As I'm sure you know, Sting just finished playing three concerts in Israel. Yours truly went to all three. (Yes, I know, but I was not the only one that crazy). For once, jetlag has stood me in good stead - I only came back from the US Saturday, so staying up late watching a concert, then driving home, then writing notes, was easy. And sleeping late the next day is "always" easy.
Anyway, what I did was write down every night my experiences at the concert of that night. I just could not mail them. But I will now, so you'll be getting notes written without foreknowledge of the concerts to come. Just as if I "could" post them on time. Enjoy (or, at least, don't suffer too much),
Sting's third concert in Israel was in Rishon le'Zion, a little south of Tel-Aviv, on Tuesday, September 20, 1994, at 9:00 PM.
Since Rishon le'Zion is very close to my apartment, I hopped over to the arena long before show time to see what I could find out. Talk to one of the crew, who told me that their schedule after South Africa calls for two weeks off, then another show in South Africa, then another few weeks off, then a show in Tokyo. After that, no information. I asked whether they intend to keep touring, just not sure where, or are going in the studio, but he didn't know. I also overheard a guy from Sting's management talking with a lady from the German or Israeli promotion, about how they need 12-14K people there tonight to break even. Sounds mighty suspicious to me: all three venues were packed to capacity, they couldn't possibly sell more tickets. So did somebody make up a plan that necessitates sell-outs just to break even? Very odd. But maybe I misheard. Sorry I couldn't get any better info, but it was too hot to hang around there too long, and there was nobody knowledgeable around anyway.
The Rishon arena is just grassy slope above the stage. This time there was only the small fenced-off area for photographers again, no privileged seating. The stage was lower, tho, about 1.2 meters (same as the fence). The arena has several gates, and I was unlucky enough to be at one that was not the first opened. Consequently, by the time I got in, I could only find a spot in the second row from the fence. I got a good one, though, behind short people.
There was an opening act again, yet another acoustic guitar-slinger, less good than the previous night - and mercifully also with a shorter set. After he left, the pressure on the fence began to increase, as people from the back jockeyed for a better position for the main attraction. Eventually, the fence buckled, and only by luck was no-one hurt. Security ran in and pushed us all back while re-erecting the fence, and in the resulting melee I lost my spot. Not wanting a repeat of the Jerusalem unpleasantness, I turned around straight away and found myself a better place up on the slope, where I could see most of the stage above people's shoulders. Too far to see more than figures, tho.
The start of Sting's set was delayed while Police and Security guards tried to get the people up front to get back and ease up the pressure on the poor souls crushed against the fence. They said they wouldn't start until it became tolerable. I didn't notice any motion, but eventually the gig did start. I have no idea whether Trudie was in the press area during the show, but if I were her bodyguard I wouldn't let her in there - the fence might buckle again and she'd get crushed.
The show was, of course, the same as before. I noticed lots more solos, practically every song's bridge is one! The band was sizzling, except at one point where it seemed to my untrained ear that David was trying to go somewhere that the others were unable or unwilling to go. Eventually he backed out of it. I still don't understand this game. Why can't they play it on their own time? I suppose it adds spice to have 10000 people watching you jam, but unless you really foul up these people are not likely to criticise you. Sting's gigs are fun for the band and for first-time viewers, but dedicated repeat-performance fans are cheated in the balance. I suppose we deserve it.
Anyway, the show was good. Sting's voice was still not back to its best, but he managed quite well and didn't falter. The audience sang and cheered mostly the Police tracks, as well as "Englishman in New York". Quite a few didn't know the "new" album. They also did some unexpected things: you know how in "Every Breath You Take" Sting adds the opening of "Invisible Sun"? The "oh-oh oh oh oh-oh"? Well, instead of repeating it after him, or with him, they came in after the fourth "oh", like it was one of those overlapping chorus type things. Very strange.
A strange thing happened on the way to the encore. The audience didn't really make very much noise after the band got off. Maybe they knew the encore was inevitable, maybe they were tired, maybe they were just not that keyed-up. Regardless, after the alotted time, Sting came running out anyway. He went to his mike and asked "So you want more?", and got a weak "yes" in return. So he said, "No." And we cried "Yes." And he said "No!", and we said "Yes!" After about four or five of increasingly emphatic "no"s and "yes"s, he uttered a light little "okay", and launched into the encore. Like I said, not much can keep them from their scheduled encores.
Finally, after "Fragile", Sting thanked us and promised we'll see him again. I hope that means he enjoyed himself enough to make Israel a permanent feature on his future world tours.
It occurs to me I forgot to tell you how long the concerts were: just a bit under 2 hours, including encores.
That's about it for my reports on Sting's Israeli concerts. Hope you were not too bored. If you press me (please, please) I may post some newspaper reports on these concerts.
The bottom line is this: I enjoyed Zemah the most, Rishon second, Jerusalem third. If there was another concert tonight, I'd go again. (My pocketbook thanks him for not staying) Sting is the greatest!
I do have a little story of my own concerning Sting's live performance.
I went to see 2 of his TST concerts in Israel. The first one was in Jerusalem in the beautiful Sultan's pool. The beautiful view of the old city's wall, and David's tower made it all very special and there was a great Atmosphere. Of course, me and my friend (who lives in Jerusalem) along with all the thousands of people waited anxiously for "Mad About You", not only becuase it was the perfect song for that moment but because of the lyrics (a stone's thrown from JERUSALEM...). It was even the right PLACE for this song...as you can guess, or probably know - he didn't sing this song, and we were very disappointed.
The second concert was supposed to be held in Tel-Aviv, but about a week before he came here he transfered the concert to Rishon-le-Zion, which is my home-town.
Needless to say I was very excited about it - instead of getting stuck in traffic for hours - I can simply cross the road..
When Sting got on stage, we expected him to say something. He didn't say much but - "Good evening, TEL-AVIV..." I guess he forgot about the transfer. Anyway, both of the concerts were great, and I enjoyed them both very much. I'm looking forward for the next tour!
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