Nothing Like The Sun: 1987/88

An Electrifying Sting...

It was an odd juxtaposition.

The "veddy" English voice of Sting, one of the most critically acclaimed modern musical artists in the business, backed by musicians like saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Kenny Kirkland, crooning a soulful rendition of 'Home on the Range'.

But "where the deer and the antelope play" captivated the crowd of 10,000 Tuesday evening at the Mid-State Fair in rural Paso Robles (near San Luis Obispo), where Sting performed an enthralling outdoor two-hour set for the mostly college-student audience.

It must have been a kick for local residents to see the tee-shirts for sale at the concession stands proclaiming Sting's '87-'88 concert tour from Montreal, to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Paso Robles.

But no matter how the internationally known singer/musician/composer got there, he pulled off a first-rate show composed mostly of songs from his latest album, '...Nothing Like the Sun', with a few reworked Police classics thrown in.

Sting started the show with Sun's best-known single, 'Lazarus Heart', a catchy but sophisticated pop-style song which immediately brought the crowd to its feet (to the consternation of hundreds of security people, who ran around with their flashlights the whole evening, menacingly ordering crowd members to sit down).

A jazzy take of the sweet- sounding 'Sister Moon' inspired the white silk-suited performer to do a little dirty dancing with his back-up singer, as well as howl mournfully into the microphone at the close of the song, with Kirkland's electrifying, red-hot piano solo making the number far more than just an effortless love song.

Branford Marsalis (brother of jazz great Wynton Marsalis), with his honey-sweet saxophone, rounded out songs like the lilting 'Englishman in New York', and 'The Dream of the Blue Turtles' album's hit single 'If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free', which Sting dedicated to Nelson Mandela and "all of the people in South African jails."

Probably the biggest crowd reaction arose for old Police hits such as 'Don't Stand So Close To Me', the reggae-flavoured 'One World Is Enough', 'King of Pain', and 'Every Breath You Take', which the audience sang reverently along with the blond-maned singer.

And a cover of Jimi Hendrix's 'Little Wing' prompted a fiery Hendrix-like guitar solo, a dramatic counterpoint to the gentler jazz melodies Sting performed for most of the evening.

The former schoolteacher and jazz musician exited the irrepressible Police in 1985 to embark on a more experimental solo career, with moving anthems such as 'They Dance Alone' (about Nicaraguan women mourning for lost husbands) and 'The Russians' (a statement on the arms race) to testify that he has put his new-found artistic freedom to good use.

But the concert was not just a high-brow political statement by any means. Sting's calculably provocative strip to the waist for his encore proved that sex still sells for this Englishman in Paso Robles.

(c) The Signal by Susy Flory