the next one.

Occasionally, I had a little trouble with the edits at the starts and ends of songs. For instance, there were quick cuts to or away from TV commercials, as well as the short films I mentioned above. I tried my best to smooth things out, but occasionally the transitions between tracks is abrupt.

Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana, James Burton, and the Jordanaires didn't have any performances on their own. However, all of them were key backing musicians or singers for Presley. From time to time, they backed up some of the other music acts. 

All of the performances were live from the concert, with two exceptions. I think "Too Much" by NRBQ actually took place before the TV broadcast began. But I slotted it into a logical spot in the concert. And U2 didn't show up for the concert, but sent video footage of their performance to be broadcast instead.

By the way, if you want to know more about the concert, I found a New York Times article of it from the time. Here's the link (I think you have to click on Option 2 to see it):

RemovePaywall | Free online paywall remover 

This album is two hours and three minutes long.

01 talk (Karen Duffy)
02 Good Rockin' Tonight (Sammy Hagar)
03 Too Much (NRBQ)
04 Baby, Let's Play House (Michael Hutchence & NRBQ)
05 talk (Kris Kristofferson & Karen Duffy)
06 talk (Chet Atkins)
07 How's the World Treating You (Chet Atkins)
08 talk (Karen Duffy)
09 Mystery Train (Dwight Yoakam)
10 talk (Kris Kristofferson)
11 Don't Be Cruel (Marty Stuart with the Jordanaires)
12 talk (Marty Stuart)
13 All Shook Up (Cheap Trick)
14 talk (John Stamos)
15 That's Alright Mama (Kris Kristofferson)
16 talk (Kris Kristofferson)
17 One Night (Billy Ray Cyrus with the Jordanaires)
18 talk (Karen Duffy)
19 Lawdy Miss Claudy (Travis Tritt)
20 talk (Karen Duffy)
21 Blue Moon [Edit] (Chris Isaak with Scotty Moore & D.J. Fontana)
22 Love Me (Mavericks)
23 talk (John Stamos)
24 talk (Carl Perkins)
25 Blue Suede Shoes (Carl Perkins with Scotty Moore & D.J. Fontana)
26 talk (Carl Perkins)
27 Rip It Up (Iggy Pop)
28 Memories (Mac Davis)
29 talk (Mac Davis)
30 talk (Bryan Adams)
31 Hound Dog (Bryan Adams with Scotty Moore & D.J. Fontana)
32 talk (Kris Kristofferson)
33 Always on My Mind (Sam Moore)
34 talk (Karen Duffy)
35 Heartbreak Hotel (John Cale)
36 talk (Karen Duffy)
37 I Want You, I Need You, I Love You (Ann Wilson)
38 talk (Karen Duffy)
39 Teddy Bear (Tanya Tucker)
40 talk (Kris Kristofferson)
41 Trouble (Paul Rodgers)
42 talk (Phil Donahue)
43 [Marie's the Name] His Latest Flame (Scorpions)
44 Can't Help Falling in Love (U2)
45 talk (Kris Kristofferson & Karen Duffy)
46 It's Now or Never (Wet Wet Wet)
47 talk (Mac Davis)
48 Love Me Tender (Tony Bennett)
49 talk (Mac Davis)
50 Young and Beautiful (Aaron Neville)
51 talk (Mac Davis)
52 Jailhouse Rock (Michael Bolton with Scotty Moore, D.J. Fontana & Carl Perkins)
53 talk (Karen Duffy)
54 Tryin' to Get to You (Faith Hill)
55 talk (John Stamos)
56 See See Rider (Jerry Lee Lewis with James Burton & NRBQ)
57 Kentucky Rain - Suspicious Minds (Eddie Rabbitt & Mavis Staples)
58 talk (Karen Duffy)
59 Burning Love (Melissa Etheridge)
60 talk (John Stamos)
61 Amazing Grace (Billy Ray Cyrus & Everyone)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/GWnJSkKo

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/cqa2ziePj3VTmo8/file 

The cover image is a pretty weird one for this concert, but bear with me for the explanation. It depicts Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley (the daughter of Elvis Presley). They had recently gotten married at the time of this concert. (Their marriage only lasted from 1994 to 1996). The weird thing is that neither of them performed at this concert. However, they did attend it. At one point near the end, you can hear the announcer mention their names, along with those of Janet Jackson (Michael Jackson's sister) and Priscilla Presley (Lisa Marie Presley's mother). All four of them briefly stood up and waved to the crowd. 

The main reason I chose them for the cover is because this was the only decent photo from the concert that I could find. The mere fact they were at the concert made news, especially due to the fact that they had just been recently married. I think the image shows the two of them backstage before or after the concert. Even this picture was rather low-res and rough, but I used the Krea AI program to improve the image quality. 

Various Artists - Prince's Trust Rock Gala, Wembley Arena, London, Britain, 6-5-1987

I just posted the Prince's Trust concert from 1986. This is the 1987 concert. It's the same basic idea, but many of the songs and performers are different. Both are very worthwhile listens.

