57th & 9th: World Tour

Sting in Düsseldorf: A global star and his police choir...

Those wild times are legendary. Instead, Sting invited his fans to a family concert. There was a lot of leafing through the song album from back then.

Düsseldorf. In October 1980, three young musicians took to the stage of the legendary WDR Rockpalast. They launched into the stage with such energy that after just half an hour, the singer had great difficulty hitting the high notes on "So lonely." On the night of his performance, Sting played the song again in front of a sold-out venue in Düsseldorf – in the final part of the program. And he did it with a perfection that was never heard during the wild times of "The Police." The opening act, "The Last Bandoleros," was invited on stage to provide vocal support. "Police" was a thing of the past; instead, an entire police choir performed "So lonely." The song was undoubtedly one of the moments that the over-40 audience took home with them. It was at least as beautiful as on the record and so harmonious that it shook the real rock’n’roller a little.

It was a true family evening that Gordon Sumner, Sting's real name, organized for his fans. His son Joe opened the evening with an acoustic guitar. His voice, in particular, was strongly reminiscent of his father. The three songs transitioned seamlessly into the performance of "The Last Bandoleros," who have also long been part of the Sting family and have accompanied him throughout the tour. A great opportunity for the young band and an opportunity for Sting to integrate the group into the concert as a background choir with their perfect choral vocals.

This creates a completely new live experience, especially with the Police songs, which are played in absolutely flawless sound. Whereas previously, during the first songs, the musicians would have been busy tinkering with the mixing desk to get the dreaded feedback squeal under control for the rest of the evening, Sting's first note is spot on.

The 65-year-old kicks things off with "Synchronicity II" and immediately follows it up with the next Police classic, "Spirits in the Material World." Apparently, the days are over when Sting refused to answer questions about his old band in interviews. The bassist and singer is clearly fond of reminiscing about the old days. But he's not living in the past like many other stars his age. With "Can't Stop Thinking About You" and "One Fine Day," he managed to place two songs from his current album in the radio charts. And they're no worse than his classics like "Englishman in New York" or the old Police anthems.

At one point, Sting overdoes the harmony. During the slow "Down, Down, Down," you get the feeling that the band and audience are slowly dozing off to the barrel organ sound. At least the wake-up call comes: "Message in a Bottle" has the hall on its feet again. The finale features a tribute to a lady to whom Sting owes a great deal. "Roxanne" was one of the hits that paved his way to global stardom. He incorporated the legendary "Ain't So Sunshine" into the song before the regular concert ended after about an hour and a half. The encore had a symbolic significance – with "Next to You," the singer was very close to his fans.

As they left the hall, they eagerly discussed the concert experience. The sound was clearly better than before, with no rough edges. But aren't those just part of an exciting rock concert? It's a different time, after all.

(c) Westdeutsche Zeitung by Dieter Sieckmeyer

Sting makes his fans cry...

The 65-year-old rock star Sting played a best-of program at his concert in Düsseldorf at the Mitsubishi Electric Hall, often moving his fans to tears.

Halfway through the evening, Sting becomes very quiet. He closes his eyes and plays the ballad "Shape of My Heart." All that's heard is an acoustic guitar and a bit of percussion. Sting sings of loss, the sky sends a soft, honey-yellow light, and even though the hall is so large and sold out with 7,000 fans, you feel a sense of connection with every attendee. "You can cry," a woman says to her friend. And then they hug each other. 

Sting performs at the Mitsubishi Electric Hall in Düsseldorf. The 65-year-old plays a few new songs and many of his solo hits, as well as almost the complete best-of catalogue of his band The Police. It's a pleasure to watch this charming guy, and one is once again impressed by how he manages to create the right atmosphere for each song, varying moods. It also strikes one once again how complex many of his songs are arranged. "Hung My Head," for example, is a sophisticated piece of pop in 9/8 time – something only he can pull off. And "Walking On The Moon" is a reggae deconstruction that's so challenging to play that few people could even sing along. But Sting certainly can.

The majority of the set is strikingly powerful. Sting plays with a large rock line-up, sometimes with ten people on stage, most of them quite young. One of them is Sting's 40-year-old son, Joe Sumner, whom his father once lets take the microphone to sing David Bowie's "Ashes To Ashes." Sting says he still remembers Joe lying in his crib while he wrote "Message in a Bottle." And then they play "Message in a Bottle" together.

Sting obviously feels at home in this company. He transforms "Englishman in New York" into a funk song, he celebrates "Pretty Young Soldier" as pure waltz bliss, and "Roxanne" is amazing because Sting lets the song segue beautifully into "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers, then turns again and returns to the original song, and finally, at the very end, screams out the song title so wonderfully piercingly that you think it's still 1978.

Sting moves very little, he puffs out his chest and shows off his upper arm muscles, at one point he drinks tea from a white mug. He is the centre of energy on stage, his jagged bass rests on his flat stomach, and at times you notice that Sting himself is content with himself and the world. Then he raises the neck of his instrument and spins around on his own axis.

At the beginning, a man who had arrived in a suit complained to his wife that there were no chairs: "Now you're standing here like an ox!" By the end, he must have been reconciled. Nothing would have kept him in his seat anyway.

Conclusion? Well, as a rocker, based on most of his new songs, he's a shadow of his former self, but as a performer he remains top-notch. No video screens, razor-sharp sound, and excellent physical and vocal condition. Sting came, saw, and conquered. And the audience hung on his every word.

(c) Rheinische Post by Philipp Holstein