Tonight was Columbus, Ohio. Once again, the band sounded quite good, although i.m.h.o. it was almost as uneven as last night.
Sting was having noticably more diffuculty with his voice tonight, using his spray bottle numerous times. For some reason, his voice actually got better as the night wore on. Chris is now wearing a much better-looking grey shirt...maybe the white last night took too much attention away from Sting and Miles just couldn't stand it any longer. Kipper is walking fine; I asked him how he felt and he said, "It's getting better." The last nonmusical thing to add is that Sting seems to be doing alot more cheerleading in these shows than in the past. He'll walk to the edge of the stage, stare at someone and kind of chuckle if they're not into it, which immeadiately makes the whole section go bonkers that he noticed they existed.
On the musical side, the band sounded great. The only real big fu@k up was the beginning of Tomorrow We'll See, with each person coming in at different times. The sound was good from where I was at, but Dominic was having some amp issues. At the beginning of BND his guitar made a HORRIBLE sound and everyone broke out laughing.
What I'm noticing more and more is this band's incredible ability to grow and take chances on letting the music evolve. Roxanne was very different from the other shows, with the sedate middle section lasting much longer than before. All of Chris' solos are 100% different every night, as are Jason's. Sting is using different bass lines in When the World almost nightly, and it really sends the solos off into different directions. The more I think about it, there is a direct relationship between the length of song and its overall quality, probably because one of Sting's fortes (and the band's) is in the transitory moments from one section to another.
And one last rant about the crowd. Initially they had a lot of energy, but that was really killed about half way thru. And HOLY CRAP, the first 15 rows must have been the crustiest, most arrogant and uninformed Sting fans (I use that term loosely) I've ever seen. All were old as heck, none of them danced, and they all looked like this concert was taking away some precious time they could have been spending trying to get the offical site 2% as cool as Stingchronicity's. If you are reading this and were in the first 15 rows, shame on you!
OK, me and Dominic's pick must go to bed now. See y'all in Detroit.
I was also at the Columbus show.
Good analysis of the show, James. I agree about most of the people in the front rows on my side. Actually, part of me was secretly glad that there were so many sleepy-heads toward the front because I'm pretty sure Sting noticed me as one of the more appreciative fans in my section (i had tix about 26 rows back -- thanx Judy!). For sure Dominic acknowledged me. By the way, Dominic was cracking me up -- it looked like he was totally hamming it up/ flirting with somebody/somebodies in the front on my side (I hope this was you Judy!!)
I was trying to figure out the crowd. Of course, they got excited for the songs everybody (including the Compaq peeps, apparently) knew like Roxanne, and less excited for anything at all from the new album (slight exception for Desert Rose) and newer stuff. Oddly, though, "All This Time", "If You Love Someone Set Them Free", and "Englishman in NY" made people jump up from their seats and move around, while stuff like "Seven Days" had them sitting there and looking bored. Some magical cutoff between Soul Cages (old Sting?) and TST (new Sting?)? Or maybe a subtle gauge of general popularity of the song...? BOTN/When the world... made me chuckle because people basically started to sit back and look bored, and gradually got into it as they started to realize this was a jazz song and the band was actually going to jam. One by one people around me joined me in standing up and getting into the groove. Guess there must have been quite a few Sting concert newbies (Compaq dudes again?) if they didn't know the song was going to turn out that way! Thought they sounded great on this song, by the way, and on the jamming parts of Roxanne, Tomorrow We'll See, and Perfect Love... Gone Wrong. Question: is Sting doing that silly thing with his voice (don't even know how to describe it) during Moon over Bourbon St. at every show? If you've heard it you'll know what I mean! And which song was it he started to instrumentally segue into "Spirits in the Material World" for about a minute or so -- was it Roxanne? Is he doing that at every show too?
Well, I guess I'll get to see for myself -- seeing him again on Sunday in Cinci!
I thought it was interesting, as I remember from the top of my head he didn't do any songs at all from Mercury Falling this tour (I could be remembering incorrectly). I suppose people have already analyzed his setlist, but I was just a little surprised, although it didn't bother me because I really wanted to hear the new stuff in concert rather than a stale version of "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot". But every other (solo) album had representation in the setlist. I guess MF didn't fit in with what Sting tries to do on tour... new stuff, plus everyone's old faves.
