Nothing Like The Sun: 1987/88

Sting brings social, musical awareness to 7,000 Pan Am fans...

The sweat on Sting's semi nude body glistened under the heat of coloured spotlights. Before him, the arms of 7,000 fans waved in unison like a sea of amber grain. Control and adulation belonged to the blond Brit Thursday at the Pan American Center.

Sting and his eight-headed musical monster devoured most every genre - from flamenco to Hendrix in its two-part, 22-hour show at the nearly sold-out arena.

Offering a balanced blend of funked-up Police classics (most notably 'Too Much Information' and 'Bring On The Night') and Sting standards ('If You Love Somebody'), the band proved its versatility in handling both pop and jazz. Not traditional jazz, mind you. It's the kind that requires no heady knowledge of complex modes; it merely asks that you listen and dance.

Spearheading the international line-up - half of the band hails from Europe and South America was New Orleans - bred saxophone genius Branford Marsalis. During 'An Englishman In New York' - a song off Sting's latest release, 'Nothing Like The Sun', whose cuts dominated the evening's fare - Marsalis broke loose on his alto saxophone. Lazy quarter notes mingled in the heavy air with the slightly sweet scent of marijuana.

Sting, sporting longish locks and a double-breasted jacket, enjoyed prancing about the massive stage when not on guitar duty. He also offered a few surprises. One was a humorous introduction to the Police's 'Murder By Numbers'. 

Another fun moment was the presentation of a barely rehearsed version of Frank Zappa's tune, 'The Idiot Bastard Son'.

"Jimmy Swaggart said this song was written by Satan, Beelzebub! Hey, I (expletive) wrote it! 

Sting's show - which featured songs about political prisoners and nuclear destruction -  included representatives from environmental group Greenpeace. 

And so we come to Sting's greatest gift. With the Police, he conquered the young dwellers of the pop world with catchy songs. Now, alone and redefining his craft, he is bringing social and musical awareness to that same gum-chewing group.

Egomaniac or not, my hat's off to Sting.

(c) El Paso Times by Marco R. Della Cava

Sting - His old and new songs surprise and satiate...

Some Police fans find it difficult to watch lead singer Sting perform without his custom-made upright bass.

Sting traded his bass and innovative rock sound for an acoustic guitar and keyboards after the Police broke up. He ventured out on his own three years ago, expanding his creative music to include more ethnic sounds and encountering lots of success along the way.

Sting showed off his new band and musical direction Thursday night to 6,900 dancing fans at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces. The energetic group performed nearly three hours, drawing mostly from songs on Sting's latest album, 'Nothing Like the Sun'.

Wearing a black silk jacket and shiny black pants, Sting kept the show simple so he could focus on the complex rhythm patterns of his songs. Eight excellent musicians interwove reggae lilts with jazz rhythms and Brazilian sounds with pop-rock beats throughout the 23-song concert.

Meanwhile, four videotape cameramen displayed the event on a large screen hanging above the stage so all fans could see the performers up close.

During the touching slow song 'They Dance Alone', fans watched Chilean women dance the "Gueca Solo" on the video screen. Mothers and wives of men and boys who have to disappeared link arms and dance draw attention to their plight. 'They Dance Alone' is about these women.

Although the concert had a few thoughtful moments, most of it was devoted to upbeat, jazzy songs that kept the crowd on its feet. Sting opened the concert with the spirited 'Lazarus Heart', which immediately demonstrated the vast skills of his band.

Sting scored big by snaring Bran- ford Marsalis as saxophonist. Branford is the brother of famous trumpet player Wynton Marsalis, who sticks with traditional jazz and classical sounds. Branford, on the other hand, blows progressive jazz, pop and rock sounds.

Dancing erupted with the crowd's favourites, 'We'll Be Together', 'Rock Steady' and 'Set Them Free'. Each band member also got a chance to showcase his own talent. The band never overpowered Sting, nor did Sting ever ignore his musicians.

Sting also involved his audience, joking that the band reads poetry during intermission while fans visit with each other.

Later, he told the crowd that the band had rehearsed Frank Zappa's 'The Idiot Bastard's Son', but that the Las Cruces audience was going to be the first to hear the band perform the heavy, progressive-jazz tune.

Much to the delight of his long-time fans, Sting managed to slip in a few Police songs with jazz variations, of course such as 'King of Pain', 'Don't Stand So Close to Me' and 'Message in a Bottle'.

(c) El Paso Herald Post by Michelle Martin

Sting delivers at Pan Am with high-energy concert...

About five years ago, the Police put on one of the best shows the Pan American Center has ever seen.

The Police have broken up since then, but the band's leader, Sting, returned to the Pan Am Thursday night to show that he was a major reason why the 1982 Police concert was so good.

This is a different, Sting, though, in many ways. He's writing songs that are more complex musically and more direct lyrically, and his music has taken on a jazzy flavour. But Sting's energy level hasn't changed.

His energy showed in the way he teased the audience by playing all sides of the stage, in the way he used the multi-levelled set, and in the way he danced both by himself and with the band members.

After the eight-member band took the stage, Sting walked out dressed in a black jacket and black warm-up pants and launched into 'Lazarus Heart' from his latest LP, '...Nothing Like the Sun'. That segued into 'Too Much Information', from the Police's 'Ghost in the Machine'. The performance of the introductory songs made it clear that this concert would be no disappointment.

The concert touched on music from throughout Sting's career, with songs from almost all of the Police's albums mixed in with songs from Sting's three solo albums. But the Police songs were often rearranged to accommodate Sting's newer, larger band.

There were also some surprise songs. The band performed a Frank Zappa song, 'Idiot Bastard Son', which was so new to the band that Sting read a lyric sheet as he sang. The song a strange one, like most Zappa songs caught the audience off guard.

But what didn't catch the audience off guard was an attack on television evangelism in general and Jimmy Swaggart in particular. Sting quoted Swaggart as saying the Police song 'Murder By Numbers' was written by the devil, mimicking the television evangelist's fiery style before saying "I wrote the (expletive deleted) song, man."

'Bring on the Night' seguing into 'When the World is Coming Down' ended the concert's first act on a strong note. But the first song of the second act, 'They Dance Alone', was evidence that the band had moved on to a higher level for the second act. The song, a tribute to Chilean women who dance alone in protest of the "disappearances" of their husbands, brothers and sons, ended with a frenetic solo by percussionist Minu Cinelu.

Many of the band members had highlight numbers. Keyoboardist Delmar Brown scatted his way through the backing vocals on 'Consider Me Gone', and saxophone player Branford Marsalis and keyboardist Kenny Kirkland demonstrated throughout why they are such a strong part of Sting's new sound.

But the show-stopping performance appropriately, the last song of the second act was the band's version of Jimi Hendrix's 'Little Wing'. The song was started by Sting on acoustic guitar, then taken over by Sting's lead guitarist in a blow-away solo that would have done Hendrix proud. Unfortunately, when Sting introduced the guitarist, the name was unintelligible.

The guitar solo was followed by Marsalis' soprano sax solo, which was almost as good. Sting incorporated the lyrics of the Beatles' 'From Me to You' into 'Little Wing' before the song ended with a snippet from Hendrix's version of the 'Star-Spangled Banner'.

The first encore focused on 'Fortress Around Your Heart' and on a non-stop version of 'Don't Stand So Close to Me'. But it was the second encore, with an acoustic version of 'Message in a Bottle', that ended the show on a strong note.

If the concert had any flaws, they were sins of omission. It would have been nice to see band members especially Marsalis and Kirkland - given more solo time.

(c) The Las Cruces Sun News by Robert Philpot