Blue Turtles: 1985/86

Sting, tight enough to know when to loosen up, turns up the power...

Sting's sun-blond hair lay tousled on his head and streams of sweat poured down his tanned face as he walked amiably to the microphone.

"The name of this song is... ahh, you know the name of this one," he said, and launched into 'Every Breath You Take'.

He was right. The crowd did know the song and wildness ensued.

It's a credit to the power of his new music from 'The Dream of the Blue Turtles' and also his sheer talent that Sting saved his Police songs until the encores all three of them of his two and a half hour show Tuesday night at Boutwell Auditorium.

By then, the songs were great, but really not necessary. Sting already had the crowd of about 2,500 in the palm of his hand.

As evidenced by his solo versions of 'Roxanne' and 'S.O.S. (Message in the Bottle)', Sting would have been powerful enough just doing the Police songs. But the combination of Sting, his new band and his new material created a storm of Hurricane Elena proportions.

Even those unfamiliar with songs from 'The Dream of the Blue Turtles' couldn't help but be infected by the fiery power of the music. Sting recorded the album with a four-piece, all-black band to help incorporate more rhythm and blues, jazz and reggae into the music than he was allowed on Police records.

On the album, this experimentation brought forth its share of problems, with some of the songs coming across too cool and aloof. But in concert, the live heat generated by the band the same members who played on the album infused the music with crackling energy.

From the Caribbean rhythms of 'Love is the Seventh Wave', to the dance-with-me pull of 'Fortress Around Your Heart' to the haunting melodies of 'Moon Over Bourbon Street', the music burned.

The band Sting on guitar, saxophonist Braford Marsalis, keyboardist Kenny Kirkland, bassist Daryl Jones, drummer Omar Hakim and back-up vocalists Janice Pendarvis and Dolette McDonald - were as tight as any band should be that is, tight enough to know when to loosen up.

They didn't come to play the songs note for note with the album. They were here to jam their brains out, but still remain within the framework and context of the music.

Many of the songs were extended to let the band flex its musical muscles. All the members were excellent but Marsalis was a standout. His expressive sax and soulful alto clarinet added depth and emotion to the songs, including his subtle backing on 'Roxanne', played during the first encore.

At first, it seemed that Sting was in for a night full of vocal headaches. Always full of emotion but never an instrument of great range, his voice seemed especially raw and ragged during the first two numbers. But once finished with an extended 'After Today Consider Me Gone', all was well.

"Whew! I needed that," he said after slamming through the searing song. "I don't drink, but last night I got sooo drunk. I've felt yuuckk all day."

Apparently, the song provided just enough hair-of-the-dog because there were no more headaches the rest of the night.

Decked out in loose-fitting white linen pants and a gray-striped linen jacket, Sting oozed class onstage; not a stuffy, stiff-British-upper-lip class, but more a sense of effortless style and charisma.

His music is challenging and, with its cross-pollinated rhythms, sometimes hard to latch onto, but in concert Sting gets the music across by fusing his sense of style with a true rocker's heart. He can clown around onstage and work a crowd as well as any rock'n'roller, but he still maintains an aura of dignity above the rest of the pack.

(c) Birmingham News by Shawn Ryan

Bitten by the bug of maturity, Sting's better than ever...

Sting the singer and songwriter took a back seat last night to Sting the composer, arranger and conductor. Performing with one of the tightest bands ever formed for one tour, the lead singer of The Police breezed into Boutwell Auditorium with his solo act.

The show had a somewhat sedate, mature mood, as opposed to the barely controlled frenzy of The Police's 'Synchronicity' tour.

Instead of prompting the eager crowd to its feet with a string of hits from The Police, he stuck, for the most part, to new material from his solo album, 'The Dream of the Blue Turtles'.

The concentration was on the music, jazz-fuelled tapestries weaving in and out of the unmistakable thump of rock.

Sting says he's trying to break down the walls that divide types of music, and this tour is certainly enlarging the hole in the wall between rock and jazz. The band, made up of seasoned jazzmen Branford Marsalis on assorted saxophones and percussion, Omar Hakim on drums, Kenneth Kirkland on keyboards and Daryl Jones on bass, almost stole the show from the 33-year-old Englander, as he chose to keep his guitar in the background.

But it was clear Sting called the shots and kept the pace, and his singing was as clear and strong as ever. He even invited the audience to scrutinize his voice closely on songs such as 'Moon Over Bourbon Street', the ballad of a poor, wretched vampire.

After the scrutiny there was little doubt there wasn't much Sting couldn't do and he was showing off. Since 1978, he's been fooling around with songs like 'De Doo Doo Doo De Da Da Da' and now he wants us to know he can get serious, too.

But his choice of encore, 'Roxanne', the lament of a lover to his prostitute-girlfriend, brought the circle to a close. Sting's always been serious; the music always hasn't.

(c) The Birmingham Post-Herald by Steve Joynt