Maggie, Bill, Deb, Paul, Jen, Harold & wife (Irvine only) attended the Irvine and Vegas shows and have nothing but praise to pass on to Sting and the band. These shows were among the best we have ever seen, we agreed. Of course we're drunk and in a hotel room in Vegas at 3:45 in the morning. We expected no set changes, and little interaction, and because of this frame of mind, we partied like we never have before. These shows rawked!!!! Such energy, such crowd response, cooperative security, and to top it all off, oohing and ahhing at Michael Jordan gambling in the MGM casino Sunday morning.
At Irvine, Dominic smiled and smiled and smiled. Sting's voice was well-rested and perfect. The band was in unison. Kipper and wife were seen walking the amphitheatre grounds before the show. What a nice, nice man. We thought we were in for a treat, as Sting nearly made it through the entire show without uttering one word except for band intros. But......during Message (in a Bottle) a beautiful young girl was screaming very loudly. Sting stopped his lyrics, and said "Please madame, stop screaming. I'm trying to sing a song here." It was hilarious, a real show stopper. Deb will have to tell you about her adventures with security during the ENTIRE show.
Las Vegas was even better. You see, we drove over after the Irvine show arriving in Vegas at 4:30 in the morning. Surprise...Tomorrow We'll See was substituted for Moon (Over Bourbon Street). Was really special. Sting spoke a few more words tonight, and the beautiful belly dancer returned to the stage. By the way, as I write this, Paul is snoring very loudly. It is not even his hotel room.
We wore Krispy Kreme hats during Fill Her Up to stand out in the crowd. Much to our surprise, nearly the entire audience pulled out their hats and neatly placed them on their heads. Boy did we no longer feel special! At one time or another we all rushed the stage, conveniently ignoring the many security guards (who were dressed in very dapper tuxedos). Maggie, Paul, and Jen made it up to the stage from the 14th row in 1.3 seconds flat during When the World and bonded with Sting for several minutes. After Fragile, we all ran up and thanked the band.
Deb and Bill were asked not to stand up (these were floor seats mind you), as most of the crowd remained seated and calm until Every Little Thing (She Does is Magic). We danced anyway. This, despite Sting's insistence that we stand up and be counted (at least every boy and every girl anyway).
Paul wants everyone to know he is going to San Diego Sunday for that show. Here is a warning for any that happen to come his way...DON'T let him visit your donut collection in your hotel room. The donuts will be gone but Paul won't.
Everybody needs to chill out and enjoy these shows while we still have Sting. His concerts are still remarkable and fresh. Go early and go often!
Thank you Bill for the great review...
Thank all of you on the lists and for making Sting and his music more enjoyable.
Irvine's gig was the best Sting gig that I have seen to date....and I am digging way back to the first time I saw the Police in Europe in 1979!
What makes it much more enjoyable is that I finally met some really wonderful people, Bill, Maggie and Deb who I have chatted with quite often via the list or AOL IM but never met. To a true Sting fan, there is a kind of bonding that occurs through his music and there is bonding that occurs via our friendships through the lists. I hope Sting gets this and if he does, we probably become his 7th child because it is truly something very special that does not happen very often.
And now my take on the gig. Treva (my wife - who totally adored Maggie!) and I were 3rd row center, no more than 15 feet directly in front of Sting. We went to opening night in Las Vegas and like all opening nights of a tour, very different, very vulnerable and tentative due to new material, band mates, etc. But a great gig with about 3 hours of material. Then we were went to the Universal gigs in LA, much tighter and more comfortable. We went 2 weeks ago to the Greek in LA and somewhat disappointed. I don't know what it is about the LA people, maybe it's the Hollywood thing but LA people are too uptight, they don't dance, they don't want to get into the music but you can see they totally like it. It's tough being the only 2 people getting up and dancing. But you do what you do.
Irvine??? The weather was great....warm and after A 1000 Years, when he got into Set Them Free, I looked back and 15,000 got up and danced. A very good crowd. You could tell Sting liked it and he and the boys got down to a great show. It was totally awesome to see Sting get into it and interact with the crowd. My take is that it was all due to a good audience. Plus, it doesn't suck to have great seats....but great seats, a great audience gets Sting and the boys going, you could be in the parking lot and it would be just a good.
