Hey y'all, It's Saturday 6/29 at 1:10 p.m., and I'm just now coming down from the high of the concert last night in Atlanta.
First of all, it was difficult to think coherently because our seats were so close that we could count chest hairs. (Okay, forget my previous comments about all I wanted from Sting was his mind.) Once I got past that, I realized that I was right in front of Kenny and the horns. Although I really enjoyed the TST tour with David S., I have to say that Kenny and the horn section really made this tour great. I took a survey of my group, and we all agreed that they really infused energy into the whole show. The footwork stepped up of course, but they also did silly things too, interacting which the crowd a whole lot more. (Yes, we even liked the rap segment.) I found that Sting didn't just stand up there and sing like he did in Charlotte the last time I saw him, but he really worked the crowd.
As a bonus, we all thought that the light show was really a whole lot better this time 'round over the TST tour. It really focused on mood changes, which were right in step with the music. One girl in my group spent the entire time looking at this (and she wasn't on LSD either).
Truthfully, the set was the same posted from the Memphis show with the inversion of "I Was Brought to My Senses" before "I Hung My Head." Everything else was the same. But my friends and I didn't care. Sting was in good voice throughout except for some pitch breaks during the intro ballad to IWBTMS. My husband, Peter, thought that all of the improv. riffs were great except for what they tried to do on "Synchronicity II." In trying to do the slide-feedback move coming back to the last verse, Dominic kept on the feedback with everyone else with him while Sting came back in with the vocals. At that point, I heard a really loud "ERRRRRRGH" from Peter. But, Peter noted that the same transition was used during Roxanne (the next song), and it worked well. Speaking of Dominic, he did the job well (overall), but he (regardless of what he said on VH1 to One) doesn't play the Police cuts like Andy does. I don't think it's possible. But we took a vote and gave him a "10" 'cause we could dance to him.
BTW, Vinnie was Vinnie: rock solid. Though, we couldn't help but chuckle as the band members counted out the rhythm to "I Hung My Head." Kenny's left foot did a great job! The horn section had their's masked in a footwork bit that alternated from leg to leg. Speaking of rhythm, I had never noticed before that Sting was kind enough to stop the audience and restart them so that the clapping would be in time. (A band directing career could have been his!)
Overall, we have to say that this was definitely worth the dough. I even bought a program (for the pics, of course).
Hope others share their thoughts about it all.
I have many, many words to tell you about the concert, but I'll make it as short as I can. IT WAS THE GREATEST!!!!!!!!!! I'll start by telling you about Natalie's performance. She did a great job opening for Sting. She wore a dress that was covered with flowers, and she was as cute as ever. These are the songs she did:
Now for the part you've been waiting for. Sting and his band were EXCELLENT. Sting was wearing a green tank top, your favorite pair of leather pants and boots. Dominic had his usual long hair. The venue Sting played at is called Lakewood Ampitheatre and they have a big screen so the people on the lawn can see better and I noticed Dominic has a Greatful Dead sticker on his guitar. Kenny looked the same as he does on the YSTM video. I actually heard him do some background singing. When Sting and the band first get on stage, Sting says that he's glad to be back in the US and that it was great to be back in Atlanta. Now for the set list:
During the concert, Sting does about 2 jumps and he dances some with the horn players. And there was actually a little time between songs. Mad About You was great. The sax was very good and IMHO it makes the song a lot better. The version of Englishman wasn't the same as in the TST tour. The rap makes the song different, but it adds about as much to the song as does the rap in Bring on the Night (the live double cd). Demolition was neither the Police nor the movie version. It was played the way it is on Bring on the Night, but it was totally rocking. Lithium Sunset wasn't changed very much, but there is a lot more instrumental playing and it was louder than you would expect.
Kenny was incredible! On Bring on the Night/When the World.... he did some great solo playing, you'll see just how good he is when he gets to you. I was able to see Vinnie every now and then on the big screen and yes he did smoke, but not through the whole concert, and was rocking. Sting invited the crowd to sing on a couple of songs. Roxanne didn't really go as well as I had hoped it would. I don't think backing tracks were used for Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot, if they were, I didn't hear it.
The person I took with me to the concert wasn't as big a fan as I was, but I am pleased to say that he was very impressed and actually sang along with a couple of songs, so I think I raised his awareness of Sting a couple noches, maybe more.
I went to the Atlanta concert on Friday night and it was fantastic! The set list is the same as the other USA shows (big surprise). But I still loved to see him perform live. I thought that the horn section really added a lot to the show. The sax guy was good, but he was no substitiute for Branford (imagine having to sub for Branford). The trombone guy kicked ass! He played great trombone solos in some of the least expected places. For example, the trombone solo in "Roxanne" and his backing part in "Mad About You" were awesome. Now, I consider myself a Police fan first and foremost, so if someone had told me that there would be a trombone solo in certain Police songs I probably would have been ticked off. But trust me, it sounds so good. I met him after the show and he really is a great player (he even pulled out a tuba for "Englishman in New York.") Vinnie was great (as usual), and Kenny was phenonmenal. "Bring on the Night/When the World..." was probably the most energentic song live, and Kenny's solo blew the crowd away. Sting actually had some good moves during the show; even a couple of jumps (though his vertical has lost some of its height over the years). His bass playing, though, did sound less exciting than it has over past years. Dominic was good for the most part, but I do think that he is the weak link in the chain... Sting didn't talk too much during the show (another big surprise) except before ISHICSC. The t-shirts for sale are cool; the tour program has an interview (most of it nothing new, except the part where he talks about Lithium Sunset was interesting. Also good pictures). Natalie Merchant was actually rather boring, but I don't really keep up with her music anyway. LYSBYP was actually rather good live (that surprised me), and If You Love Somebody... was really good.
I think that Mercury Falling is a good album, but I think that it is weaker overall compared to the rest of Sting's solo work (my favorite solo album is ...NLTS). I hope that it is not his last album. Does anybody think that MF may be the last we hear from Sting??
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