This is going to be a stream of consciousness letter.
I just returned from one of the best Sting shows I've ever seen. To put it in perspective, of the 20 something times I've seen Sting, this was in the top three. He hasn't sounded this strong since '87.
He had a large band. 4 horns, 3 singers - Dolette MacDonald, Janice Pendarvis, and Monica Price, in addition to Kenny Kirkland, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Dominic Miller. Special guest star Branford Marsalis joined the band for about half the show.
Sting's voice was as strong as its ever been. He's extremely well rested. His voice usually roughens up about 2-3 months into a tour. Dominic Miller impressed me more than usual. Branford was, well, Branford.
He opened with "If I ever lose my Faith," then "If you love somebody". He then played the first half of Mercury Falling. Fantastic album.
From what I can tell, it has a very almost 60s Memphis sound to a lot of it. There wasn't a dud song in the set. He then played a great version of "7 days," and the order of the rest of these gets hazy. He did the new version of "Beds too Big without you" with Monica Price singing the Ranking Roger part. She sings it well. The second half of the album was equally fantastic. (He played the entire Mercury Falling album.) Those of you in the states will be dismayed to learn that one of the best songs "25 to Midnight," will not be on the US release. "La Belle Sans Regret," was a great Jobim-like bossa nova, sung in French. There's also a very convincing Country & Western song on the album.
Also played were "This Cowboy Song, Synchronicity II, Roxanne, She's too Good For Me, Englishman in NY (of course), and Nothing Bout Me. He closed the first encore with "Lithium Sunset," a song I'm hoping will hit number one this summer. He came out to play guitar for Fragile, for his final number." I think that was everything.
The Academy holds 1500 people, but the 500 in the balcony were reserved for VIPs only. Among those I spotted at the show were Brad Pitt and his girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow, Robin Williams, Miles and Ian Copeland, and Trudie. I'm sure there were lots more, but I was too busy watching the show to look up in the balconies.
For the 1000 people on the floor, anyone could have gotten within 20-30 feet of Sting if they wanted to slide in towards the stage.
Tickets outside were going for $200 each.
I'm sure there's more stuff I cant think of now, but it was such a phenomenal show that I'm a bit out of it.
Catch this tour - it's easily his best in 10 years.
Well Katie and I just got back from the concert. It was incredibly incredible. About 1000 people, and we stood in the third row. He played everything off of the new album, including 25 to midnight (which was not on the setlist, and was, which he claimed wasn't on the album! Branford Marsalis guested.
There were many celebrities there including Peter Gabriel, Robin Williams, Steven Wright, Trudie and family, Brad Pitt and his fiancee Gwyneth Paltrow.
Katie threw a note up to him, which he read (after Englishman in NY). It said something like "Dear Sting, will you go to the prom with me (just kidding!). Will please play I Miss You Kate; I've never heard it. Love Kate Kilroy." It was pretty cool.
We got there at about 4:30 for an 7:00 entrance. Since this place was so small, there was no back door, and Sting and Co. had to enter through the front. Katie got his autograph, and we both touched him and all. After the show everybody had to leave by the same door, so we hung around outside. I got to shake Dominic's hand, Robin Williams said "Hi, dear" to Katie. Kenny and Vinnie and the backup singers were really nice, stopping to talk with everybody. We got **lots** of pictures.
Sting also said that he wrote the French song since French radio was banning English songs, and that way he could get air time!
Here's the setlist:
This was probably the best concert I've been to, and only backstage passes could have made it better!
What can I say that hasn't already been said? It was fantastic. That's the closest I've been to the stage since 1978 (Kate and Adit, you must have been standing about 10 feet from me. It was funny when you threw the note onstage, and even funnier when you made Sting chuckle with the line, "Can you please play 'I Miss You Kate' because I've never heard it!").
There wasn't a snowball's chance in hell to tape the show, well, not for me anyway, since there was barely enough room to move, let alone try and tape. But we didn't care. It was worth it to be squished in like sardines.
My favorite moments: Sting announcing that he wanted to start the tour in NYC because if the new material works for NY it will work anywhere. Branford coming on as a special guest, Kenny doing magic things with the keyboards, the entire audience (Brad Pitt included!) singing along to old favorites in full voice. Yes, there were plenty of celebs in the VIP area upstairs. We shouted "Nanu nanu" to Robin Williams and sang "Biko" to Peter Gabriel, and waved to Brad and Gwyneth, who waved back to us from their balcony seats, looking like the Queen and King of England! Judy Geeson (British actress, maybe best known for "To Sir With Love", was standing outside next to the NY Times trucks, and Miles Copeland was running around like a lunatic, which is his wont to do).
