Had the opportunity to sit in on Sting's soundcheck for the Letterman show yesterday afternoon.
Got there about 4:30--MUCH different scene than the soundcheck for his last appearance (he played BND last October). Unlike last time, the place was a mob scene. Lots of people who knew Letterman employees (including myself) sneaking in to watch. Spotted Miles on stage barking orders ("Cheb Mami can't hear himself in the monitors!"), as well as Billy Francis wandering around. They seemed to be sticking to a tight schedule, so there really wasn't an opportunity to try and talk to anyone.
As always, the Ed Sullivan theater was FREEZING, so Sting was bundled up a bit. The band ran through "Desert Rose" twice, Sting posed for some pictures with Cheb's dardouka player, Paul Shaffer and the band came in to watch. During the second run of "Desert Rose," Sting stopped singing--very cool to hear a mostly instrumental version! Russ is actually a pretty decent singer, but the song definitely shines with a female presence.
It was an interest contrast to the rehearsal of BND. That was before the tour had started, and the band was still fiddling around with the arrangement (they played through it about four times). Last night was pretty much auto-pilot--just making sure the mikes were working. I kind of miss the jamming. Nothing that hasn't been said before, but this tour really didn't get as adventurous as some of the other ones (the radically revamped "Roxanne" notwithstanding).
With its top ten status and car commercial exposure, I was actually getting really tired of this song (blasphemy!). Hearing it live was like hearing it for the first time. Amazing.
Now it's the next day, and I'm kind of tired of it again.
I didn't win tickets to Central Park, but hope the concert goes on as planned. It's supposed to rain a bit tonight...
For those that were lucky enough to win, have fun! Looking forward to the reviews!
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