Sting displays talent, humour...
Sting brought his stripped-down, self-deprecating show to Great Woods last night and offered a little jazz, some rock and a bit of humour to a crowd ranging from infants to the aged.
Ever the proper Britisher, the ex-Police bassist/singer, clad in black T-shirt and jeans that made him look like Peter Pan from a bad neighbourhood, offered up a slightly-longer-than-two hour show that started promptly at the preannounced time of 8:35pm. If there is one singular asset about Sting besides looks it is how multi-dimensional he is.
He was the head of to some degree a pioneering rock band and in more recent year an artist who has infused his music with other styles and with topical lyrics. But some of this complexity got lost or buried last night as he segued from rock to jazz.
He was preceded by Timbuk 3 - a Wisconsin/Texas band whose album 'Eden Alley' and biography lamenting friend Mambo who is locked up in federal prison were definitely better than their music and delivered a set that not surprisingly was galvanized around his Police-era songs as far as the crowd was concerned.
'Bring On The Night' and 'King Of Pain' were both good to hear delivered live with Sting's trademark voice. The show kind of faltered when he performed 'Fortress Around Your Heart' too slow.
Sting managed to make sure each change from rock to jazz was accompanied by a change from an outfit-matching black bass to a jazz bass. Sancious managed to manufacture a saxophone from his keyboards and Sting managed to find backup vocals from some un- known source during 'King Of Pain' even though no one else in the band was singing.
If the show had its slow moments it definitely picked up when the extended version of 'Soul Cages' segued quickly into 'Purple Haze' and startled the crowd to its feet. An added treat would have been Jimi Hendrix 'Little Wing', a great Sting cover.
The combination actor, singer, musician, sex symbol and writer, whose talents in the latter area have been well-displayed in his recent album writings about his late father, was supported by guitarist Dominic Miller, a skilled supporting player but one who knew his place.
Keyboardist David Sancious was at the centre of the extended jazz-style versions of songs Sting now favours.
(c) The Daily Item by Thor Jourgensen
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