| Going Back to Newcastle Sting shares his thoughts on returning to his hometown for opening night of the Back to Bass 2012 tour. |
| Opening Night 2012 Opening night at The Sage Gateshead in Newcastle. |
| Richie Mazzetta - Guitar Tech Guitar technician, Richie Mazzetta tells us about his role on the Back to Bass tour |
| Rufus and Peter - Next Stop, Sage Gateshead Rufus and Peter share some thoughts about life on the road in the US before heading over to Europe to kick off the next leg of the Back to Bass tour in Newcastle on February 5. |
| Back To Bass - Rehearsals The band in rehearsal for the Back To Bass Tour. |
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Symphonicity Apollo Theatre, New York, April 2011
These photos were taken at the afternoon rehearsal ahead of Sting's performance for Sting.com fan club members at the Apollo Theatre, New York on 28 April 2011. All photos by Dave & Wendy.
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Symphonicity Tour, Budokan Theatre, Tokyo, January 2011
In January 2011, Sting performed three shows at Tokyo's legendary Budokan Theatre as part of the Symphonicity tour. All photos by Markus Meyer.
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Edinburgh Playhouse, Soundcheck & Show, October 2010
Sting took the Symphonicity tour to Scotland on 9 October 2010 for a show at Edinburgh Playhouse - his first show at the venue since 1986's Blue Turtles tour. All photos by Dave & Wendy.
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Sage Gateshead, Soundcheck & Show, October 2010
Sting performed with the Northern Sinfonia Orchestra at the Sage Gateshead on 5 October 2010. He met the orchestra for the first time at 4pm and at 8pm they performed a near three hour show. Incredible musicianship all round! All photos by Dave & Wendy.
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Symphonicity Tour, Royal Albert Hall, London, October 2010
October 2 was Sting's 59th birthday. He chose to celebrate in style with a sell-out show at London's Royal Albert Hall. All photos by Dave & Wendy.
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| Tour Material Sting discusses the process of selecting the songs that made the cut for the US leg! |
| Another Dark One 'Another Dark One' (Big Idea) - This is an example of cross-generational influence. My son (who is a bass player and DJ) has long been into Drum 'n' Bass and the sounds leaking out of his bedroom seem to have had an influence on my writing. At a couple of points the band moves into a conventional swing groove - the 1930s meeting up with the 1990s quite amicably - all this stuff is irrevocably inter-related and intertwined! - Gerry |
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| Blues For Big Red 'Blues for Big Red' (Big Idea). This is a feature for Rod Sinclair on guitar and is an intentional replication of and homage to 1970s Blaxploitation movie soundtracks/and TV cop-show themes. - Gerry |
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| Getting There 'Getting There' (Quartet) - One of the two non-originals on the album, this is a song by the great Mose Alison who wrote it for me although he doesn't know that!
People ask me questions 'bout the way I've spent my life,
Thirty years in show business, only had one wife,
Of limousines and swimming pools, I didn't get my share,
But I'm not downhearted, I am not downhearted,
But I'm getting there!
In fact he probably wrote it for all musicians of a certain age for whom the limousine/swimming pool experience is kind of an infrequent occurrence. - Gerry |
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| Global Village Idiot 'Global Village Idiot' (Big Idea) - This is one of the more ambitious compositions on the album - a suite of four tunes that employ a number of different and complex chord progressions. It's dedicated to George Bush the current US president and is an attempt at programme music. I wrote it when the current tragic debacle in Iraq was just beginning. The first section seeks to evoke tension and time running out as the troops mass for embarkation. The second section is a half tempo funky march - troops getting into position. The third section develops and reprises the tension/time themes - 'war is 95% waiting/boredom and 5% terror'. The fourth section is meant to evoke resignation in the face of death and destruction and the fifth section is slower and represents peace/reflection after battle. There is then a reprise of the two first sections as the whole terrible process starts up again. - Gerry |