Soul Cages: 1991/92

Versatile Sting offers three-for-one deal in one of season's largest concert draws...

For a pop entertainer, Sting has a variety of musical personas - all of which were presented in a spectacular stage show here Friday night.

First, there's the progressive rocker who fronted the Police in the early 1980s. Secondly, there's the jazz artist who returned to his musical roots for an equally successful solo career. More recently, a more mellow Sting has emerged from this chameleon-like entertainer.

While many musical acts are banding together for double - and triple - bill concert tours this summer, Sting offered a three-for-one deal in his 'Soul Cages' set, which drew one of the season's largest crowds at the outdoor amphitheater.

After leading off with a bouncy 'All This Time', Sting proceeded to make up for a long wait since he wowed Utahns in a 1985 concert that featured Branford Marsalis and reunited him with former Police drummer Stewart Copeland.

Police purists, as well as devotees of his solo musical poetry, each got their money's worth in Friday's show.

Backed by three highly talent- ed musicians, Sting offered faithful renditions of Police hits like 'King of Pain' and 'Every Breath You Take', as well as his own radio favourites like 'Set Them Free' and 'Fortress Around Your Heart'. Each song was punctuated with jam-session interludes that added spontaniety to the 90-minute set.

As backup bands go, the nearly 12,000 fans in attendance should not be discounted. Hand clapping and singing choruses seemed to be the norm for the evening as Sting encouraged audience participation. This expanded rhythm section gave a more rocking feel to his work, especially the lyrically sensitive songs from the 'Soul Cages' album.

He wove new material like 'Mad About You' and 'Why Do I Cry For You'" together with new arrangements of pop standards such as Bill Withers' 'Ain't No Sunshine' and Jimi Hendrix's 'Purple Haze' with snippets of his own hits like 'Be Still My Beating Heart'.

Sting's call for requests was met with a thunderous response from the crowd.

"There's the moon," he said above the roar before breaking into an upbeat version of 'Walking on the Moon'. The song's catchy guitar hook offered Sting the perfect opportunity to showcase his inventive bass playing.

A reggae-laced 'Message in a Bottle' closed off the set with the help of Special Beat vocalists Ranking Roger and Neville Staples.

The reggae rockers were also well received in their buoyant opening performance. The group, a combination of England's the Specials, English Beat and General Public, presented a variety of hits made popular by the aforementioned acts.

(c) The Salt Lake Tribune by Lori Buttars

Hills were abuzz with adulation for a feel-good Sting...

'I can't wait to see the greatest man alive step up on that stage,' bellowed someone on the row behind us - echoing the enthusiasm of more than 12,000 energetic participants in Sting's first Utah concert since 1985.

That's way too long between shows, according to the predominantly young adult crowd.

That gathering included my daughter, Amy, and her slightly displaced mother. (I did spot a handful of spectators from my 'before-Police' generation.)

Though the 'Soul Cages Tour' 1991 performance featured several cuts from the current recording, the packed house erupted when the first chord sounded for 'Roxanne', Police's hit single from 1978. Sting and his band drew a similar response from older cuts like, 'When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best of What's Around', 'King of Pain' and 'Fortress Around Your Heart'.

The 'name-that-tune-in-two-notes' crowd rocked in chorus with the familiar lyrics of Sting's earlier works.

Audience reaction prompted the performer to recall his previous appearance at ParkWest: ''I think I've skied this hill before. The last time I was here, 10,000 people were rolling down this hill. The ones in front were in pain,'' Sting quipped.

Painful was an apt description of the mountain-bound crowd, many of whom hiked nearly to the ski lift. But distance did little to hamper the contagious enthusiasm - the mountains rumbled with the rhythms of rock and reggae.

Drawing from his current album, Sting warmed the crowd with the lead-off single, 'All This Time', then moved into the raucous rendition of 'Jeremiah Blues', with jazzy improvisations by David Sancious on the electronically enhanced keyboard.

Innovative impromptu arrangements, a Sting trademark, came together with the support of other band members, Vinnie Colaiuta on bass and Dominic Miller on drums.

Settling back into the tour album, Sting offered a cathartic piece about his father titled 'Wild, Wild Sea', followed by the title cut, 'Soul Cages'.

Rounding out the performance, Sting rolled out a pair of audience requests, 'If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free' and 'Walking on the Moon', then eased into the trademark 'Every Breath You Take'.

Sting closed out with an encore environmental statement, 'Fragile', reminding the crowd of his commitment to social issues.

The multifaceted performer signaled his concerns to a group of concertgoers decked out in 'Save the Rainforest' T-shirts.

Others recognized yet another perspective in the former Police-man. Melanie Cannon recited a Shakespearean sonnet in keeping with the performer's teaching days and to remind the crowd of the multiplicity of intellectual causes he espouses.

'He's an intellectual activist as well as a musician,' Cannon said.

Opening the concert was the group Special Beat, self-proclaimed as 'the best band to pass through Salt Lake City last year.' The reggae bunch from Britain issued an invitation to 'Enjoy Themselves, It's Later Than You Think,' to a crowd that needed no encouragement.

The lead-off act packed aerobic antics into 40 minutes of rollin' reggae and British-inspired rock.

And when those in the crowd reluctantly descended the mountain, they may have wished for an alternative to the 2 hours of plugged parking lots.

An alternative like waiting for a fresh powder run.

(c) The Deseret News by Ann Whiting Allen & Amy Allen