For Adams, on tour with Def Leppard, two bands are better than one

One of last summer's musical highlights was Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson at the 12,000-capacity Campanelli Stadium in Brockton. This year, it could be an '80s rock pairing of Bryan Adams and Def Leppard at the same laid-back outdoor venue.

''If it's good enough for Dylan, it's good enough for me," Adams says with a laugh. His Brockton gig is Tuesday.

''It's the old case of one and one equals three," he adds of the officially named Rock 'n' Roll Double-Header Tour. ''If it was just on our own we would have done OK, but it wouldn't have made as much impact."

Adams and Leppard are alternating as headliners from town to town (Adams will go on first in Brockton), both playing hour-and-a-half sets. ''I think people will be waning if we do more than that," he says. ''But the tour has been going really well. . . . It's the first time I've played with Leppard, but it's not a stretch at all."

A huge '80s and '90s hit maker with such songs as ''Cuts Like a Knife," ''Summer of '69," ''Run to You," and ''(Everything I Do) I Do It for You," Adams largely disappeared for a while but has come back with ''Room Service," his first nonsoundtrack studio album in six years. It's no radical departure from his past work, but it's a solid effort, with some sensitive ballads and some rock, too.

The basic tracks were done in Vancouver, but the vocals and overdubs were done on tour in 25 different hotels -- all of which are named on the disc. ''You've got 24 hours a day -- two hours to play and 22 hours to sit around," Adams says. ''So I was just trying to find something to do which was creative with my time."

The Canadian-born Adams, the son of a diplomat, lives in London and has a very civilized life by most rock standards. He tours no more than 10 days a month, preferring to spend the rest of his time at home.

''I've been doing it that way for six years," he says. ''You've got to be able to put some roots down once in a while. At the inception of that idea, I got a lot of resistance from my management and road crew. I said, 'Well, you know what? Whoever doesn't want to do it, it's OK, I understand. But you guys can go work somewhere else.' And no one left the tour and everyone is still there after six years. And within a few months, people came up to me and said, 'You know what? I thought I was going to hate this, but I love it.' "

Adams doesn't have any children; he just likes his private time. ''I love being at home and getting out on my bike and having dinner with my mates," he says. ''And I also find when I do go back to touring or recording, I come back much fresher."

He is also an accomplished photographer whose most recent book is ''American Women"; proceeds go to helping fight breast cancer. The book was sponsored by Calvin Klein and has first-rate portraits of such women as Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lindsay Lohan, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tina Turner, and Marlo Thomas.

Beach music: The Beachcomber in Wellfleet has Badfish and Roots Down Below tonight, Addison Groove Project tomorrow, and Roomful of Blues on Sunday; the Sea Note in Hull offers the Funky White Honkies tonight, the Love Dogs tomorrow, and Fat City Band on Sunday; the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom has an all-ages show with Aaron Carter tonight.

Bits and pieces: Mest has been added to the main stage of the Warped Tour, joining the Offspring, My Chemical Romance, and the Transplants at Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton on Aug. 15. . . . Jam band moe. has been named the opening act for the Allman Brothers Band at the Tweeter Center Aug. 20, and Bob Weir & Ratdog will open there for the Steve Miller Band Aug. 26. . . . Morcheeba releases a new album Sept. 27; Depeche Mode issues a new CD in October and launches a US tour that month. . . . The Newton History Museum at the Jackson Homestead presents a folk series with Garnet Rogers (July 12), Bill Staines (July 19), and Connie Kaldor (July 26). More details at 617-796-1450 or Newtonhistorymuseum.org. . . . Popular country-soul artist Big Al Downing has been hospitalized with leukemia. Cards can be addressed to Big Al Downing, 65 Watson St., Leicester, MA 01524. . . . Tonight: The Grift at the Middle East Downstairs, Alto Reform School and Bad Saints at Johnny D's, Kings of Nuthin' at T.T. the Bear's Place. . . . Tomorrow: Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul at Boarding House Park in Lowell, the Gin Blossoms at the North Shore Music Theatre in Beverly.