Review from Muzika.hr by Siniša Miklaužić
Sting has become a regular guest in Zagreb, so we got his concert again, which coincided with the date of the England-Croatia match at the World Cup. What kind of Englishman would he be if he wasn't interested in football, so it all started a few minutes after 8pm, so that it could end by the time the match started at 10pm.
Perhaps these frequent guest appearances turned out to be a small problem for this story, because just a few months after the announcement of the Zagreb concert, another announcement came that the same show would also be in the Pula Arena, just a month and a half later. I believe that this is where the fans had a problem, they started calculating what to go to, and so many tickets for the ground floor remained unsold, which is why the organizer remembered a trick and started selling them for the very popular 21 euros in the last days before the concert. The trick worked, the ground floor was well filled, the lower part of the stands was also almost full, while the highest rows of the stands were so-so. In short, the Zagreb Arena was pleasantly full.
The opening band Dea Matrona from Ireland has been around since 2018, and they met during a school talent show where they were competitors. As they explained to us, they gradually started playing together, and now they have introduced themselves to us with an additional tour guitarist and drummer. It is all nice, although not overly exciting. Their sound is pop with rock influences, but the gentle vocals are perhaps too gentle for my taste because sometimes they are not heard at all, as if they are trying to convey their songs in a whisper.
The "Sting 3.0" tour has been going on for some time, and he has already visited Zagreb with it. At first glance, the setlist from two years ago and now differ slightly in songs and their arrangement, so fans knew exactly what to expect. Since he has become such a frequent guest, I finally got the courage to see him live, and I must admit that I had a great time.
Sting is certainly one of those authors who has put together a handful of hits, so it is easy for him to put together a setlist that is drinkable and flowing from start to finish. Right at the beginning, he hit a few big hits and immediately won me over with his warmth and unpretentiousness, so I knew that I was in for a pleasant almost two hours of music.
I don't know why, Sting has always seemed a little stiff to me, and now I have completely changed my opinion of him. Unlike many other singers, he does not have a microphone in his hands, but rather a small one tucked behind his ear, so he has complete freedom to dance wherever he wants while playing his bass. It is precisely this relaxedness that gives his songs an extra charm that seduces every visitor.
'3.0' in the tour name refers to the number of band members. Sting went back to the ‘factory settings’ here because, alongside him on bass and vocals, there was a guitarist and a drummer. The three of them carried the entire show on their backs just as it should be. Nothing was missing, and nothing was superfluous, it was obvious that they had polished it down to the smallest detail, so there was no need to change the winning formula too much.
It all started with “Message in the Bottle”, which seemed to reveal to us what messages he would be delivering during his show, and when “Englishman in New York” started after a few songs, I don’t think anything was the same anymore, everyone was focused only on the stage, some with their cell phones in their hands, and some even without them.
Somewhere after the opening part, Sting told us how much of a football fanatic he was and how he was waiting for our national team’s match, and he praised us for having a good team. You already know how it ended, so let’s get back to the concert itself. That middle part calmed things down a bit, there were songs that weren't hits at first, but the band did a great job presenting them.
Towards the end, the atmosphere slowly started to pump again, so "Shape of my Heart" was a prelude to the following songs, and everything culminated in the choir singalong "Every Breath You Take" with which they concluded the regular part of the concert. We didn't have to wait long for the encore because the game was already around the corner, and for him there were "Roxanne" and the beautiful "Fragile".
Those about an hour and 45 minutes really nicely present Sting's career, both the initial one in the band The Police, and the later solo one. Unlike many big stars, he seems very modest and unpretentious, like someone you could have a few coffees, a beer or something with, and talk about life (and football, obviously). And when we touch on the music itself, there is nothing to complain about because his performance is truly at a high level and brings every visitor exactly what they came for.
(c) Muzika by Siniša Miklaužić
