If there’s a single moment that sums up the rolling back the years, age-defying, decade-jumping joy of this stellar gig, then it has to be Bryan Adams shouting out, “18 till I die!” at the top of his voice to 10,000 people at Cardiff Castle. The title track from his last truly chart-topping album, released in 1996, sounded more relevant than ever, now that the veteran Canadian rocker is only two years off the “Someday I’ll be 18 going on 65,” line.

But going vegan in 1989 obviously had its benefits for Bryan, and with his closely trimmed hair and even trimmer frame he looks as youthful as he sounds. Not that Bryan Adams’ voice ever sounded young – sitting somewhere between Springsteen’s rasp and Bon Jovi’s belt, but far better than both – he just sounds the same as he always did.

Famously, never afraid to play the classics on tour, Adams blended new material with old, opening with the tongue-in-cheek Kick Ass from this year’s So Happy It Hurts album and then going straight into some of his bigger 1980s and 90s hits. Ever-present guitarist Keith Scott was on incredible form, letting rip on It’s Only Love and Cuts Like A Knife, showing how he’s one of the most underrated sidemen in the business. Adams had a lot of time, humility and gratitude for the whole band, namechecking them throughout and encouraging the crowd to cheer them more and more as the night went on.

And the gratitude spread to the whole audience. Obviously delighted to be back in Cardiff, where the band stops off on nearly every tour, Adams thanked the crowd for coming out and expressed the joy they all feel to be back on the road. Then the behemoths, Summer Of ‘69 and of course (Everything I Do) I Do It For You came out and you realise a few things: just how great the songwriting is, how humble this performer still is in celebrating songs that for some artists would become albatrosses, and how he must really love touring to be out on the road when the royalties from these two songs alone must be colossal.

But for Bryan, finding joy on tour is obviously an easy task. Most of the night he spent marvelling at the size of the seagulls, and gazing over at the castle keep, wondering if it was haunted or if he could get inside for a look after the show.

A surprise cover of Can’t Take My Eyes Off You was somehow kept from turning into a football fan chant by the sheer class of the band, while Run To You and Shine A Light were welcome encores before the acoustic closer All For Love summed up exactly why Bryan Adams, the band and the whole audience were there, all these years later.

Cardiff Castle, Mon 11 July

words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES photos NADINE BALLANTYNE