Nothing Like The Sun: 1987/88

Calgary fortunate to hear from Sting...

Edmonton has the Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup. We got Sting.

It may not quite equal the score, but there's no way you'd tell the 16,000 people jammed into the Saddledome Friday night that seeing Sting didn't qualify as a major experience.

The concert, presented as part of the Stampede, almost didn't happen because Sting is suffering from a severe sore throat.

Fortunately for Calgarians, he visited a local doctor for treatment and was able to gamely put on a magnificent two and one-half hour performance.

However, immediately after the show, his record company announced that tonight's concert in Edmonton has been cancelled.

Certainly, Edmonton music fans are losing out on one of the year's most arresting shows.

The former member of the rock group The Police proved that he has easily become a stylish subversive who masterfully combines popularity with the pursuit of some truly creative musical and lyrical ideas.

His enthusiastic fans were treated to a bevy of hits from his two solo albums ('Dream Of The Blue Turtles' and 'Nothing Like The Sun'), but they were also taken on some exciting jazz-pop forays by his eight-member band and listened intently as Sting sang about the politics of the world and human heart.

The result was sublime subversiveness. He may have used the old Edmonton versus Calgary ploy to get some crowd reaction, but that was proceeded by an incredible jazz piano solo by Kenny Kirkland.

In fact, his dapper fusion of jazz and rock was a delight all evening. Whenever Sting's stylish ways were beginning to become a little too polite, too safe, his band would explode with some of the tastiest licks heard in this city in a long time.

His group was a marvellous collection of musicians and singers, especially Kirkland, keyboardist Delmar Brown and the always expressive saxophonist Branford Marsalis.

Still, Sting was the ringleader and with a giant screen monitoring his every move with some superbly edited concert footage he kept one's attention with his blend of British charm and sexual charisma.

He may have sang the old. Police song about being the 'King Of Pain', but Sting's show was a celebration of life and of music.

And Calgarians were fortunate to have experienced it.

(c) The Calgary Herald by James Muretich

Sting possesses the golden touch...

Sting has the Midas touch when it comes to music.

It seems no matter what style he chooses to pursue, the former British schoolteacher has the ability to turn that music into gold.

Certainly, the concert Sting presented at the Saddledome Friday night before a sell-out crowd was a far cry from his last appearance in Calgary with the rock group The Police.

In those days, Sting and his Police mates (drummer Stewart Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers) fused reggae and rock to become one of the most popular bands of the early '80s.

The group enjoyed such worldwide hits as 'Roxanne', 'Don't Stand So Close To Me' and 'Every Breath You Take'.

However, following the break- up of The Police, Sting emerged as a solo artist with a new musical direction.

With the release of 'The Dream Of The Blue Turtles' in 1985, the handsome bassist, sing- er and songwriter was suddenly surrounded by some of the top jazz musicians in the world such as saxophonist Branford Marsalis (brother of famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis).

His new style relied heavily on jazz and pop. His music was light, melodic and overflowing with intellectual British charm as he sang about affairs of the heart and the world.

And Sting did indeed charm the international music scene with his new sound, just as he had as the frontman for The Police.

The public's love affair has continued with his most recent studio recording 'Nothing Like The Sun', which has spent a phenomenal 35 weeks on Canada's national chart of the top 50 selling albums.

'Nothing Like The Sun' also yielded such hits as 'Englishman In New York' and 'We'll Be Together' as well as containing an intriguing jazz rendition of Jimi Hendrix's 'Little Wing'.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that Sting is one of the most stylish and articulate performers in music today.

In fact, his charisma has also launched him into a reasonably successful career as a movie actor beginning with 'Quadrophenia' in 1979 and continuing through such films as 'Brimstone And Treacle', 'Dune' and 'The Bride'.

There just doesn't seem to be any stopping Sting and his fans wouldn't have it any other
way.

(c) The Calgary Herald by James Muretich