Sting performed at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival yesterday and put on a show that varied slightly from the usual tour shows. The weather was perfect for this outdoor event, not a cloud in the sky all day long. Wish I'd used more sunblock !!! Managed to procure a nice little spot on the lawn in the center and at the front. The countdown to Sting's appearance began ...
Sting and the band took the stage about 45 minutes late due to the previous band going over their time and the setting up taking so long. The set lasted only 1 hour and 20 minutes, but contained many interesting adaptations for this festival. Very nice to see the show in broad daylight with no effects or lighting, but the sound quality and the acoustics were not as good as they are at most of the indoor venues.
By the time that the band finally took the stage the crowd was primed. For many of the people around us it was their first time to see Sting live. That added a great energy to the event. Sting's voice was clearly showing signs of having been on the road a lot but he was having a good time nonetheless. The crowd was digging it and Sting was loving it. The whole band appeared far more relaxed than on the regular tour shows and really seemed to be enjoying themselves.
Not too many comments from Sting throughout the show, just lots of music. Dominic changed guitars out a lot (5 times), Kipper was walking using crutches with some sort of brace on his calf, Manu sported a different hat (a baseball cap), Chris smiled a lot and Sting appears to have lightened his hair. Mistakes throughout the show, but most of the audience didn't notice or didn't care. It was just a very memorable show with a great atmosphere all around.
Here's the setlist, which I think is in the correct order ... if not someone please correct me:
Encore:
Best thing about this show: spiced up versions of most of the songs.
Biggest disappointment about this show:
a) not long enough;
b) No After the Rain. Can't imagine why he didn't include it. It's one of the highlights of the show usually. Perhaps they were all tired and since it's a hard song to perform live they just left it out;
c) Jeremy wasn't there to jibe me about enjoying Seven Days or to laugh with me about the fact that Dominc really needs to buy a belt !
I made it back from Sting's performance at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in one (exhausted) piece. If you asked me as a fan how the concert went I would say excellent! But to be a little more objective...his voice sounded strained and at times the band seemed to be a little off. Just didn't quite seem to have it all together and made quite a few more mistakes than when I saw the November New Orleans concert. Maybe because they changed the set list around some. Not that I'm complaining. It was still a great concert. Tomorrow I will post the set list and an interview with Stewart Copeland, that I found in a New Orleans based music mag called Offbeat, concerning his upcoming performance with Oysterhead. If someone here has ever contributed an article to the Stingcronicity site please email and tell me what the procedure is. Thanks in advance!
An exhausted Sting fan!
I was lucky enough to wrestle my way near the front for Sting's JazzFest appearence this weekend. This meant leaving my friends behind, but I had to be close! I'm sure y'all understand.
Remember how there was a huge discussion earlier this year about Sting's bass playing maybe being a sham during this tour? Well, I can tell you he was playing this weekend and playing well. It seemed to me that he was a bit more agressive with his bass than usual. Maybe it was just mixed high (or I was standing too close to the speakers) but the bass was very obvious and it was all Sting. I'm not musically educated, but it impressed me.
Another interesting thing about JazzFest was that Sting seemed to rearrange some of his songs. I've already seen him twice on this tour (and 2 times before this) and I can usually predict how a song will be played or sung. He surprised me a few times on Sunday. The biggest difference came on Roxanne when, for lack of a better term, he replaced the extended jam in the middle of the song with something more... rocking. Don't get me wrong, I love his concert versions of Roxanne, but this time it was more aggressive -- kinda reminiscent of Demolition Man's energy. I'm not explaining this well... Did anyone else notice this?
The band really seemed to enjoy playing for us. At the end of the show Dominic mouthed to the crowd "You're the best." Sting was quoted in the local paper asking to be kept in mind for future JazzFests.
The only disappointing thing about the show was the lack of guest artists. With so much talent so readily available, I was expecting a few surprises. I mean, it's Branford's home town! Oh well.
People who were there and anyone who might know: Before the show, a young guy (mid-late teens?) was hanging out on stage not really doing much of anything. My guess was that he was a relative (son?) of Sting's. Does Sting have a son in that age range? I know the eldest son is too old to be that guy. I feel kinda stalkerish asking, but I'm curious.
Thanks for paying attention!
As promised here is the set list from Sting's performance at the NO Jazz Fest.
He then came back for an encore which included:
The crowd really reacted for ELTSDIM, and Roxanne, which were both awesome. He changed up Roxanne from when I heard it in November. I saw a lot of the younger people in the audience react when he played Desert Rose, so thumbs up to the dance mix and radio play that allows it to get to that audience.
It was so different to see Sting in a Festival atmosphere because not everyone was there to specifically see him. But he rocked the crowd all the same, looking delicious in a black muscle shirt. The crowd was huge! I just couldn't stand the thought that all those people in front of me couldn't possibly be as big a fan as me, but were closer to the stage.
Did anyone else out there catch Sting at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival yesterday? (4/30-Sunday)?
It was FABULOUS!!!!! $20 to get in and you could get as close as you were willing to inch through the crowd or "spot" your place on the grounds with a blanket, chair, ice cooler, flag, etc. early in the morning for the 5:00 pm show.
It was BEYOND standing room only. The stage was set up on one side of the Fairgrounds in the center of the race track (horses) and the crowd filled to capacity beyond the fencing, overflowing onto the race track itself and beyond. It was so cool!!! I've never been to a concert like that before, so it was as close to a NetAid or Woodstock feel that I've ever experienced. The crowd was very enthusiastic (well, 1/2 of them were really drunk by this time) but it was great seeing fans of all ages there.
My 17 year old daughter said she wouldn't mind seeing him too, so we went together. We paid our $20 at the gate and made our way through the crowd until we had a good view. My favorite of the show was "When the World is Running Down"...it reminded me of a performance he did a few years ago in L.A. for his 40th birthday. I wasn't at that performance, but I saw the video on our local PBS station here a while back and thought he really connected with the audience as he did at this show.
What made this concert fun was that I really didn't think I was going to make it. I had worked 30 hours on Thursday & Friday, and then spent all day Saturday refinishing kitchen cabinet doors (whoop de do...my sentiments exactly...it's a lousy job but somebody's gotta do it) and then my daughter had just flown in from Chicago where she had spent the Easter holidays with her sister. I picked her up from the airport and an hour before the show starts, we're flyin' down the interstate (we're 80 miles from N.O.) to try to make it in time. We thank God because we made it safely and without any speeding tickets! We got there 30 minutes after the set started but he played for 2 hours so we still got to enjoy most of the show.
I had just seen him perform at the Saenger Theatre in N.O. this past November and I couldn't believe he was back again to do this festival so soon after the last performance here. The New Orleans crowd is really a great one to be with. I've attended a concert in a "neighboring" state that wasn't anything like the ones in N.O. Must be all those years of Mardi Gras...those people know how to party and have a good time!!
It was a crazy way to go, but we had a great time together!!
Still floating 2 feet above the ground.
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