Bryan Adams Records Acoustic Show at Pompeii
Canadian musician Bryan Adams recently performed in Pompeii, Italy, as part of his Bare Bones acoustic tour. The concert, recorded on November 4, 2025, took place in the ancient amphitheater of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and captured the essence of a stripped-back live performance.
“Everywhere I go, the kids wanna rock,”
Forty years after he first sang those words, Adams proved their truth again, using only his voice, an acoustic guitar, a piano, and his timeless songs. The Bare Bones tour featured select shows in cities such as Rome, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Scotland, culminating in this memorable evening at Pompeii.
Sound Engineering Approach
Front-of-house engineer Stefan Holtz mixed the show using a locally rented digital console, choosing a minimalist setup that emphasized clarity and authenticity over heavy processing.
“People want to feel as if Bryan were standing right in front of them without a microphone,”
Holtz, who has worked with Adams since 2023, said that his goal was to make the technology invisible so the audience could fully experience the performance. He used a Neumann KM 185 microphone on the acoustic guitar along with its built-in pickup for a balanced, natural sound, while Adams’s vocals were captured with a custom-modified KMS 104 Plus.
“We tried it, and Bryan, monitors, and FOH all agreed immediately: this is a real step forward,”
Author’s Summary
Bryan Adams delivered an intimate acoustic performance at Pompeii, where pure sound engineering and historic ambiance merged to create a timeless live recording.