57th & 9th: World Tour

Five great moments from Sting's concert at the Hipódromo de Palermo...

On an ideal night, the British singer delivered a musically impeccable concert that shone with classics from The Police and his solo career.

A mild climate, a starry sky, and a crescent moon provided an ideal setting for Sting's new visit to Argentina. The English musician returned as part of the world tour for his latest album, 57th & 9th, where he recaptured the pop and rock essence of a power trio reminiscent of the spirit of his time with The Police. His sound is primarily based on the trio sound of Sting on vocals and bass, Dominic Miller on electric and acoustic guitars, and Josh Freese (Nine Inch Nails, Guns N' Roses) on drums. This is complemented by the contributions of guitarist Rufus Miller (Dominic's son), backing vocals by Joe Sumner (Sting's son), and members of the Tex-Mex group The Last Bandoleros, who are part of the concert's prelude. Sting struck a perfect balance between the musical anthems of The Police and the classics of his solo career. Over an hour and a half into the concert at the Palermo Hippodrome, the Englishman's music found an almost theatrical setting to take the audience from ecstasy to the intimacy of the fire pit for the crowds.

An unbeatable opening. Sting found the key to starting a concert in the best possible way, playing his hand with emblematic songs from his history to guide a show composed of twenty-one songs, bordering on nostalgia, alternating songs from his last album, appealing to his band's implosive nature, and reaching climates of intense emotion, creating the atmosphere for an impeccable recital. The bassist and singer came on stage at 9:15 p.m., completely relaxed, as if he were taking the stage of an English pub, and shot straight into the audience's collective memory with two timeless classics from The Police: "Synchronicity II" and "Spirits in the Material World."

 The personal anthem. His solo career was as fruitful in hits as his time with The Police. The British singer created a personal bond with the local audience, starting with his various visits and his participation in that emblematic Amnesty International show at River Plate in 1988. Perhaps that's why a song like "Englishman in New York" from his 1987 album ...Nothing Like the Sun, garnered one of the biggest ovations of the night. Live, the song accentuates its reggae tempo, features a great solo by Dominic Miller, and achieves one of the karaoke moments of the concert. Even the singer, who only addressed the audience in Spanish on very few occasions, encouraged him: "Louder, please." The audience didn't disappoint him with their response until the end of the song.

Outdoor bonfire. The singer masters the mood and can seamlessly transition from the energetic rock of his new songs like "I Can't Stop Thinking About You" to the intimacy of almost whispered pieces like "Field of Golds." The minimalist, theatrical setting, set against a backdrop, allows the singer to create more introspective atmospheres, where the crowd ultimately reduces to a giant bonfire. He achieves this effect particularly with the song "Shape of My Heart," where an atmosphere of intense emotion is generated, without grandiloquence, simply with the gesture of Dominic Miller playing alongside his son, as if performing a sort of generational transfer. A tender gesture, beyond Miller's almost Prussian professionalism, is met with an equally affectionate response from his son, who rubs his arm against his back. Sting also does the same with his son, singing a duet on the song.

The cover. The Police's songs played at different points during the concert, raising the adrenaline of the band and the audience. The musician took care to maintain the iconic band's sound and some detailed arrangements. Even the drummer's cymbals were reminiscent of Stewart Copeland, and the guitar riffs created by Andy Summers sounded unchanged on Dominic's guitar. Of the eight classics chosen by Sting, which he scattered throughout different parts of the show, such as the anthems "Message in a Bottle"—where the audience clapped along to the rhythm—"Walking on the Moon," "So Lonely," "Next to You," and "Every Breath You Take"—the medley between "Roxane" and the seventies soulful cover "Ain't No Sunshine" stood out substantially. Sting blends the rhythms, tempos, and two opposing themes to create a song that complements each other in that antagonism of day and night. In the density and jazzy atmosphere that Sting imposes with his bass on "Roxane" and the emotion that Bill Witters' classic achieves, ending with the audience jumping, the singer manages to renew a well-worn classic with a more musical vision.

The end. After the encore with two songs by The Police, the singer bids farewell to the audience, picking up an acoustic guitar for the first time. It's time to close with another staple in his concert repertoire: "Fragile." This song, with its guajira-like introduction, was chosen by Sting to open his reopening concert at the Bataclan in Paris after the terrorist attacks. The pacifist tone of its lyrics, which became an anthem for human rights organizations along with "Ellas danzan solas" in the 1990s, takes on a new meaning these days. But this Sting no longer recites or makes grand political statements at his concerts. He simply picks up his guitar and repeats: "Tomorrow the blood will be gone. When the rain falls, it will wash it away. Steel and skin, such a cruel combination. But something in our minds will remain." And he lets that musical mantra and that reflective tone, after a pop-inspired concert, bounce around in the heads of the thousands of spectators who came to see him.

(c) La Nacion by Gabriel Plaza