Sting 3.0

Sting celebrated his history with the Argentine public and welcomed Charly García backstage...

The English star gave the first of two concerts scheduled on Sunday at the Movistar Arena in the Villa Crespo neighborhood.

The concerts of the English musician's 3.0 tour will be especially treasured among Sting fans' memories, as they perfectly summarize and blend his solo career with the years he spent as the singer and composer of The Police, the band with which he became known to the world in the late 1970s.

The synthesis is very well achieved and also underscores a unique aspect of these times: the need for a veteran and established musician to continue taking to the stage simply for the sake of making music. Three musicians on stage (including the lead), acoustic and electric instruments without any sonic fantasies. Sting and his bass, one of those he's always used, and a microphone glued to his face, which gives him greater freedom of movement. That's all. Music. And that's what he delivered in the first of two shows scheduled at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires, with a repertoire that's practically the same as that of other cities he's been visiting recently.

In this show, which tours the world, "Message in a Bottle" kicks off a show that begins with English punctuality and runs for an hour and a half, across just over twenty songs. It's just the right tempo. The first thing you hear is the vector that sets the entire movement: a rock trio (guitar, bass, and drums) and a series of four chords. But it's not just any series, but a highly inspired equation created more than four decades ago by Andy Summers, who was then Sting's partner in the music world. Then comes the chorus and the return to those chords that, in the words they carry, will bring a fresh air, something new to say, to think about. Sting spoke about this a few years ago, in a talk that went viral. He spoke of the circular form of current composition and the classic format from which he had learned to make music. Regarding the current method, he mentioned the loop and circular composition. In contrast, the classic sense of creation is one that presents an idea and may (or may not) reach a point of strong tension ("crisis"). Then the situation reaches a musical bridge that leads back to the verses on the other side, with new ideas and other reflections.

Sting's songs (at least most of them) have that classic format and offer the possibility of finding something different beyond the chorus. And to this we must add musical ideas that are more inspired than complex. A simple bass line, an emotional melody, a riff that sticks in your ear and can last for hours or days. The show Sting created for this tour is a compendium of all of that. The songs his audience wants to hear and sing along to. An unbeatable format that made him famous almost half a century ago and that today puts him back on the road for a long-range tour, knowing that this retrospective is the nostalgia that thousands want to turn into music.

The Police's halo, obviously, hovers over the stadium at all times. What we hear isn't an emulation, at least not in every song. Because if it were, this show would be nothing more than a tribute band. And the truth is, there are songs that are true canons of the Police sound and their compositional modus operandi (think "Driven to Tears," for example) that don't sound like copies but rather reflect the style of each musician accompanying the English singer. Even so, in the songs by his old band, drummer Chris Maas (an outstanding session player who here gracefully assumes the role of a rock band musician, not a supporting one) masterfully captures the syncopated tones (syncopations, off-beats) of The Police drummer Stewart Copeland. And Sting's guitarist and longtime right-hand man for decades, Dominic Miller, resorts to Summers' harmonizing as often as he deems necessary. The solo Sting, on the other hand, comes with fewer stave prescriptions. The musicians are freer, and the audience participates differently. At least the Argentinian audience, who cheers with typical recital chants and winks back when they hear certain lines from the song "Englishman in New York."

Rhythmic control is another key to this show, as it's pure action and reaction thanks to its rapid-fire changes. The leap from "Everything She Does is Magic" to the placidity of "Fields of Gold" is truly an abrupt shift that flows smoothly. In another section, it moves from "Never Coming Home" to "Synchronicity II," which is that molecular explosion (from The Police's 1983 album), but this time with a speed limiter and other nuances provided by the musicians. Minutes later, "Wrapped Around Your Finger" plays, giving way to those moments where Miller can show off his own creations.

The musical quality is also evident in the lack of visual effects. Just two screens, at the top, with close-ups of Sting, are enough to decorate such a parade of songs that always hit the mark. Although some were more widely distributed than others, all of these titles are equally well-made. And the fact that he returned to his own roots, in terms of format, is something that suits this 73-year-old Englishman very well, for whom time seems to stand still. There were also other songs that were very meaningful to the audience: “So Lonely,” “King of Pain,” “Walking on the Moon,” “Every Breath You Take,” and the ones he saved for last, “Roxanne” and “Fragile” (the only moment when Sting put down his bass and sat down with a guitar). Charly García was also there, visiting him in his dressing room minutes before the concert; a reunion that will also take long-time fans back to the stage they shared in 1988, in River, during the Amnesty International tour.

(c) La Nacion by Mauro Apicella

Unbeatable Sting: At 73, he gave a show that was both magnetic and nostalgic...

Seeing Sting on stage is a reminder of the passage of time, even though for the Englishman it seems as if time stands still, starting with his voice, which sounds almost unchanged from four decades ago, and then his poise on stage.

Sting returned to Argentina after eight years away, in an unbeatable two-hour show, where he performed as a power trio in the original lineup of "The Police," alongside guitarist Dominic Miller, his partner of the past 35 years, and drummer Chris Maas. The Movistar Arena was filled with fifty-somethings, forty-somethings, and families, in that nostalgic rock ritual that seeks to pass on from parents to children the love for that music of yesteryear and an undeniable nostalgia.

