Well, despite my reservations about $91 tickets and BND, it wasn't too bad. First off, Great Big Sea sucks Newfoundland rocks in terms of warm up to Sting. They be good for free at some pub but not last night, not at that venue, not before Sting.
Anyways, "A Thousand Nights"? started the night off very well with that mellow rhythm as the Sting-el-hoffer made his entrance and joined the boys on stage. He looked good wearing a sleeveless black T and some could-be but not entirely combat pants holding his bass like only the King of Pain can. Of course, he gave the Toronto crowd a most pleasing (and probably most fake), "I love coming back to Toronto. It's like a second home" Nonetheless, we all dig it. I can't remember the order of the set but eventually yet another version of "If you love somebody.." awoke the crowd and got them on their feet just like 3 years ago by the lake.
Funny thing was that his new album stuff that I can't stand was actually not so bad last night. I think they played a total of six songs from BND but they totally changed most of it and it doesn't really sound too much like the album. Even that song with the lady rapping was much better. Probably because the lady was replaced by Sting's deeper voiced drummer. The crew really jazz'd up the songs with rotating turns of solo which was really highlighted by an amazing keyboardist doing some e-piano.
His first Police song was "Every little.." which was cool but still lacks the energy of Stewart Copeland. Of course I aint complaining because I'll take any Police I can get. "Bring on the Night" intro. was then turned into "When the World.." which was really quite awesome as they jazz'd that up too and lasted about 10-15 minutes highlighted again with an incredible piano solo that lasted forever and was of blinding speed - that guy kicks!
"Desert Rose" was pretty awesome despite what I've read about the live versions of it. They had some Hollywood-like torches blowing during the song and Sting improv'd the Cheb parts pretty well. By the way, his voice was sounding really good and powerful. His Police like bellowing at the perfect moments of various songs were right on the mark and lost most of us who were trying to sing along with him.
He really seemed to be in good spirits with his body language, facial expressions and constant acknowledgement of crowd approval with his prayer motion to the crowd.
The first encore included "Every Breath.." which seemed a little fast but still tickled my fancy but the second encore was by far the more powerful. He came back alone holding a smaller guitar and started a slow version of "Message.." which again took the crowd by storm. His mates eventually joined him to finish it off with another stirring version of "Fragile". Man, I can't say enough about how emotional and powerful that song is - especially live. He had the whole crowd captivated as he slithered around the stage area totally focused on his solo parts. But nothing could have prepared me for his finish. We all know the song and how it ends. That little pitter of strumming and then that final pluck at which he then shot his strumming hand up in the air along with his head in triumph as the lone spotlight froze on him with majesty. I remember "Fragile" being one of the highlights from three years ago but this version was the kicker!
Of course there was the line-up at the end bowing to the crowd, and then it was over. Almost two hours which seemed more than the last time but it really went by fast. Seriously, even the BND stuff was fun to watch and listen to. It's funny how I can be completely fed up with the bastard, hate his new album, mock him even along with my Sting hating friends, gripe about the ridiculous cost of tickets, but when he took centre stage with bass in hand, voice in tact, I was won over as a Sting fan again. The man has presence. Sinatra like presence with little effort - it's really quite remarkable.
I just saw the show in Toronto. It was great ! The band sounded great, Sting's voice was incredible, and the lighting and sets were very well done. The set list was the same as in Montreal which I see someone has posted on the newsgroup. I've been a fan for years but have never seen him live until tonight and it's hard to believe but I would say Sting sounds even better live than he does on record. His song choices were great. He threw in a few gems from the Police like Everything She Does Is Magic and played alot of the new album. He didn't play Ghost Story though which is my favorite tune from that album. But I can't complain because the show was great. Chris Botti realy kicked ass on trumpet as well as Jason Robello on keys and of course Manu Katche and Dominic Miller sounded excellent ! I almost feel like driving down to Buffalo tomorrow night to see the show there too ! If Sting is coming to your town, go see it, don't wait till next time because the band he has right now is heavy !
I agree the show was great. My only complaint was with the sound at the beginning (during A Thousand Years). The low end of the sound was heavily distorted, so you couldn't make out the words that Sting was singing. They fixed it up later, though.
I have one major issue though... WHAT WAS WITH THE CROWD?? Most people in my section (4th section) stayed in their seats for most of the concert. When me and my woman stood during Englishman in New York to dance, WE WERE TOLD TO SIT DOWN my some old fogey behind me. I told him, "This is a concert!" and he said "Wait for everyone else to stand up". That's ridiculous. Anyone else find that at Sting concerts or was it just the tired Toronto audience?
Hey, we were dancing way back on the lawn! I thought the sound was great, the weather was great, it was an awesome show. This was the fourth time we saw him (85, 88 & 91 previously) and he's never sounded better. The crowd sure goes nuts for those Police tunes. And did you catch the comment: "It's great to be back in Toronto. It's like a second home to me."
After a couple days of mentally processing Sting's concert performance at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre Friday night and reading the reviews on ISUN 86, I've decided to add mine to the already large list. I agree with both some of the newpaper reviews and Pete's that Sting's voice was incredible. This was only the third time I've see Sting perform live and I can say I've heard his voice better. Even on the classic concerts from years gone by (a la video), I can't think of many performances where he sang better.
I also concur with Pete's comments about the BND material: Sting really made it come to life. On an album which is probably his most varied in terms of musical style (varied to a fault some might suggest), he managed to make all of the songs sound more coherent. The horn performance of Chris Botti was, for me, what made that concert stand out. I had the chance to see Sting perform with Branford Marsalis back in '88 and -- with no disrespect to Branford -- I think Chris added a lot more to the show. Not so much in terms of talent vis a vis performance, but rather what his performance added to the show. The jazziness of the show reminded me of what drew me to Sting's solo music in the first place with 'Blue Turtles' and 'Nothing Like..' .
Overall, the show was spectacular. I had a great time and really felt that Sting really went 'to the wall' on this performance. The arrangements were excellent, the vocals superb, and the band's performance was nearly flawless.
Which, oddly enough, appeared to be a contentious point among some of the newspaper reviewers. I ask you this: how can a performance be "too good" or "too flawless"? What kind of masochistic sense of music do you have to possess to criticize someone for performing too well? It's like going to a restaurant, getting a meal cooked to perfection and then harping on the chef for not putting too much salt in it. So the performance was of near album-quality -- I see no problem with that. I've been to "flawed" performances and, frankly, I'll take "flawless" (whatever that really means) anytime. Had Sting performed the songs exactly like the album, then I would have reason to complain (one does not pay big bucks to hear the exact same performance live as it is on CD otherwise what is the point?).
Anyway, for those of you with tickets to his future shows on this leg of the tour, if Friday's show was any indication, you will have an outstanding time ahead of you.
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