CANADIAN rock star Bryan Adams kicked off a series of summer concerts in Llangollen with a bang on Tuesday night.

The Royal International Pavilion was packed with fans young and old as the multi-million selling recording artist started events ahead of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

Support act Cassyette opened the evening fresh off the back of performing at Download Festival at the weekend.

Her pop-metal tunes and impressive vocal range got the crowd nicely warmed up before the main act.

Ahead of Adams’ arrival on stage, the audience was treated to the unusual sight of an inflatable drone-powered car flying round the venue advertising his 2022 album, So Happy It Hurts.

The singer and his band were greeted with a loud roar as they quickly took flight into classic songs like 'Can't Stop This Thing We Started' and '18 Til I Die'.

The lyrics of the latter tune felt particularly poignant as the performer’s youthful exuberance belied his 64 years of age.

His enthusiasm rubbed off onto those watching as they joyously danced and sang the night away, with the power ballad 'Heaven' blasted out with aplomb.

The passage of time felt like a recurrent theme throughout the set, and it was midway through that Adams paid tribute to the late Tina Turner.

He revealed the rock and soul legend was a longtime friend of his and played his 1984 hit 'It’s Only Love', on which she featured, in Turner’s honour.

The fun then resumed as he initiated a dance competition during 'You Belong To Me' which was won by an 11-year-old boy called Dylan.

As a reward, Adams invited him up on stage to meet the band and he was even given a pair of drumsticks and a t-shirt.

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It was a nice touch which will have given the youngster memories to treasure for years to come.

If there’s one song which most people were waiting for then it was 'Everything I Do' - that earworm from the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves soundtrack which felt like it was number one for about half of the 90s.

Phones were held aloft, and Adams held the audience in the palm of his hand as it was rolled out towards the close.

As if to remind you that he is far, far more than a one hit wonder, it was soon followed by the back-to-back anthems of 'Summer of '69' and 'Run to You'.

With his absurdly talented band having displayed their chops throughout the show, proceedings ended on a more intimate note as the singer performed the encore alone on an acoustic guitar.

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He dedicated his final song 'Straight From The Heart' to his 96-year-old mother Jane, saying: “She’s the one that gave me a chance to be the rock and roll delinquent that I am today, and I’m grateful to her for every minute of it.”

It was a beautiful way to end a memorable night and a performance which set a very high benchmark for the likes of Sir Tom Jones and the Manic Street Preachers to follow over the next few weeks.

Adams admitted towards the end of the gig that he was unaware that Llangollen existed until recently.

However, after the rapturous reception he received in the town, it’s unlikely that he will forget the place in a hurry.