Seeing Sting on stage is a reminder of the passage of time, although for the 73-year-old Englishman it seems as if time stands still, starting with his voice, which sounds almost unchanged from four decades ago, to his onstage presence, where he oscillates between bass and guitar. He started with "Message in a Bottle" and the audience jumped out of their seats, in a mood where everyone had their seat and which he returned to for ballads or lesser-known songs. The hits continued with "Englishman in New York" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," and the choruses between the rock star and the audience never stopped from there.

Sting chose a repertoire that spanned all eras, from "The Police" to his various solo albums, with "Desert Rose" and an unbeatable rhythmic version of "Mad About You," to one of the best songs of all time, "Every Breath You Take."

The Englishman showed off a voice that accompanied generations in his youth, offering several moments that were second to none for a tenor. However, in some demanding songs with extremely high notes, there were arrangements toward the lower end, such as "Walking on the Moon," "So Lonely," and "Can't Stand Losing You." He surprised everyone in the encores with "Roxanne," which sounded at its best, giving the impression that he saved the bonus to dazzle near the end.

During the various song fragments in which he referred to "losing faith in politicians" or violence, there was a standing ovation from the audience, while when the chants from the field multiplied with the "olé olé olé, Sing," so beloved by foreign artists, he didn't hide his joy.

The highlights of the concert were the beautiful, timeless slow songs of all time, such as "Wrapped Around Your Finger," "Shape of My Heart," and "Fragile," the acoustic version with which he gave away his guitar and voice and closed the first night of the Movistar. Today he's offering his second show, and it's surprising that there are only two, when he was the first rocker to sell out River Plate in '87. As I said, time passes.

(c) Ambito by Carolina Liponetzky

Sting, impeccable at 73, celebrated his hits with The Police and his solo career in a trio format...

Sting has been coming to Argentina for 45 years. He was one of the first international musicians to arrive in the country, before the unstoppable wave of acts from the late 1980s, the 1990s, and today.

That first visit was just before the worldwide boom of The Police, the trio that brought him to Obras Stadium, the New York City nightclub, and Radio City in Mar del Plata. He returned as a soloist in 1987, in a pioneering show that brought recitals to River Plate's stadium.

He repeated the following year with the Amnesty International mega-tour, in 2001 in Vélez, in 2007 again in River Plate with The Police reunion, in 2015 at the DirecTV stadium in Tortuguitas, and finally in 2017.

This trip brought a novelty: his return to the trio format, with guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas, an ideal line-up to delve into The Police's hits. And so it was: 12 of the 22 songs were from his legendary trio with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers.

At 73, Sting could easily put together a setlist that celebrates his greatest hits. With The Police, he made five albums and released some 20 singles. And as a solo artist, he recorded a dozen albums and had 10 hits. He has plenty of material for a full-throttle concert.

On the first of two nights at Movistar Arena (repeated this Monday), everything kicked off with British punctuality, at 9 p.m. sharp. Sting took the stage in a T-shirt and without any stand or handheld microphones, but instead with a small, call-centre-style microphone.

From the first minute, everything was sung and cheered by the audience, who celebrated, clapped at the slightest prompting from the singer, and even dedicated the classics "Olé olé olé, E-Sting, E-Sting!"

Message in a Bottle set the tone, and only a few moments of calm were necessary to keep things from going all out. In fact, the only oddities were 2003's "Never Coming Home" and the brand-new single "I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart). The rest was an unstoppable succession of hits.

Specifically, with The Police, he performed "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," "Synchronicity II," "Spirits in the Material World," "Wrapped Around Your Finger," "Driven to Tears," "Can't Stand Losing You," "Walking on the Moon," "So Lonely," "King of Pain," "Every Breath You Take," and "Roxanne." Crazy.

In turn, during his solo career, he played "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You," "Englishman in New York," "Fields of Gold," "Mad About You," "Fortress Around Your Heart," "Shape of My Heart," "Desert Rose," and "Fragile."

To think there are musicians who fill similar stadiums with just two renowned hits.

A special mention for Miller and Maas, who perfectly recreated the distinctive sound of Summers and Copeland. There were some final jams with minimal improvisation, as in "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" and "Roxanne," but the rest of the Police material was faithful to the original arrangement, only slightly slowing down "Wrapped Around Your Finger."

Another good decision was to combine the jazzy sound of his early solo career with the sound of the trio, without creating any breaks or ruptures between songs from one era and the next.

With such a repertoire, Sting chose not to interrupt the party and spoke very little, even connecting many songs with the following ones. Every so often, he shouted "Buenos Aires!" and asked in Spanish how everyone was doing.

He only stopped for a minute to sit down during "Mad About You" and explain that the lyrics were inspired by a biblical story about King David.

Of course, there were plenty of "Hee-hee!" exclamations typical of The Police, as well as encouragements for the crowd to sing along. Towards the end, as a way of summarizing so many years of visits, he concluded, "I love Buenos Aires."

(c) Clarín by Marcelo Fernández