Well, it's 4:46 am, and I finally got back from the Sting show at Nissan Pavilion, just outside of Washington, DC. I must say that the CD recordings don't do the live material justice. Natalie Merchant came out at 8 pm on the dot, and wearing a polka-dotted dress, she played for 75 minutes. Her setlist follows (I may need some help here, as I'm not really a Natalie Merchant fan):
Sting came out at 9:40 and, as far as I'm concerned, put on a great show. With regard to the patented Sting jump, he did only one - at the end of "Roxanne." Mercury Falling is a much better album when it is performed live. Sting strips down some songs (YSTM) and builds up others (Lithium Sunset), and he does some interesting things with the old classics. The trombone and sax players could have been disastrous, but they were used effectively for the most part. I would, however, have eliminated the cheesy rap section from "Englishman in New York." There was also a projected background for each song. Anyway, setlist and comments follow:
All in all, I was pleased with the show. While it would have made my day if he had thrown in "Truth Hits Everybody," "Children's Crusade," or an acoustic "Message in a Bottle," the concert was well done. It ended on a sour note, however, when a fan presented Sting with a bouquet of flowers. As Sting ran off stage after "Fragile," he just tossed the flowers away into the wing in plain view of the audience. My friends and I discussed the action a little bit, and we decided that Sting should have at least taken the flowers out of the sight of the audience before callously tossing them away.
Well, off to Philadelphia for Friday's show. Expect a review and setlist from there as well (don't expect the setlist to change too much though. You never know - Sting might get crazy and put "LYSBYP" before "I Was Brought to My Senses.). Please feel free to expand or comment on this review.
The D.C. show was pretty damn impressive. Although the new album is not my favorite, the new stuff came across pretty well, especially Hounds of Winter, I'm so Happy..., and Lithium (which lost all countryness and was really rocking). All the older stuff was great and he threw in some real treats like Demolition Man and Synchronicty II. One thing was missing - backup singers. Some of the aarrangements could have really used them. The horn section was cool - although at times seemed a little out of place in the arrangements. I thought the ska-sounding trombone solo (ala Rico's work with the Specials) in Roxanne was briliant. That whole Roxanne bridge section was amazing. At each of the 5 Sting concerts that I have been to over the years, he does that section differently. In fact, to me, that is one of the things that I really love about his shows - just hearing a new interpretation of a song. Got to give him credit for that! Oh, Kenny's solo in the Bring on the Night/When the World is Running Down medley was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!
I'll post a complete set list on Monday. The concert was truly rounded off in the best possible way by the amazing sunset and near full moon at the Nissan Pavilion.
Bottom line: Sting is still the best performer around. He is a true showman and an ultimate musician - no ifs, ands or buts!!!!
Okay, I was there...what leather pants? I thought he had on those army pants with big pockets....were they actually made of leather?
I agree with that it was a great show. Sting was in good form - he looked and sounded great!
Natalie Merchant also played one of my favorite songs - River (which was inadvertently left out of the set list).
I think Michael did a good job of commenting on the concert. It was really done overall. I just have a couple of things to add. Sting attire was the usual black leather pants with a grey sweater/vest/tank top. OK let me try to explain! It was like a really tight vest, so it was preactivally aq tank top. And it was made out of wool i think, Anyway, it was pretty "Stingish". I think I lost my voice during Sychronicity II!
Anyway, the only other substantive addition I have is that I came way early to hear the soundcheck. Basically, sting did not sing during this time, but he did mumble things or howl. It was more or less Dominic and Vinnie doing their thing, with Kenny just fooling around. They played (instrumental, of course):
Obviously this last little jewel was incredible! They played about half of sister moon and then went into a jam session! If you can go early to upcoming concerts, do it -- you never know what you will hear.
The DC concert was fabulous. Sting seemed to be having a great time on stage, as were the other musicians and that spread to the audience. He was loose, playful, his voice was in top form, and the mix of songs was just right. The new stuff from "Mercury's Falling" sounded great live and the old numbers sounded better than ever.
A really, really great concert! Ditto on the cool night air and sunset at the Nisson Pavillion!
Great concert...especially liked the horns...excellent trombonist. My only gripe was *after* the concert...3 hours to leave a parking lot? No wonder Nissan Pavilion is offering a free ticket to another show.
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