I'm curious to see whether Sting takes on a corporate sponsorship for his next tour (yes, I'm thinking that far in the future). I really don't blame the guy for doing it, but he *has* to realize the sedative effect it has on the crowd for those kind of half-fans to be sitting in the front rows of all his concerts. And let's face it... I don't think his touring is really about money, it's at least partially about being able to go out there and really fire up an audience by performing live. Compaq has got to be cramping his style in that respect... or maybe I'm overestimating the % of the sleepyheads in the front which were affiliated with Compaq. In any case, I wonder... will he have another corporate sponsor next time or will he heed his own admonition... that "it takes more than Compaq gear to make a man"...?
Oh, what can I say!! Being 7 rows back, center is almost the best seats in the house. And James, shame on you!! I was always the last person standing up having fun, when all the boring people around me were sitting down. I think this subject will always be a problem at every Sting show. It's just not the Compaq people, but normal people there to have a great time. Very view fans, like ourselves, were there tonight. But, the two guys standing next to me, had just as many problems sitting down as I did. But, we do have to get these Compaq people out of the first few rows. They sit down, everyone else follows through.
Sting was almost directly in front of me. He did loose his voice a few times. There is the wear and tear of this long tour he is doing. He looked EXCELLENT!!! Black sleeveless shirt, cargo pants. Dominic was wearing a black t-shirt and those bright blue pants (gotta love the guy!!), Russ was wearing all black, Manu had like a tan shirt and pants, Chris similar to Manu, Jason was wearing black with a baseball cap on backwards (and was clean shaven-YEAH BABY!!!) and Kipper. Well, what can I say. He had knickers on with a white t-shirt and black shirt on top. I almost met him last night. Right before the opening band came on, we saw him walking from the side of the stage, up the pavilion and onto the lawn. He laid up there for a LONG time. I just couldn't get enough nerve to say hi to him, when he was walking back down. DARN!! He was walking great, so his leg must be healed.
Same set list, so I won't go into detail. Highlights for me, We'll Be Together (Dominic and that guitar!!), Fields Of Gold (did you hear me yell to Dominic before his solo?), Tomorrow We'll See got a great audience response. Desert Rose sure did too. No Cheb, so the song wasn't perfect. Bring On/When The World was excellent. A very long piano solo by Jason. And that guitar solo by Dominic. Chris won over the crowd very easily. As did Jason towards the end. Alot of waving into the crowd.
The show lasted about 1 hour, 45 minutes. Should have gone on longer!! A lot of energy from the whole band. Sting playing to the audience, as did Dominic and Chris. Dominic, as most of you know, is my main obsession within the band. He looked GREAT!! Tired, but that is to be expected at this point in the tour. He smiled alot, which made me melt everytime. Threw quite a few picks out into the audience. James, give me that pick!! LOL!! Oh James, I tried to find you for about an hour before the show. We missed each other. Sorry!! Oh, I almost forgot. The stage setup is a little different this tour. Kipper is now on the other side of the drum kit. So, the lineup looks like this. Dominic, Sting front. Russ, Kipper, Manu, Chris (who came down ALOT off that platform) and Jason, who was more in front I guess. That was the first thing I noticed when we got to our seats, was Kippers keyboards. Oh, Dominic's microphone too!! OK OK, I'll stop talking about him!! LOL!!
I went with a great friend from Pennsylvania. She is equally in love with Dominic, so we had a great time yelling and screaming!! Megan is her name and I have to get her on these lists. She is an older teenager, so listening to her talk about Sting was so great to be around. It was funny, she asked me if I ever saw The Police live, and I said no I was never allowed to go to concerts when I was a teenager. And then, automatically I asked her. We started to both laugh!! She would have been a little toddler if she had gone!!
Age ranged from maybe 5 or 6 (just a few though) to probably 60 or so. That is so great to see. But, that sort of tells you why people don't stand up. We are all old farts!! LOL!!
Had a great time, as always, and will be going to Cincinnati on Sunday. See some of you then!!
Another great show for Sting last night.
I've read all the other descriptions for recent shows in Saratoga, Montreal, Pittsburgh, etc., and I don't have much to add. Sting was in great voice, the crowd really liked Manu, and the keyboard player's solo during When The World Is Running Down was extraordinary.
What a man! He could probably go on doing this for the next 10-15 years.
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