WOW!!! Anyone who does not go see Sting live needs to seek help IMMEDIATELY.
He has, once again, proven that he is a GOD!! Moon Over Bourbon Street was so good! It had such a New Orleans jazz club feel to it-I loved it! During the first encore, I nearly wet myself when he started singing Message In A Bottle. Bring On The Night/When The World Is Running Down ROCKED!! They just let loose and jammed for about ten minutes. Dominic is a fabulous guitar player and the rest of his band is just as wonderful. I loved every minute of it!
Well, I would just like to say that I moved here from Minnesota at the end of April and this is the second concert I've been to here in Miami. I think the crowds suck. I got yelled at for standing up and dancing during Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. How can you not get up and jam to that??? I thought the guy sitting next to me had slipped into a coma he was so lifeless. I just don't get it. Sting and his band were up there, playing their hearts out and these people sat emotionless in their seats. AHHHHH! During the encores, I couldn't handle it anymore. I stood up despite the guy behind me complaining and sang and danced to my heart's content.
Anyway, GO SEE STING. Go see him! I promise you will not regret it!!
What an incredible night!
I arrived 4 hours early to the James L. Knight Center in Miami. The theater is attached to a hotel, so I had to find a roundabout way to get from the parking garage through the hotel to the outside where I walked around the perimeter until I found the back entrance. I was determined to meet Sting. Nothing was going to stand in my way. I was ready, with a couple of posters, a CD, and a couple books of reading material to help me pass the time until he arrived.
Soon after getting there a silver van pulled up and let the band members out. I didn't realize it was them until it was too late, because the only one I would recognize was Dominic, and he wasn't with them. Foo.
An hour later a taxi pulled up and Miles got out. I got mega-excited, snapped a quick photo as he walked into the building, and cursed myself for standing on the wrong side of the street! I didn't want security to get all uppity at me waiting right outside their loading bay area.
At one point a wacky woman came by, freely volunteering that she was on psychiatric medication and was a huge Sting fan trying to find an extra ticket for her friend. She gave a postcard to one of the guys outside the entrance so he could pass it on to Sting, and then she went away. Good. She was out of her mind, and I wasn't enjoying her company. Ordinarily I love to speak with crazy people, but this wasn't the time or place.
2 hours into waiting, another Sting fan showed up. He wasn't a huge huge fan (hasn't even heard the new album yet), but he is an autograph hound. He was great company. We waited together. And waited. And waited.
By the time the opening act was slated to start (7:45pm), Sting still hadn't shown up. We weren't sure if he was already inside or not coming until later. We waited until 8:15 before going inside. Ah well!
Inside I caught the final song of the opening act (whose name was too complicated to recall). He was doing some kind of vocal latin-jazz thing, and it was terrible.
I found my seat. It was real easy! All I had to do was find the front row and go halfway down the aisle, right in front of Sting's microphone. I had *the best* seat in the entire theater. That I got the seat through Ticketmaster and not a ticket broker floored the people around me. I shudder to think of what they must've paid for their tickets.
Sting hit the stage with the band, and the show began! Here's the setlist (which I tried scribbling down during the show, but may have left some bits out near the end because I was too busy dancing like a maniac):
At some point I remember he played "Fields of Gold" too.
The entire show was great! I even enjoyed my least favorite of the new songs, "Perfect Love...Gone Wrong," and thought it was fun when Manu jumped up off drums and did the French rap. I didn't realize it was him on the album!
I particularly loved hearing "Mad About You" again; I thought the L. Armstrong version of MOBS is fantastic, and I could tell Sting was having a great time with it; and EiNY is always a favorite, though I loved the band interaction on the last tour even more.
BotN/WtWiRD was extraordinary. I always love hearing it live (this was my 4th live Sting concert), and the MF tour had a particularly energized version, but this one was just smokin'! Maybe it was being in the front row, having Sting sing no more than 10 feet away from me... maybe it was a particularly good night... who knows? It was GREAT.
And then there was "Fragile" ... his guitar was just singing-- the best I've ever heard the song played. I was floored. I was emotional. I was also recovering from the massive high I got moments before when Sting had finished the acoustic version of "Message in a Bottle" and I seized my opportunity to step up to the stage and GET MY HAND SHAKED.
Oh maaaan. A nice firm handshake, at least a full second, and a smile.
I was holding back from snapping photos on my disposable flash-cam for most of the show, because security was sitting right in front me, 5 ft away, watching the audience the whole time. But by the time BotN started, the girl to my left started taking pics, and security didn't care, so from then on it was open season for my camera. I took more than a dozen pictures. I can't wait to seem them!!
Sting's vocals were fantastic, Manu and Dominick were at their usual best, and Scream was hot as hell. The trumpet player was sizzling, but probably should have skipped out on a few songs where the trumpet didn't work as well as a sax did. Kipper was having a blast, singing along and playing--he looks like some kind of California beach surfer-dude! But the new keyboardist, Jason Raballo (?), didn't seem all that special. He appeared competant, and technically he was great, but he didn't seem energized at all. He doesn't seem like the kind of person to take the spotlight, which is what I loved so much about Kenny (sigh) and David.
After the show I went to the back exit again, still determined to get an autograph. I met up with my pal Mitch (from before the show) and maybe 5 others who were waiting also.
Most of the band came out to get in the van, and I got to thank Dominic for his great work and shake his hand (and snap a couple more photos). Nobody seemed into autographing, as they jumped right into the van, but they were all smiling and in a great mood. Those Scream girls are totally hot. I yelled out to Miles, "Miles, can I get an autograph?" but he just visibly ignored me, typical scowl on his face.
5 minutes later Kipper comes out with Sting behind him. As soon as we saw Sting we all energized and inched forward, careful not to rush and scare him off. I had my poster and Sharpee out and held it out for Sting. HE TOOK IT and signed my poster, thanking us for the nice things we were saying about his show. And then, and this my favorite part, he looked at me and said is his wonderful accent, "May I borrow this?" (meaning the pen), to which I replied, "You can keep it!" He then signed for the remaining group. I tried getting around to Kipper, but he had already jumped into the van.
At some point I walked back to my car and drove home. I was dazed. But I have a poster to prove it happened!! And lots and lots of photos!
I bought one t-shirt ($27) and one pin ($10). I had a tremendous amount of self-control, considering I spent $110 at the MF concert a few years back.
Woo hoo! What an incredible night!
I've been a fan of Sting and The Police for many years. I used to be one of the best rock drummers in the Dominican Republic, and I even had the same black Tama ImperialStar drumset as Stewart Copeland, who is my absolute idol. I was very lucky to win a contest on a dominican radio station to go see Sting at the James L. Knight Center in Miami and I was lucky to be able to sit on the fifth row from the stage. Since I have been watching Police and Sting concerts in video for so many years, the whole experience seemed like a dream to me. They had tour merchandise for sale before the concert. The theater had excellent acoustics. Sting looked a lot younger (exactly like in the Synchronicity concert) and a lot more blond (Did he bleach his hair like The Police days?). He even joked about it, saying that he could hear the people on the first row saying something like "Sting looks a lot younger, he must have had plastic surgery". He played many songs from The Police, and the french part in "Perfect love gone wrong" was sung by the drummer, Manu Katche. I certainly didn't like the way he sang "Moon over Bourbon Street" with a raspy, Louis Armstrong-like voice. He looked like a kid playing to be a singer. To me, it was the best concert I could have gone in my entire life. It feels great to know each and every song in a concert!!!
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