A truly fantastic time!
Also, we found out that VH-1 had done extensive interviews with Sting all afternoon and that they had taped the concert. (They were also interviewing fans outside after the show. Of course, someone yelled "Bababooey" at the camera. To all you Stern fans, you know how funny that is).
This is one night I won't forget for a long time, if ever. I'm looking forward to seeing his again this summer!
I think Eric covered most of the highlights of the show, and I agree with everything he said. The show was just awesome. I got in line about four hours before show time and I'm really glad I did. At around 4:30, Dominic Miller, Vinnie Coluita, and the rest of the band pulled up in a van, and got out right in front of the twenty or so of us that were there, and we got to say hi to them. Then, the best part. About ten minutes later, a Lincoln Continental pulls up right in front of the Academy, Sting hops out, gets his bass from the trunk, and I'm right there to shake his hand and say a few words to him. It was unbelievable. I'll never forget that moment.
Then, of course, the show. I was one of the first people in, and got center left, first row, about ten feet from sting. Before the show, Peter Gabriel walks in to the balcony and waves down to us in the crowd. At this point it gets a little unreal, as Robin Williams enters the balcony. I also spot Calvin Klein, Miles Copeland, and Brad Pitt and about a couple hundred record execs in business suits up in the balcony. I knew this show was going to amazing even before it began. Then Sting comes out, plays "If I Ever Lose My Faith". It sounds great. The rest of the show went as Eric described. It lasted for about two and half hours. Highlights for me were "Synchronicity II", "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" (sounded ten times better than on SNL and on the single), "Englishman In New York" with everyone on their feet chanting "be yourself, no matter what they say" for about a minute, "Seven Days", "Roxanne" (of course), and finally "Fragile", with Sting on the acoustic guitar. The new songs were phenomenal. The new album is going to be again be a masterpiece. Forget the talk about Sting "mellowing out", the songs all have the classic Sting edge and there are some great songs he played that I can't wait to hear on the cd. This was Sting at his best. He was very exuberant (he even got a little air under his feet after playing roxanne, reminiscent of his police days). There's also a four man horn section on this tour which really completes the sound. Again, this show was amazing. I'll never forget yesterday. VH-1 was there taping the show, so expect a special on it in the coming months. I'll be the guy in the front with my hands in the air half the time. Sting is the man.
I'm still coming down from my post-concert high! With all the "Oh, no! Sting sucks now!" talk going on about his new songs recently, I must say I was completely delighted by them! Maybe it was the concert format, but they all rocked! Lithium Sunset really moved, and it was a fitting song to use as background while Sting thanked the band at the end.
I do have a question for anyone else who was there (well, two, actually) -- did anyone notice something weird about one of the verses to Synch II? The music didn't fit, and Sting had to change the way he was singing until they got it right again. It was the verse that begins "Another working day has ended..." or "Daddy grips the wheel and stares alone into the distance..." I can't remember which.
ALSO -- If anyone has a copy of this concert, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me know. Considering that the man read my name off my note, you can imagine that I would give *anything* to have a copy.
One other thing -- perhaps someone has mentioned it, but All Four Seasons has the same bass line as When We Dance. During the intro to the song, before he started singing, I was trying to place the song, and all I could think of was "I had a dream last night, dreamt you were here by my side." Then he launched into something I had never heard before. At the end of the song, though, he sang that verse from WWD. (I checked out Martin Nickel's home page with the lyrics to AFS, and those don't appear in the album version.) Perhaps he's still trying to get WWD the attention he thought it deserved.
Okay, time to do some work!
Please forgive this self-indulgent post - it won't happen again!
I have been enjoying everyone else's memories of Saturday nights concert and thought I would add my in. I believe that that was the closest I have ever been to Sting. I was in the second row directly in front of Dom. IMHO that was the one of the best Sting performance I have seen (out of about 12).
I did recognize Katie's name when he read her note. (And it made me jealous that I didn't think to do something like that!!) I felt that Sting's voice was VERY strong-- some of those notes he held went on forever!! Did anyone else pick up on the fact that in "The Beds to Big Without You" he neglected the lyrics : "Made love to my pillow but it didn't seem right"?
The only thing (other than meeting Sting) that would have made this concert better would have been if Peter joined Sting for a song. Although I know that my boyfriend would not have been able to handle that. (He is the ultimate PG fan)
Anyways it was a great performance by a great performer; if anyone has a copy of the concert I would be very interested.......
The Mercury Falling songs were great!!! Sting kept commenting on how hard it is to listen to new music.. I really enjoyed the new music!
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