Sting 3.0

Englishman in New York: Sting’s back in a trio at Brooklyn concert — but it’s not the Police...

Next to The Beatles, the Police had one of the biggest band breakups in rock history.

Indeed, singer-bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland were on top of the music world — after their smash “Synchronicity” album and tour — when they split up in 1986.

Of course, Sting went on to have a successful solo career, although he did eventually get back together with his Police bandmates for a blockbuster reunion tour in 2007.

And now, at 73, the artist born Gordon Sumner is going back to where he started — in another trio: Sting 3.0. He’s leading the threesome rounded out by guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas on the Sting 3.0 Tour that hit the Brooklyn Paramount this week.

It all felt familiar for Sting to be up on stage alongside two other musicians, with whom he also released the jagged, bluesy rocker “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart)” last month. They performed the new single Wednesday night — and it was probably the only time most of the crowd didn’t know the song being played.

The rest of the night was a nonstop nostalgia trip, from the late ’70s beginnings of the Police to Sting’s golden solo years in the mid/late-‘80s and the ’90s. From “Message in a Bottle” to “Fragile,” it was a fan-friendly journey through Sting’s classic catalog, one that has endured for decades now.

The show was pretty evenly split between Sting solo songs and Police tunes, which, although he never stopped playing, he seemed to embrace again more with his new power trio.

There was the sophisti-pop charm of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” still captivating after all this time. There was the driving reggae-rock of “Driven to Tears,” shifting gears and tempos. There was the funky-strutting groove of “Walking on the Moon.”

And there was the punk-spiked spirit of “Can’t Stand Losing You” and “So Lonely” — both from the Police’s 1978 debut album, “Outlandos d’Amour.”

Sting seemed reenergized to perform songs, that previously he’d done to death, with this new incarnation. He found new ways to play with them and bring them to life again.

In fact, when he repeated “I’ll always be king of pain” at the end of the “Synchronicity” hit “King of Pain,” it was as if that moniker no longer applied to him. His sense of joy throughout the night was palpable — even on the sad songs.

He even seemed to embrace the fact that “Every Breath You Take,” despite its original creepy moodiness, has become a sunny sing-along.

Sting — who will be back at Brooklyn Paramount on Thursday night before two shows at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, on Saturday and Sunday — was as spry and wiry as ever in his 70s. (All that tantric sex really kept him in shape.)

And he was in strong voice throughout, whether on the glistening “Fields of Gold” or the tender “Shape of My Heart,” which was co-written by longtime sideman Miller.

After a “Roxanne” encore that turned into a jazzy mash-up with the “…Nothing Like the Sun” solo hit “Be Still My Beating Heart,” Sting sent us home with “something quiet and thoughtful” in “Fragile.” And the song’s gentle, feathery beauty was as heartbreaking as ever.

(c)  New York Post by Chuck Arnold

Sting at Brooklyn Paramount...

“I love it here,” Sting told the audience about his three-night residency at the new Brooklyn Paramount on his Sting 3.0 Tour.

On the second night of the residency, the Sting 3.0 concert proved to be almost an otherworld Police 2.0 concert. Half of the concert featured reworked versions of songs made famous by the Police from 1977 until the band’s breakup in 1986. After playing mostly in larger bands since he launched a solo career in 1985 (except for the Police reunion tour in 2007, Sting’s new band also paralleled the Police’s lineup with guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas instead of guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland).

Granted, the British rocker intentionally did not cover the older versions of the Police songs note for note. Instead, he and his two musicians reimagined new arrangements that kept the songs familiar yet refreshed. Still, with his iconic voice still strong and the nearness of the melodies to the original versions, listeners could not help but revisit memories of the Police.

Curiously, the 17-time Grammy Awards-winner remained in the 20th century for almost his entire set. Sting has released 15 solo studio albums, yet the solo songs he performed live on this night were almost all from his earlier albums. The exceptions were “Never Going Home” from 2003’s Sacred Love album and a new song he released last month, “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart).” The concert selections totally dismissed not only his most recent album, 2021’s The Bridge, but the entirety of his eight most-recent albums.

The audience rejoiced to hear the 11 Police songs, all of which rose the fans from their seats. The new arrangements subtly dove deeper than the original radio versions, however. The musicians gently sprinkled them with jazz interludes and extended solos. Sting is 73 years old, and the slightly reworked versions reflected his growing maturity and sophistication.

Sting began the encore with “Roxanne,” played the vintage way, then led the audience in a call and response with a chant of “Roxanne-o.” He then announced, “same song, different melody.” Without a pause, he and his musicians changed the song into a slower jazz-kissed torch song that included a verse of “Be Still My Beating Heart” from his solo …Nothing Like the Sun album. Sting concluded by returning the song to the original melody.

Sting ended the night by saying that he wanted to end the concert not by signing t-shirts but by leaving the audience with “something quiet and thoughtful.” While he had played bass for almost two hours, he switched to acoustic guitar and, sitting on a stool, he played the tender “Fragile.” For the first time that evening, he demonstrated what an accomplished guitarist he is, playing sweet and delicate leads on the nylon strings. Dominic Miller switched to bass and sang harmony vocals on the chorus.

Sting remains a class act. Hopefully the new song he released last month is an introduction to a larger body of work. His classic catalog was fulfilling, but one can only hope that with new songs he will continue to able to add to his legacy.

(c) Aquarian by Charley Crespo