Like the 1986 concert, this one started with some newer musical acts. With the benefit of hindsight, some were good choices, and others... not so much (cough cough, Curiosity Killed the Cat and Go West, cough cough). But if you don't like all the artists, that's okay, because none of the first few acts lasted more than a single song.

There were fewer big name artists in this concert than the 1986 one. Plus, the entire concert was about half an hour shorter. (If, in fact, this is the whole thing - I'm not entirely sure.) But on the other hand, the finale was probably even more impressive. I'll get to that in a minute.

First though, I want to point out that, like the 1986 concert, for many of the songs, there was a backing band made up of many stars. I don't know which songs exactly, because I can't find the full video of this concert on YouTube. But, for instance, when Ben E. King sang his song, his backing band included Phil Collins on drums, Midge Ure on rhythm guitar, and Eric Clapton on lead guitar.

But the big deal was the finale. In the 1986, the biggest star was ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. But the 1987 concert outdid that by having two ex-Beatles performing together: George Harrison and Ringo Starr! Harrison's appearance was a particularly big deal because he hadn't performed in concert since his 1974 tour (other than a couple of brief appearances in the finales of other artist's concerts). 

I randomly stumbled across a description of the concert's finale in a 2015 article in Guitar World Magazine. Here it is:

"On June 5, 1987, three of the five original musicians who appeared on the classic Beatles 'White Album' track 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' reunited to perform the song live at the Prince's Trust Rock Gala in London's Wembley Arena. George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Eric Clapton were joined in an all-star U.K. band, including Elton John, Phil Collins, Jeff Lynne, Ray Cooper, and... well, if you're wondering who that understandably happy bassist is, it's Mark King from Level 42. Harrison, Starr, and Clapton last performed the song live 16 years earlier at the Concert for Bangladesh in New York City. What most interesting about this performance is the fact that A., the normally Strat-happy Clapton is playing a beautiful Gibson Les Paul, just as he did on the original 1968 recording, and B., the also-Strat-happy Harrison joins Clapton in the extended guitar solo at the end of the song. The two guitarists trade solos and feed off each other's energy, and their intertwining lines are often pretty damn cool."

In addition to that, someone, I'm guessing Clapton, played a guitar solo for "With a Little Help from My Friends," a song that normally lacked any solo. It's a shame that Jeff Lynne apparently didn't sing any of his Electric Light Orchestra hits. But he sang backing vocals on all three of the Beatles songs at the end. Given that Lynne is a huge Beatles fan, this must have been the closest he ever got to a fantasy of being a part of the Beatles, getting to sing with Harrison and Starr, with Clapton on guitar for good measure!

This album is an hour and 45 minutes long.

01 Running in the Family (Level 42 with Eric Clapton)
02 If I Was (Midge Ure)
03 Misfit (Curiosity Killed the Cat)
04 Don't Look Down (Go West)
05 Invisible (Alison Moyet)
06 Through the Barricades (Spandau Ballet)
07 [Something Inside] So Strong (Labi Siffre)
08 Run to You (Bryan Adams)
09 Hearts on Fire (Bryan Adams)
10 Somebody (Bryan Adams)
11 talk (Dave Edmunds & Bryan Adams)
12 The Wanderer (Dave Edmunds & Bryan Adams)
13 talk (Eric Clapton)
14 Wonderful Tonight (Eric Clapton)
15 Behind the Mask (Eric Clapton)
16 Stand by Me (Ben E. King)
17 talk (Phil Collins)
18 Reach Out, I'll Be There - I Can't Help Myself - Same Old Song (Phil Collins & Paul Young)
19 You've Lost That Loving Feeling (Phil Collins & Paul Young)
20 talk (Elton John)
21 Your Song (Elton John)
22 Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (Elton John)
23 talk (George Harrison & Ringo Starr)
24 While My Guitar Gently Weeps (George Harrison & Eric Clapton with Ringo Starr & Jeff Lynne)
25 Here Comes the Sun (George Harrison with Ringo Starr & Jeff Lynne)
26 With a Little Help from My Friends (Ringo Starr with George Harrison, Eric Clapton & Jeff Lynne)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/W4HtwzDd

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/6mOchiVwGJ0ZR4P/file

I searched the Internet pretty thoroughly for a color version of the group photo from this concert. All I could find was a black and white version. I tinted it blue. If anyone can find the color version, please let me know so I can upgrade this. There are way too many people in the photo for me to try to make a colorized version.

Live Aid - JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA, 7-13-1985, Part 2: Crosby, Stills and Nash, Judas Priest, Bryan Adams & The Beach Boys

Here's Part 2 of the Philadelphia portion of the 1985 Live Aid benefit concert. With this part, we generally get to bigger name acts than those in Part 1.

Later on in Live Aid, Crosby, Stills and Nash would reunite with Neil Young for a short Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young set. But first, they did a set just as Crosby, Stills and Nash. 

