Bryan Adams kicked off the fall U.S. leg of his 2025 Roll with the Punches Tour, with support act Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo, on Saturday, October 25, at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. As you’d expect, Benatar & Giraldo and Adams treated fans to hit-packed sets, while both acts also delivered a few surprises during the evening.
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After a hit-packed, 11-song set by the 2022 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees showcasing Benatar’s powerhouse vocals and Giraldo’s blazing rock-guitar riffing, Adams began headlining performance at a small stage in the back of the arena.
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Upon entering the arena fans were given wristbands with little white boxes attached. As soon as Adams began singing, the wristbands lit up with red lights, which then turned white. Throughout the show, the bracelets lit up with various colors at different times, transforming the stands into a constantly changing light show.
From the small stage, Bryan performed solo with an acoustic guitar, and the crowd began singing along with him basically from the first note. After playing his respective 1991 and 1983 hits “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started” and “Straight from the Heart,” the 65-year-old Canadian rocker then made his way to the main stage where he joined his band.
The show featured a total of 27 songs, with a set that bounced around to various periods in Adams’ long career. Bryan’s reedy voice was as clear and strong as ever. Depending on the song, Adams played bass, acoustic guitar, or electric guitar.
About the Main Part of Adams’ Concert
After getting the arena rocking with “Kick Ass,” from his 2022 album, So Happy It Hurts, Adams played two big hits from his multiplatinum 1984 album, Reckless—the rocking “Run to You” and the pop-rock anthem “Somebody.”
Other major hits featured in the show included “Please Forgive Me,” and the chart-topping ballads “Heaven,” and “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You.”
Three songs from Adams’ 2025 studio album, Roll with the Punches, were showcased—the title track, “Make Up Your Mind,” and “Never Ever Let You Go.” During the performance of “Roll with the Punches,” a giant boxing glove-shaped balloon featuring the album title floated above the arena floor.
At one point, Bryan gave a shout-out to his friend, the late Tina Turner, and proceeded to play their hit duet, “It’s Only Love,” from Reckless.
An especially fun part of the concert took place when Adams got many in the crowd to display their best moves while he performed his 2025 tune “You Belong to Me.” A cameraman captured various people in the audience dancing along to the rockabilly-flavored tune, and the footage was projected on the giant video screen behind the stage. The dancing continued as Bryan and his band kicked into the Carl Perkins classic “Blue Suede Shoes,” followed by The Beatles’ memorable Isley Brothers cover “Twist and Shout.”
Some Other Highlights
The show also featured an interlude where Adams played two songs requested by the audience. Both tunes were from Reckless—the hit “One Night Love Affair” and the deep cut “She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancin’.”
A bit later, Adams poignantly introduced his 97-year-old mother, who sat watching the concert in a wheelchair near the side of the stage. He then played a solo acoustic version of his 1998 duet with the Spice Girls’ Melanie C, “When You’re Gone.” After finishing the tune, Bryan sweetly blew a kiss to his mom.
Adams’ mother appeared again on the arena’s giant screen a few songs later, when Bryan played the title track of So Happy It Hurts. Footage of the tune’s music video was shown during the performance, and the clip features Adams driving a convertible with his mom in the passenger seat.
The Concert’s Finale
Adams ended the main part of his show with his enduring 1984 singalong anthem, “Summer of ’69,” and the title track from his 1983 breakthrough album, Cuts Like a Knife.
Bryan then made his way back to the small stage at the far end of the arena. He brought the concert to a close with solo acoustic performance of his 1993 No. 1 hit “All for Love.” The original version of the song featured Adams singing with Rod Stewart and Sting, and appeared on the soundtrack of the action-adventure-comedy flick The Three Musketeers.
About Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo’s Set
To start the show, Benatar and Giraldo—her longtime husband, guitarist, and songwriting partner—got the crowd all fired up with her 1988 hit, um, “All Fired Up.” Pat’s recording of the song, a cover of 1987 tune by Australian country-rock act Rattling Sabres, reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. Right off the bat, Benatar’s powerhouse vocals shone through, complemented by Giraldo’s blistering riffs.
