Broken Music: 2005/06

Not to get Sting off...

Sting couldn't get the tempo up high enough to get Sting off in a slightly too dull concert at Koengen in Bergen on Monday night.

The grey and dreary weather in Bergen must have taken some of the blame for Sting's failure to get the crowd on fire in Bergen on Monday. Not even during the obvious courtship did Koengen's hands go up in the air.

A cheerful and smiling Sting came on stage a little after 9 pm, in front of 12,000 spectators. It wasn't until the third song, 'If I Ever Lose My Faith In You', that the crowd came alive. But Sting, or Gordon Sumner, usually had to ask for the audience's cheers.

Not even during the songs that everyone should know, 'Englishman In New York', 'Roxanne', 'If You Love Somebody' and 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' did anyone but the hard core on stage get their arms up in the air. The most hardened Sting fans also remained calm most of the time while the hero was on stage.

Sting is not one of those artists who desperately wants the audience to ''make some noise''. He seemed content to play for a quiet crowd, who, after all, were on the score every time he called for a sing-along. But it was clear that the vast majority of those who had made the trip to Koengen in the rain were looking for nothing more than festive company and live music, and not primarily Sting. If the weather had been better, we could probably have brought out the worn-out folk festival concept.

The faithful Sting fan base enjoyed themselves, I know them right, but they probably deserved to see their hero in a more intimate atmosphere. There was something jarring about Sting and his three musicians in the stadium rock version.

Musically, there is nothing to say about Monday's concert. The main character still sings well, and has not lost the distinctiveness of his voice over many years as an artist. His two guitar heroes, Dominic Miller and Lyle Workman, are both solid musicians, who perform their guitar solos with maximum skill, and average enthusiasm and joy of playing. But they failed to bring the audience along in the right way. It takes a special kind of fingerspitz-gefühl to reach 12,000 spectators and create life and excitement.

All in all, an average concert experience, despite the fact that Sting performed all the most famous hits from a rich repertoire. After just over an hour and a half, the encore, consisting of 'Every Breath You Take' and 'Desert Rose', was over. Then Sting thanked everyone who stood in the rain all evening, and headed for Molde and then several concerts in Scandinavia.

(c) TV2 Norway by Asle Bentzen

Slagerparade...

Sting delivered a bit of a sledgehammer parade at Koengen yesterday. The drizzle is to blame for the fact that the atmosphere didn't lift until the end.

A critical remark at the very beginning: It's a bit sad when a rock veteran like Sting changes the menu so little along the way.

He has practically played the same songs at almost 20 concerts in Europe. Bergen was no exception. It gets a bit static. And calculated.

OK, he's never played in Bergen before, so why complain? Because we got songs from almost his entire career.

It opened fresh with two Police songs, 'Message in a Bottle' and 'Synchronicity II', which also introduced the two guitarists in the band, Lyle Workman and long-time collaborator Dominic Miller.

Both of these guys know their craft to the hilt. They spiced it up with sensitive playing when needed, and rocked when it was necessary.

The concert showed that Sting doesn't need keyboards, chords or ethnic rhythms to deliver a good concert. Here it was back to the pure rock format - bass, guitars and drums. The latter were handled by the great talent Abe Laboriel Jr.

The classics came like pearls on a string: 'If I Ever Lose my Faith In You' and 'Walking in the Moon' represent two different stages in his career. 'Englishman in New York' is a solo favorite with many, the same with 'Fields of Gold' and 'Fragile'.

While Police songs like 'Driven To Tears', 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' and 'Roxanne' probably sounded more rock and unpolished when Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland played in a band with Sting - but the adult versions we got at Koengen went home.

He played the tough intro to 'The Soul Cages', but fooled the audience. Because the song then went straight into '(If You Love Somebody) Set Them Free'. It was definitely intentional.

'Every Breath You Take', 'So Lonely' and 'Next To You' only emphasized Sting's need to shake off some ethnic jazz dust.

The downside: He only communicates politely with the audience. The standard farces are in. I never feel like he gives much of himself from the stage.

The audience was also a bit hesitant at first. Maybe they were so impressed to finally see and hear their hero in Bergen?

The sound was very good. But it never reached the energy explosion that John Fogerty stood for at Sotra on Friday, or the rock circus we witnessed in Milan on Tuesday, when the Rolling Stones set 65,000 Italians on fire.

Sting is too cultured for that. But I think 13,000 Bergen residents were satisfied.

(c) Bergensavisen

More sting than in a long time...

A new spring based on a lot of old material.

Sting managed to please most people at Koengen last night. Both the fans who had followed him with the Police during the punk era and those who prefer the softer artist that he has appeared as in recent years. But there were no sophisticated jazz musicians this evening, but ''Back to basic'' with two guitars, bass and drums.

About half of the program was dedicated to old Police songs and half from his solo career. He also got a place for a Beatles song 'A Day In The Life'. For those who, after the man's later albums, might have thought that he had started to become completely soft in his old days, he certainly had some surprises in store.

Sting took the stage at exactly nine o'clock. With 'Message In A Bottle' and 'Synchronicity II', two old Police songs, he made it clear from the start that this was going to be a fresh evening. Whether it was the young band behind him, or the fact that the man has reached a late forty-year crisis (he turns 55 in a few months), we don't know. It is certain that Sting has not been fitter and fresher for many years.

Now he did not disappoint those who like the softer version either. Both 'Englishman in New York' and 'Fields of Gold' were of course in place. It was a sensible mix of Police and Sting without too many dead spots.

Not everything was as good as in the old days. 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' lacked power, but that was about the only downfall. Otherwise, both the material and the man had held up incredibly well. The voice was fully up to par with the Police's glory days, and the bass playing was impeccable.

Not least the version of 'Roxanne', which was the last song before the encores were expanded into a small experimental work. This evening showed a version of Sting that we would have liked to have heard a little more often. Fresh, youthful and raucous.

(c) Bergens Tidende

Wet and good...

Thousands of Bergen residents turned out at Koengen to hear Sting on Monday evening.

Both the artist himself and most of the audience have put their heaviest youth behind them. When you deliver good music you don't need all the tricks and stage antics in the world, and the audience would rather listen than scream.

The audience looked up at the sky time and again. Would the drizzle stop? Would the cloud cover burst? Well. It stopped raining, but the sky remained grey and Sting sang 'I have to tell the story of a thousand rainy days'.

It was the relatively unknown Fiction Plane who warmed up this evening. A thankless job, because the rain-soaked audience was not so easily carried away, despite their energetic work on stage. Perhaps not many people knew that the vocalist was Sting's son? 'How are you doing' shouted Joe Sumner, without much effect. 'How are you doing' he shouted once more. The response was even more tame. The packed Koengen was waiting for a gentleman who likes to walk but never wants to run.

(c) Bergens Tidende