Fast forward to the end....I was standing at the front of the stage directly under Sting, Treva to the right of me and another girl to the right of her. The girl to the right of Treva kept screaming orgasmic screams over Sting while he was singing Message....it was sooo funny because she was truly amazed to get to the front and be 2 feet away from Sting. As Bill said, while he was singing a chorus of Message, he looks down at her and jokingly said, "Stop screaming Madam, I'm trying to sing!" He was laughing as he said this because he was kind of embarrassed that this girl was like Beatle frenzy over him. Then she started screaming.."He talked to me..He talked to me!!". We all high 5'd her and there she was with her moment!
Sting was gracious, kind and fired up that night...If he never tours again, I can live with this one.
Once again, thank all of you on the lists for the Sting info and your participation...Thank you Bill and Maggie...our new friends.....
Namaste!
This post is quite lengthy, so grab a cup of tea, put your feet up and enjoy !
The latest escapade to see Sting in concert began on Friday morning ... as I woke to realise that I had overslept and had very little time until my flight left for Orange County. The mad dash began and I arrived on time in the pleasant southern California sunshine. Picked Bill up from the airport a few hours later ... and he, Kim and I were off to the venue.
Thanks to Jen's e-mail that day, I was able to recognize her adorable red-haired son at the front of the line ... so we finally met Jen. Kim and I were ticketless for this one and took our chances on a last-minute seat becoming available. Worked out rather well as we managed to procure a spot at the back of the orchestra section, but quite far behind Maggie and Harold (who were in the pit) and Bill (right behind them). The show began ...
The setlist was not a surprise, but the six days off prior to that show for the band was evident. Here's a synopsis of the show .....
Highlights were A Thousand Years, Seven Days, Every Little Thing and Fragile. Dom was excellent on All This Time and Jason's solo on When the World won over the entire crowd. Desert Rose seemed to be the favorite for most at this show--not a soul sitting this one out. The screaming woman ("Would you please stop screaming, madam," Sting asked) ruined Message ... apparently her screeches could be heard on the lawn too. Sting didn't interact at all besides that. Drama in the pit at the beginning of the show as a water fight broke out between a Compaq person and another individual ... those Compaq people just don't like to get up and dance ... nor do they like others to do so.
Maggie, Bill and I were heading off to Vegas after the show ... with an extra ticket and an extra spot in Maggie's Honda. No sign of Paul Carter yet .... so we managed to twist Jen's arm and get her to come along at the last minute. Great spontaneity on her part! The road trip began ... crank up the music and head on our way. After 4 hours of Police, hiccups, Sting, singing, Police, stops for road snacks and more Police ... we arrived at the MGM Grand. A wall of screens with Sting playing greeted us as we went up to our room (Bill and me hobling a little due to foot injuries). It was 4.30 am ... and we were quite the merry band of fools ! Jen and I checked out the place and lost our first dollar before catching some sleep prior to our next show.
While Bill and Maggie were holding court at the craps table, Jen and I decided to try to get into the soundcheck. No luck with that, but we did see the band members arriving in thier unmarked white vans ... and who should we encounter at the backstage entrance but none other than .... Paul Carter ! He got lost in Irvine and never did find the venue ... so he headed for Vegas. We were the only three souls back there, so we headed back to the casino to hook back up with the high rollers. On a winning streak and not ready to quit, Bill and Maggie continued to play and Paul, Jen and I leisurely sat at the slot machines. Paul sticks a dollar in and chats idly to me about his most recent Sting shows ... and Jen notices that someone somewhere has hit a jackpot .... Paul and I look around to see who it could be .... and ... it's Paul ! He has just won $250 on his first dollar !!
Off to get Paul a ticket now and lady luck strikes again ... there's a single ticket available on the floor, center section, right by the rest of us. Pretty amazing given that the show was sold out earlier and that the seating capacity is 20,000. We're all set for the show and all in the same area. Everything is falling into place ... and the mood is definitely one of jollity and excitement. The house is packed, even for the opening band, Remy Zero, who put on a fine show (despite their drummer having a broken arm).
Sting and co hit the stage amid massive applause. Sting wore a snazzy jacket and velvety pants (same as Saturday night at the Greek, according to Maggie). This somewhat sophisticated crowd was digging every note. The setlist changed a tad ... Tomorrow We'll See back in ... but Bourbon Street out. Odd decision there, seems that Bourbon Street would stay regardless .... maybe he forgot to play it ?? We'll find out after the Chula Vista show, I'm sure. Not a good exchange if it was intended, but Tomorrow was played superbly ... Chris' chance to shine again. Still no Mad About You.
