Thanks to Rüdiger Höckel for the Ticket Stub
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Thanks to Rüdiger Höckel for the Ticket Stub |
Okay folks, here, briefly, are the details on last night's show.
Artists: Paul Carrack, Sting
Venue: Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany
Date: Monday, June 3rd, 1996
Paul Carrack: 43 minute set, largely Mike & The Mechanics/Phil Collins/ Genesis-oriented material which is not my thing at all. The German crowd seemed to like him though. It was no surprise that he played Ace's How Long Has This Been Going On?, though I was surprised to hear him do Squeeze's Tempted -- this was a Sting show after all! (I am aware that he was once a member of Squeeze.)
Sting: 1 hr 47 min set
First things first, Sting was having some problems with his voice at this show, and it was breaking up when he was trying for some of the higher notes. As a result, possibly, he cut short Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot, and didn't do the extended bit at the end (with the taped backing vocals) as he had been doing at earlier shows (someone else will have to say whether this has become a permanent change in the arrangement, or not). Some of us consider that last bit to be the best part of the song!
As this was my first show for a few weeks, I was a little disappointed to see that the set-list has continued to remain fairly static -- only the head to Bring On The Night catching me by surprise. Given the condition of Sting's voice, it was doubly disappointing that he didn't let Kenny and Vinnie loose more often. Whereas the `91 band really seemed to be allowed to grow as that tour went on, this one seems to be kept on a tight leash, and it's only in pieces like BOTN/WTWIRDYMTBOWSA that you realise what you are missing -- Kenny's solo last night was worth the price of admission alone.
You Still Touch Me seems to have been given a new arrangement, and the beginning is now more sparse and slower -- so listen out for that.
I'm not convinced that EINY is the best track to end the set with, and I preferred it when it was appearing earlier in the set -- Demolition Man seemed a much better ending number. Similarly, I'm not so convinced that Lithium Sunset works so well coming after EBYT -- it seemed better matched with Nothing `Bout Me and She's Too Good For Me. Paul Carrack joined for the end of Lithium, but his presence didn't add anything to the proceedings in my opinion.
All told though, it's still a good show, and Sting with a bad throat is still a damned sight better than a good many other vocalists. I just wish he'd give the band its head, and let them loose a bit more often. The horn section is now better integrated, and the guys now move freely around the stage -- rather than staying on their riser as they did earlier. However, the rap section from the saxophonist was worse than Kenny's rap in The Bed's Too Big Without You, IMO, so Ice-T has nothing to worry about just yet. Dominic Miller is still short on ideas, though, and I hope it's the last time he's in the band.
Oh well, still a lot to look forward to for the European Tour Part 2 -- only 5 months away!!! (Shame that I'll have to make do with Neil Young during the Summer, isn't it!?!)
Keep those set-lists coming (am I the only one who has been a bit disappointed with the tour coverage so far?).
Oh yeah, the Dortmund crowd were certainly up for the gig, so a word of thanks to them.
We reached the Westfalenhalle at high noon and checked the location. On the backside we've found the door for the artists. We ask the doorkeeper wether Sting is already rehearsing inside and he answered: "Oh, I don't. know. I don't know this guy, I've never seen him ... but if you want you can try to take a look inside the VIP area." And we did. There was nothing special to see, only some busy roadies ... then suddenly Danny Quatrochi came outside and I've had a short conversation with him. He was very kind and told me that they will make some changes to the setlist. I've told him from the great Paradiso weekend and that we put the setlist he gave us that day on the Fields of Gold.
Half an hour later Paul Carrack came outside to make an interview with a german TV station in the park. Paul looked very funny and I think he wondered what we were doing there.
Some minutes later we noticed the roadie who's always tuning Dom's guitar driving carefully on a big motorbike. Looked also funny ... hope he's better in tuning Dom's guitar. We joked a little bit with him.
At about 16:15 the musicians came ... Dom and Vinnie in a dark car, followed by Kenny and the trumpeters in a small bus. I've talked shortly with Dom and he signed my ticket. Then we were noticed by someone of the management and we had to leave this area. Unfortunately they've had a good reason. Short after leaving this area, Sting arrived at 16:55 in a dark big car with high speed. We decided to go back the front of the Westfalenhalle.
There were already some hundreds fans waiting and we sat down in front of a door and listened to the soundcheck Sting started at 17:05. He did "I'm So Happy, I Can't Stop Crying" and "Hounds of Winter".
At 18:30 they opened the door and we entered the Westfalenhalle and found a good place in the 10th row or so on the right side of the stage. Paul Carrack opened with some good stuff, e.g. "How Long". He also did "Tempted" but I like Sting's version much more. Wish they've had done a duet on "Tempted".
At about 20:00 Sting started the show with "Hounds of Winter" which ended with a great howling like a wolf ... Look at his face ... a-hooooooo, a-hooooooo
While "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" he introduced the band and at the end of this song he made his typical gesture ...
"Let your soul guide you, he'll guide you well"
Compared to earlier shows this evening Sting has much more integrated the trumpeters and they made some great dance specials.
The Setlist:
This was our 4th Sting show this year and we have to say that it was the best. Sting was really rocking and dancing, the audience was the loudest and we've seen a nice video/lightshow for the first time.
Thanks Sting and Band for such a great evening!
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