Selected Miscellaneous Shows

Sting at his Lolla India gig: Kai Zhala Mumbai...

At 72, Sting's one and half hour performance at Lollapalooza India was power-packed with 16 back-to-back hit songs.

The headliner for day 2 was musician Sting, who at 72 years was a true live artist as he kept his fans engaged and wanting for more. Unlike the other artists at Lollapalooza India powered by BookMyShow, a two-day festival that took place at Mahalaxmi Racecourse, who kept pledging their love for India and Mumbai, Sting was a complete performer. The former frontman of the music band The Police was here in India to give his fans a night they won’t forget.

When he took to the stage at 8.25 pm in the night, he greeted the crowd in Marathi with "Kai Zhala Mumbai?", which roughly translates to "What's up Mumbai?"

However, Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE aka Sting kept the talking to a minimum and only spoke when it was necessary to egg the crowd on. He played his best songs from Englishman In New York, A Thousand Years, Every Breath You Take, Shape of My Heart, So Lonely and Roxanne to name a few. He also performed Everything’s Going To Be Alright by Bob Marley with his own twist and added a reggae element to his set. He belted out about 16 songs over his one-and-half-hour-long performance.

As the singer was wrapping up his gig, the crowd began to chant, “One more song”. While revelling in the love he was receiving, Sting asked the audience, “Tell me what you want?” While he received an overwhelming number of song requests, Sting ended up performing a fan-favourite Roxanne, which made the crowd crazy.

At the end of the night, his fans were left completely satisfied with his paisa vasool performance. Standing front and centre as Sting belted out his hit tracks was day 1 headliner, singer Halsey, who was enjoying the performance along with Sting’s family.

Singing along in the crowd were rumoured actor-couple Aditya Roy Kapur and Ananya Panday, along with Kunal Kapur, and Malaika Arora, among others. Talking to PTI, Arora said, "The show was superb, outstanding. He is a legend."

Over the two days, the festival saw several stars in attendance such as actors Taapsee Pannu and Priyanshu Painyuli, singers Papon, Jonita Gandhi and Benny Dayal, comedian Zakir Khan, Orry, and YouTuber Tanmay Bhatt, in attendance. During OneRepublic’s performance, singers Armaan Malik and Eric Nam were spotted singing along to the music.

(c) Hindustan Times by Abigail Banerji

Sting closes two-day Lollapalooza India festival with energetic performance...

Music legend Sting wowed audience members across ages and genders with his electrifying performance at the finale of the two-day Lollapalooza India festival on Sunday here.

Held at the open area of the Mahalaxmi Racecourse in the heart of South Mumbai, the show was a treat for music aficionados, many of them who had flown in from across the country for this very day.

As Sting took to the stage at 8.25 pm, he greeted the waiting crowd of thousands in Marathi with "Kai Zhala Mumbai?", which roughly translates to "What's up Mumbai?" The 72-year-old English musician - whose real name is Gordon Matthew Sumner - belted out about 16 songs, each comprising over three minutes, in his one-and-half-hour-long performance.

Sting strummed his guitar throughout the show to the tunes of his old classics, including "Every Breath You Take”, “Desert Rose”, "So Lonely", "Shape of My Heart", and "A Thousand Years", and took Mumbai down the memory lane.

Singing and grooving along the crowd were quite a few celebrities such as Aditya Roy Kapur, Ananya Panday, Kunal Kapur, and Malaika Arora, among others.

Maliaka, who came along with her friends, told PTI, "The show was superb, outstanding. He is a legend." A group of five friends from Goa and Pune attended the musical event only for Sting.

"He has done this for decades and he knows what the people expect and like. It was a superbly crafted show," one of them said.

A Russian couple, who learnt about the second edition of Lollapalooza India through Instagram, said it was the "most memorable evening in India" for them.

While Sting didn't interact much with the crowd during his performance, he piqued their curiosity by teasing them about his next song and often asked them to clap and sing along.

The frequent rousing response from the crowd was an only indication that they were having a good time.

Mithika Patil, a fan in her late 40s, said she is "just happy" to be able to see the former 'Police' frontman perform all her favourite tracks.

"Every Breath You Take", one of Sting's most popular songs, elicited a tremendous applause from the crowd who also sang along with the singer.

After he finished singing the iconic track, Sting along with his band members stepped forward and bowed down to thank the audience.

But, it wasn't over yet.

As the crowd cheered for an encore, Sting asked, "Tell me what do you want?". He honoured their demand by singing another one of his classics, "Roxanne".

In his closing remarks, the multiple Grammy Award winner thanked the audience for their love and bid them adieu with "Namaste Mumbai".

This wasn't Sting's first visit to India. His maiden trip to the country was back in the 1980s for a performance in Mumbai as the lead singer of The Police. It marked the beginning of his many visits to India also in personal capacity.

The second and final day of Lollapalooza India saw performances by Anoushka Shankar, Komorebi, Parvaaz, K-pop band The Rose, French DJ Malaa, Caribou, Eric Nam, Parekh & Singh, and Italian electronic dance music artist Meduza, among others.

BookMyShow Live spearheaded Lollapalooza India as the promoter and co-producer for the festival's Indian edition along with global producers, Perry Farrell and C3 Presents.

(c) The Telegraph (India)