Brand New Day: 1999/01

Sting - patchwork...

Yesterday at the Bordeaux-Mériadeck Ice Rink, the English singer Sting performed his repertoire - old and new, with varied and mixed atmospheres.

Around eight musicians surround Sting, who stands in front as a singer-bassist. His instantly recognizable voice serves as a link to a repertoire with the broadest possible influences. His performance on stage, as an instrumentalist and performer, is accompanied by a relatively sober lighting setup, which creates atmospheres on canvases, fans, and spheres.

From the second song, he takes off his jacket and wears a tank top. This is a far cry from the tailcoat suit of a few years ago, which went hand in hand with an intellectual-chic image and Shakespearean theatrical poses. Sting suffered a setback in international popularity and now seemed to play in the register of a pop entertainer, closer, more musical, more concerned with exchange; like in his early days with the Police.

He alternated the hits of the time, and his own, like "If You Love Somebody..."—all the songs that made his success—with new tracks. Their material ensured the longevity of a formula based on blends of jazz, rhythm and blues, reggaeta, and pop, which now also opened up to rap and rai. Sting provided a honeyed, all-flower honey, to the point that drummer Manu Katche launched into a French rap. And Cheb Mami joined him for "Desert Rose," which they already sang as a duet on record.

Thus, between an 'Englishman in New York' from his solo story, which the crowd sings along to while applauding, an imperishable 'Roxanne' which recalls the turn of the 70s and the advent of the 80s, plus the new tracks from the latest album 'Brand New Day', Sting reconnects with the infectious warmth. It is transmitted among an audience that is certainly amateur, but undoubtedly more conquered than during his previous appearance.

(c) Sud Ouest by Patrick Scarzello