Next up was the heavy metal band Judas Priest. (I'll bet that was the only time CSN was followed on stage by a heavy metal band!) They were followed by Bryan Adams, then by the Beach Boys. Note that Brian Wilson, the genius who wrote most of the Beach Boys' hits, only occasionally played live with the band. But he did play Live Aid, since it was such a big occasion.

As with all the parts, I had to do a lot of work to get the recording to sound its best, including remixing the balance between vocals and the instruments for all the songs using UVR5. Also, sometimes I was able to find introductions to the musical acts, and sometimes I wasn't. As I explained previously, Live Aid wasn't professionally recorded, so sometimes when DJs talked over the introductions, they were lost. Sometimes, celebrities made the introductions. For this part, actor Jack Nicholson introduced Bryan Adams and Marilyn McCoo of the band the Fifth Dimension introduced the Beach Boys.

This album is an hour and seven minutes long.

027 Southern Cross (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
028 talk (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
029 Teach Your Children (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
030 Suite- Judy Blue Eyes (Crosby, Stills & Nash)
031 Livin' After Midnight (Judas Priest)
032 talk (Judas Priest)
033 The Green Manalishi [With the Two-Pronged Crown] (Judas Priest)
034 talk (Judas Priest)
035 You've Got Another Thing Comin' (Judas Priest)
036 talk (Jack Nicholson)
037 Kids Wanna Rock (Bryan Adams)
038 talk (Bryan Adams)
039 Summer of 69 (Bryan Adams)
040 talk (Bryan Adams)
041 Tears Are Not Enough (Bryan Adams)
042 talk (Bryan Adams)
043 Cuts like a Knife (Bryan Adams)
044 talk (Bryan Adams)
045 talk (Marilyn McCoo)
046 California Girls (Beach Boys)
047 Help Me, Rhonda (Beach Boys)
048 Wouldn't It Be Nice (Beach Boys)
049 talk (Beach Boys)
050 Good Vibrations (Beach Boys)
051 talk (Beach Boys)
052 Surfin' U.S.A. (Beach Boys)
053 talk (Bill Graham)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/CCG6sJr3 

alternate: 

https://bestfile.io/en/4xjOzfQNog1I1e8/file

For the cover, I generally noticed there are four big acts per album, so from here on in I'm dividing each cover into four parts so I can show all of them. All the photos are from Live Aid. Crosby, Stills and Nash are in the top left, Rob Halford of Judas Priest in the top right, Bryan Adams in the lower left, and Al Jardine, Mike Love, and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys in the lower right.

A Conspiracy of Hope, Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, 6-15-1986, Part 4 - Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, & Bryan Adams

This is the fourth out of five albums of the last 1986 "Conspiracy of Hope" concert, near New York City. For a description of the concert in general, check out the write-up for the first volume.

All the musical artists on the first three volumes for this concert were reasonably famous, but this is when the really big names started to be featured. The whole concert was broadcast on MTV, but only this part until the end was also broadcast on network TV.

Since these acts are better known, I hopefully don't have to say much about them. Lou Reed was famous for being in the Velvet Underground and his 1972 hit "Walk on the Wild Side," but he also had more commercial success in the 1980s, including having a minor hit in 1984 with "I Love You Suzanne." His set is 28 minutes long.

British singer Peter Gabriel had lots of success in the 1970s and 80s as a member of Genesis then a solo artist, but he arguably reached his peak of popularity in 1986, right around the time of this concert. That year, he put out the album "So," which sold five million copies in the U.S. alone. His song "Sledgehammer" even hit Number One in the U.S. His set is 38 minutes long.

Canadian singer Bryan Adams had gradually built his fame in the 1980s. By 1986, he had become a big star, thanks to the recent hits "Run to You," "Heaven," and "Summer of '69." He would go on to even bigger fame and fortune with his 1991 mega-hit, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You." His set is 25 minutes long. 

This album is an hour and 31 minutes long.

068 Rock and Roll (Lou Reed)
069 I Love You, Suzanne (Lou Reed)
070 No Money Down (Lou Reed)
071 Turn to Me (Lou Reed)
072 Walk on the Wild Side (Lou Reed)
073 Video Violence (Lou Reed)
074 talk by Bill Graham (Peter Gabriel)
075 Red Rain (Peter Gabriel)
076 Shock the Monkey (Peter Gabriel)
077 Family Snapshot (Peter Gabriel)
078 Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel)
079 San Jacinto (Peter Gabriel)
080 Biko (Peter Gabriel)
081 Run to You (Bryan Adams)
082 talk (Bryan Adams)
083 It's Only Love (Bryan Adams)
084 Straight from the Heart (Bryan Adams)
085 Tonight (Bryan Adams)
086 Summer of '69 (Bryan Adams)
087 Somebody (Bryan Adams)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/oBi9zfRs

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/7e463yuU6nd1x1c/file

The cover photo of Peter Gabriel is from this exact concert.