Mercury Falling: 1996/97

Committed music...

Sting is no longer part of the Police. Solo, Gordon Sumner has evolved and has only retained his musical coherence in his passion for jazz, this being only one of the rag-bag of styles which appear on his last album solo album, titled 'Mercury Falling'.

Preceded by Paul Carrack, former member of Mike and the Mechanics who provided a good acoustic performance accompanied by another guitarist, before the punctual appearance of the owner of the sixteenth century English mansion.

Dressed in sober black leather, the singer from Newcastle revealed the first secret of the concert: a perfect sound. His current music is neat, unpolluted and crystalline, without pain but with pleasure, just like the sound that was offered to us. Superbly accompanied by the same musicians that took part in the recording of 'Mercury Falling', and with two other instrumentalists in the wings, Sting began travelling through his back catalogue.

With the crowd in the crammed Palacio de los Deportes in a calm and receptive mood he opened the night with 'The Hounds Of Winter'. The crowd showed the greatest enthusiasm when Sting played the first chords of 'If You Love Somebody Set Them Free'. This old song was the first appetiser, and a reminder of past, although not so distant times; times that perhaps had an unusual place in a concert where the artist has just released a new disk.

'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', 'Synchronicity', 'One World' and the legendary 'Roxanne' occupied a role of honour in the show, which helped ensure that the night didn't pass exclusively with the more insipid songs from 'Mercury Falling'.

Relaxed and speaking to the crowd in a perfect Castilian accent, Sting said the best thing that a musician of his experience could: his delight in his band and how when everything works the songs become so much better. The band maintained an extraordinary interest in certain songs that were touched with simplicity. This made all the songs grow and become alive.

The concert also had it's slow parts. Sting made his best work some years ago and he seems to have lost some direction in his music, but not his ideological commitment. But calm has settled in his chords and there is nothing left of that first rebelliousness; only a good musical tale.

(c) El Pais by Berta Herrera