KARACHI: Canadian rocker Bryan Adams thrilled 10,000 fans at a concert in Karachi on Sunday night, the first big show by a Western singer in Pakistan in decades, to help students affected by country’s October 8 earthquake.

Adams, who performed most of his hits and moved the audience with ‘Summer of 69’, said he was glad to discover new fans in Pakistan.

“I am here because this city has a special love for music,” the singer greeted his fans at the Arabian Sea Club on the outskirts of Karachi, as hundreds of Pakistani police guarded roads and checked vehicles leading to the venue.

The Canadian rocker said before the show that he was excited to help the victims of the earthquake in northern Pakistan.

“The whole idea of coming to Pakistan is very exciting on many levels ... we are the first Western artists to come and play a big concert here,” the singer told a news conference.

“We are going to raise a lot of money hopefully to help rebuild some schools in the areas that have been devastated.”

Over 17,000 of the more than 73,000 killed in the quake were children who died in schools destroyed in the quake. About 3mn people were left homeless by the disaster.

Adams, who was to meet President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Islamabad yesterday, said he had no worries about coming to Pakistan. - Reuters