I was at the Louisville concert and stayed right next door at the beautiful Brown, great hotel, anyway. What a great concert, I was overjoyed. Louisville gave me a cold and I twisted my ankle at the Louisville Palace but oh was it worth it, to be that close to Sting! I was completely overjoyed. They kept making us sit down, it was bugging me. I was pretty much way in the back though so I couldn't really see his face even though I'm sure he was very animated as usual. I did go up to the front on Every Little Thing and saw him up close until the annoying blond chick security person made us take our seats. I don't want to offend anyone but she really bothered me. Anyway, I was there, thought it was great, didn't take any pictures because they really wouldn't have been that great anyway, I just decided to watch the show and clap and scream and dance in the aisle!
The big concert finally came to town and yours truly was in attendance. It has taken me this long to collect my thoughts and reflect on what I experienced. So for better or worse here I go.
I must preface my concert review with a few comments on a personal side. As the date of the concert approached I found myself to be less enthusiastic. I had a tough week at work and wished to the high heavens that the concert could have been scheduled for Saturday instead. In retrospect I should have avoided work that day but that wasn't possible. Attending a concert definitely requires proper rest.
My enthusiasm also took a hit because I was still having a problem with the amount of money I paid for the ticket. Even though I'm a big Sting fan that's still a lot of money to dish out. Although the concert was held in a more intimate setting it still bothered me up until the start of the concert.
I would be remiss if I did not mention my disappointment in the lack of diversity among the concert goers. (No doubt ticket prices contributed to this.) Unlike when I saw Sting in Ohio 11 years ago this audience was older and fairly affluent. Not many students or people of color could be found. It might not sound like much to some of you but it means a lot. Sting's willingness to explore different musical genres has helped to bring people together, and it is one of the things I've always admired about him.
Once I got inside an usher guided me to my seat which was located in the balcony. The seat location was good with an excellent view of the stage. There was only one row of seats in front of me which was cool. As I anticipated the start of the concert these two women kept staring at me as they headed towards my row. The next thing I know the usher comes over and asks to see my ticket. To my dismay and embarrassment I had the wrong seat. The same usher who seated me then took me to my real seat. Now we are talking about several rows back in the balcony and the stage much further away. I wish you could have seen the look on the face of the lady who's seat I had mistakenly taken. She looked like she could have killed me. Lesson learned: always check your ticket and don't rely on an usher.
So now I'm not in the best of moods and I'm a little tired. I'm more than ready to get this show started. A musician named Willy Porter was the opening act. He played guitar and sang for about 30 minutes. Actually he was quite good and reminded me a little of the Dave Matthews Band. It's a tough job being a warm up act but this guy had nothing to apologize for.
And the moment we all had been waiting for finally took the stage. The first notes to "A Thousand Years" boomed over the sound system and the crowd went nuts. Sting came out dressed in leather and the crowd went nuts again. It was at that point that I finally forgot about my problems and concentrated on the music. And not surprisingly I was really getting into it and feeling the groove. The people sitting on either side of me where glued to their seats. I was having none of that. I was up dancing, clapping, singing, and getting lost in the music of one of my favorite artists. That man rocked the house!!!
The one thing that immediately grabbed my attention was the sound. The system was top notch. I heard everything clear as can be. Sting's voice sounded strong throughout. The band was putting in some serious work and the effort was greatly appreciated. The stage looked great. Sting looked great. The backup singers (Scream) looked hot.
My personal favorites that night were After The Rain Has Fallen, Seven Days, Bring On The Night, If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, When The World Is Running Down, A Thousand Years, Brand New Day, Desert Rose, Perfect Love... Gone Wrong, and Fill Her Up. Special mention given to Desert Rose which sounded good even without Cheb Mami. Fill Her Up was done with the opening act, Porter, helping out on vocals. It's my favorite song on the new CD and it was fun hearing it live. It also received one of the loudest responses from the audience. It was easy to figure out what were the crowd favorites: Roxanne and Message In A Bottle. I think the audience missed the boat on Moon Over Bourbon Street, which Sting did in his best imitation of Louis Armstrong.
A revelation was Tomorrow We'll See. I didn't initially care for the song but hearing it live, especially with trumpeter Chris Botti, made one hell of a difference. That guy can blow some trumpet.
The concert was 2 hours plus and the crowd really got into it. Towards the end everyone was up out of their seats and gettin' busy with the music. I think Louisville represented real well. Sting made a real effort to get the crowd involved and showed no signs of slowing down. He shook hands with people near the stage several times during the concert. Sting appeared to be very appreciative of the audience and seemed at home. Everyone really seemed to be getting into it. Dominic was his usual badass self on guitar. I didn't catch the name of the keyboard player but he was great. If I had closed my eyes I would have thought that Kenny Kirkland was still alive and well.
In conclusion it was a great night and a great concert. No one could tell it was the final stop on this leg if they didn't already know. I left the concert in a much better mood and forgot about my problems for a few hours. And in case you are wondering this concert was worth every penny spent. Thank you Sting!!!
Here's the songs performed as best I can recall:
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