Sacred Love: 2003/05

The star shrinks in front of the big screen...

Musically perfect Sting concert at the Europahalle Karlsruhe with an overdose of video.

May he please? Of course: Richard Gere may push Jennifer Lopez across the tango floor in the cinema as much as he wants – compared to the ladies Sting has dancing via film at his concert at the Europahalle Karlsruhe, even the pretty J.Lo looks rather tame. Oriental-style hip sways adorn the concert opening with "Send Your Love" from the current CD. During the title track, "Sacred Love," dresses flutter cheekily on a virtual catwalk, and even during the more gentle number "Dead Man's Rope," caressing, flowing movements run across the screen.

That may be a bit much, but it certainly suits Sting in 2004. He ignores his own lyric 'Forget About The Future And Let's Go On With The Past' by confidently navigating contemporary dancefloor terrain, particularly in the aforementioned 'Send Your Love', which packs a lot more punch live than on record. Sting himself only briefly plays with his sex appeal in a self-deprecating way: in the final part of the song, he slings his bass around his neck, the band elegantly navigates the curve, and lands perfectly on the old Police number 'Synchronicity II'. This marks the beginning of a confident oscillation between styles: the relaxed reggae of 'New Year's Day' invites the 5,500 or so attendees to clap along, as does the laid-back 'Englishman In New York'. For old fans, there's 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic'; for ballad lovers, there's 'Fragile' and 'Fields Of Gold', two milestones featuring Dominic Miller's sparkling guitar picking.

The overall sound is of a rarely heard transparency (which already made the opening act, pop-jazz trumpeter Chris Botti, a real treat), allowing the swirling percussion interludes to shine, as does the dynamic build-up that Sting occasionally indulges in with his pianist during his solos. The very precise band mostly acts purely to serve the song; after all, for their €50+ admission, the audience primarily wants to hear Mr. Gordon Matthew Sumner. And he proves that his warm, smoky, velvety voice with its distinctive high notes has held up well over 25 years in the pop business. The fact that he plays plenty of current material alongside a standard cross-section of hits may reduce the number of sing-alongs, but it doesn't dampen the mood. After all, it's quite an experience when backing singer Joy Rose more than fills the role of CD guest star Mary J. Blige in the duet "Whenever I Say Your Name."

This also heralds the first finale: "Never Coming Home" ends in ecstatic piano and guitar solos, and with the words "Ick bin noch nickt fertig" (the brief announcements were almost entirely in droll German), Sting ushers in "Roxanne." Here, after the first chorus, he lets the band launch into such a hypnotic reggae groove that he occasionally has to sing "Put On The Red Light" into the microphone to keep you from forgetting which song you're actually listening to. Or which room you're in. This makes it clear that a good concert doesn't actually rely on expensive technical gimmicks - when Sting really gets going, he doesn't need dancing girls on screen. Who told pop stars they had to offer a cinematic experience during their concerts? In front of all the screens that are common these days, they become smaller than they deserve.

(c) Badische Neueste Nachrichten by Andreas Jüttner