Next up was the 1985 power ballad “Invincible,” a song that served as the theme of the action-drama film The Legend of Billy Jean. The tune, which was written by Holly Knight and Simon Climie, peaked at No. 10 on the Hot 100.
Benatar then dug deeper into her catalog for “Ties That Band,” a song from her 1993 album Gravity’s Rainbow. The tune was co-written by Giraldo and Pat’s former touring drummer Myron Grombacher.
Acknowledging that the show was the concert of the new tour, Benatar commented, “Anything could happen, and it probably will.” She then introduced what she described as the first personal song that she and her husband wrote together, the dynamic 1981 rocker “Promises in the Dark.”
Next up was Benatar’s hit 1983 power ballad “Shadows of the Night,” performed by just her and Giraldo and boasting a reworked rhythm.
Benatar Introduces Brand-New Tune, Followed by More Classics
Benatar then introduced a brand-new song that’s apparently titled “Come On People.” The tune featured a positive message calling for people to come together in unity.
Giraldo then sat down at the piano, as Benatar sat next to him and sang one of her biggest hits, “We Belong.” Pat’s version of the tune, co-written by the duo of David Eric Lowen and Dan Navarro, reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 in 1984.
Benatar then ramped up the intensity with her hard-rocking 1980 song “Hell Is for Children.” She, Giraldo, and then-bassist Roger Capps co-wrote the tune about the horrors of child abuse.
That was followed by “You Better Run,” a 1966 hit by The Young Rascals that Pat famously covered in 1980.
As Benatar’s set neared its end, she kicked into arguably her most famous song, “Love Is a Battlefield.” The 1983 smash, which was co-written by Holly Knight and Mike Chapman, peaked at No. 5 on Hot 100 and won Pat a Grammy in the Best Female Rock Vocal Performance category.
To close out her performance, Benatar introduced “the one that started it all,” her rocking 1979 hit “Heartbreaker.” “Heartbreaker” was Pat’s first Top-40 single in the U.S., reaching No. 23 on the Hot 100. Sandwiched in the middle of their performance of the song, Benatar and Giraldo kicked into the Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire.”
Adams and Benatar & Giraldo’s Upcoming Tour Plans
Adams’ U.S. tour with Benatar & Giraldo continued with a concert on October 26 at TD Garden in Boston. The next show is scheduled for Wednesday, October 29 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
The trek is plotted out through a November 26 performance at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Adams also has a bevy of international dates lined up trough an April 26, 2026, concert in Durban, South Africa. Check out his full itinerary at BryanAdams.com.
Bryan Adams’ Set List, Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, CT – 10/25/2025
- “Can’t Stop This Thing We Started”
- “Straight from the Heart”
- “Kick Ass”
- “Run to You”
- “Somebody”
- “Roll with the Punches”
- “18 til I Die”
- “Please Forgive Me”
- “Take Me Back”
- “It’s Only Love”
- “Shine a Light”
- “Heaven”
- “Never Ever Let You Go”
- “This Time”
- “Make Up Your Mind”
- “You Belong to Me”/“Blue Suede Shoes”
- “Twist and Shout”
- “One Night Love Affair”
- “She’s Only Happy When She’s Dancin’”
- “Here I Am”
- “When You’re Gone”
- “The Only Thing That Looks Good on Me Is You”
- “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You”
- “Back to You”
- “So Happy It Hurts”
- “Summer of ’69”
- “Cuts Like a Knife”
- “All for Love”
Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo Set List
- “All Fired Up”
- “Invincible”
- “Ties That Bind”
- “Promises in the Dark”
- “Shadows of the Night”
- “Come On People”
- “We Belong”
- “Hell Is for Children”
- “You Better Run”
- “Love Is a Battlefield”
- “Heartbreaker”/“Ring of Fire”
(Photos by Khoi Ton/Mohegan Sun)
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