Still the same tired Perfect Love, except that Manu did his rap part behind Sting the whole time.
Sting messed up on the lyrics of All This Time (as at Red Rocks) but recovered rather nicely. Introduced Fill 'er Up with, "Here's a song that was written about Las Vegas" ... followed by the predictable cheers of the audience. Russ played his guitar for this and Englishman. You can actually hear him sing now, since the tapes of the female backing singers have been discarded ... he's not as bad as in the earlier shows. He claps less ... and plays the tambourine as if he knows the songs.
Brand New Day sounded excellent, much more life to it than at recent shows. The intro to Roxanne was shorter, but the choruses every bit as punchy as usual. The belly dancer was back for Desert Rose ... but only danced around the darbouka player (who regretfully was not mini-pigmy .... a new one, named Ned, according to Bill). She was a different dancer than the one in Irvine, but neither dancer added anything to the song.
As the intro to Bring on the Night began, Bill and I saw Jen and Maggie position themselves on the aisle of their row, ready to make the dash to the stage for Sting's solo on When the World is Running Down. Sure enough ... they and Paul were right up there in a flash when it was time ! Bill and I were in aisle seats anyway, on the other aisle ... but our security guard was not having any of that ! Watched as the others went nuts in the other aisle ... Jen's first time up close like that. Everyone was really having a good time.
As the guys came back onstage for the first encore I inched my way forward ... only a few feet to the front ... managed to get into the front row with another girl, who was numb with excitement at being right there. The house was on its feet and singing for both If I Ever Lose My Faith and Every Breath You Take. Sting did his "Here I come" line in Message twice, and no screecher to ruin it tonight. I was fortunate enough to be right in front of Sting as he sang Fragile. Several times in the front row before ... but never exactly in front of Sting for Fragile until now. A very memorable experience.
We filed out of the arena all agreeing that it was one of our favorite shows to date. The 5 of us congregated over cocktails at a table in one of the bars and shared our thoughts on the show, interrupted briefly by two females wrestling on the floor next to us. Then it was off to the blackjack table ! At the end of the night, Bill and Maggie went for my laptop and wrote a review together , while Jen and I went off for a stroll. Paul apparently made himself quite comfortable on Jen's bed while we were gone ... and had to be woken due to the loud rumblings and snorts he was making.
Truly a fun trip, but such a shame that Jer wasn't here ... not the same without you ! Will see you for the next set of shows later this week though ...
Just to fill in a couple of personal notes...it's a long one; I hope you enjoy:
Sitting in line for good lawn seats (HA! Is there such a thing?!) I hear my name and met for the first time Deb and her friend, and saw again Bill whom I met at the Universal shows, and received a VIP pass from them. Let's here it for last-minute email posts and red-headed sons!
After running up a hill that no one should ever run, we staked out our fabulous blanket spots. Last time I had lawn seats was the Soul Cages concert years ago! Why the lawn? For my kids who I was so excited for, seeing their first concert ever, and Sting no less! Well, they fell asleep after waiting through Remy Zero (who were great, but it was just getting late for a couple of eight-year-olds) during the third Sting song. Great idea, mom! Next time, I'm taking them one by one with great seats so that mom can attend at least three more concerts!
I went down before Sting came on to visit with the gang in the VIP area (another joke--we're talking Orange County here, let's show that $$ off!) and they spontaneously asked me to come along to Vegas, as they had one extra ticket and a spot in Maggie's car. Unfortunately, this extra tic was because Jeremy was unable to attend (and I did so miss him!), but without much thought I said Yes!
The Irvine concert itself was everything everyone has said, but from that far back, I'm afraid I'm just gonna have to trust them on this. The screaming woman was heard by us in the back, and the entire amphitheatre burst out laughing at his polite but slightly strained request for silence.
Regarding the lack of change in much of the concert by the frequent flyers, and the range of negative emotions from many of you on this list, I will say this: Liken the concert to a Broadway musical. The well-rehearsed show is expected, complete with motions and dialog, and what doesn't work is scrapped for what does. You go to the show expecting exactly the same performance, and are surprised at the minor changes that occur, coming away excited about noticing these differences. I've seen it "only" five times now, but am thrilled with the varied nuances.
Thanks to all involved for all enjoyed, including the sorely missed Jeremy.
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