Brand New Day: 1999/01

Sting hots up Lebanon's famed Baalbek festival...

Around 4,500-strong audience of music-lovers of all ages and from all backgrounds greeted the former Police frontman with a deafening standing ovation.

British rock star Sting burst into the majestic Roman ruins of Baalbek with two electrifying concerts at the weekend that sent a crowd of some 4,500 people dancing, cheering and singing.

"How nice to be in Lebanon," Sting told the enthusiastic crowd. "What a wonderful venue." As part of a world tour to promote his recent cross-cultural album Brand New Day, Sting played an energetic set against the purple-lit backdrop of the Roman Temple of Jupiter, whose six colossal pillars are said to be the largest remaining in the world.

Sting's appearance at the two sold-out performances on Friday and Saturday nights at the Baalbek International Festival - a month-long music, theatre and dance festival - had drawn criticism from some purists who feared that pop acts would commercialise the prestigious arts festival.

But a 4,500-strong audience of music-lovers of all ages and from all backgrounds greeted the former Police frontman and his six-member band with a deafening standing ovation.

Sting's latest album, acclaimed for its global flavour, includes the world hit Desert Rose - a duet with Algerian artist Cheb Mami, using Arabic lyrics and instruments.

Sting began and ended an uninterrupted set with songs from Brand New Day, but performed a selection that spanned much of his almost quarter-century musical career, including old favourites like Every Breath You Take and Roxanne from his former band, the Police.

But the biggest hit with the audience wild was Mad About You which started with: "A stone's throw from Jerusalem. I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight and though a million stars were shining my heart was lost on a distant planet... I'm mad about you."

Baalbek - a divided town where part of the population earns its living from growing cannabis while others have made it a bulwark of Muslim fundamentalism - was festive, peaceful and alive as streams of cars and fans descended on it.

Thousands of foreign tourists flocked to Baalbek every year for what was the Middle East's most spectacular festival until the 1975-1990 civil war brought it to a halt.

For some years after the war the festival could not return, as Baalbek, located in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, was controlled by the Shi'ite Muslim Hizbollah guerrilla group. The festival was resurrected in 1997, fulfilling a dream that organisers had kept alive through the war years.

"I dedicate these (last) two songs to the people of Lebanon who have been through years of war and look at you, how lovely you are," Sting said as he concluded his concert on Saturday night.

(c) Reuters

Sting rocks Roman temples of Baalbek..

British star Sting rocked Friday evening the majestic Roman Temple of Jupiter in the first of his two sold-out concerts at the heart of the eastern city of Baalbek. Sting, wearing a multi-coloured shirt, drove the audience to its feet especially when he sang the hits "Mad About You" and "Fields of Gold," during which the crowd was delicately lit by a sea of lighters.

"How nice to be in Lebanon. What a wonderful venue," Sting told the enthousiastic crowd sitting at the feet of the six colossal columns of the Temple of Jupiter.   The British star even invited a crazed fan on stage to dance with her, as the concert climaxed with three famous songs "Englishman in New York," "Roxanne" and "Desert Rose" which he sang accopanied by a young Lebanese percussionist on the traditional Derbakke drum.

The former Police frontman, who won a Grammy Award this year as best male vocal performer, is currently on a world tour. The "King of Pain," as some of his fans know him from one of his more popular numbers, has been touring the Middle East this year, having already performed in Dubai, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia.

This year's Baalbek summer festivals will also host performances by local and foreign stars, including the prestigious 340-year-old Paris Opera Ballet and Spanish flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia. Also Friday evening, the famous Turkish group of sufi musician Kudsi Erguner performed an enchanting concert at the mountainous 19th century Beiteddine palace, which kicked off its summer festival last week with British rock star Elton John. 

(c) AFP