Sacred Love: 2003/05

According to organizers, half a million people attended the Circus Maximus for the Cornetto Free Music Festival concert-event...

With Sting and Antonacci, Rome is the rock kingpin. Presenters Ambra Angiolini and Roberto Angelini dedicated the event to the late great Ray Charles: Suzanne Vega sang "Luka." The Milanese band Vibrazioni was widely celebrated.

Two hours of great music in a magical place. Last night, Sting performed in Rome at the Circus Maximus, and the capital experienced another of those great musical and spectacular events that have characterized the city's cultural vocation in recent years. According to organizers, 500,000 spectators attended. The great performer entered the arena at 10:00 PM, but the concert had already started at 5:00 PM. Taking turns on the large stage were Zen, Rufus Wainwright, The Veils, and Suzanne Vega, who, under a blanket of heat, entertained a small crowd with a cover of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" and the famous "Marlene on the Wall" and "Luka."

The atmosphere further heated up with The Vibrazioni and their metallic rock punctuated by ballads like "Dedicato a te." Then came Biagio Antonacci's performance, before handing over to Sting, who closed his brief Italian tour in Rome. "I'm happy to be here," the singer told Mayor Walter Veltroni, who visited him in his dressing room. The concert, part of the "Cornetto Free Music Festival," was hosted by Ambra Angiolini and Roberto Angelini, who dedicated it to Ray Charles.

Sting performed in his most "intellectual" style. He sang his latest album, "Sacred Love," and delivered a clean, flawless show, like a good family man. The black set was spare and essential. At the back of the stage, behind the band, three vertical screens continuously projected sinuous dancers' movements and other psychedelic displays reminiscent of kaleidoscopes. Sting's sonic journey continued with "Synchronicity," which was characterized by an obsessive rhythm, later returning to relevance with "Inside," "Dead Man's Rope," and "Whenever I Say Your Name."

Sting's voice masterfully accompanied the harmonies of "We'll Be Together," "This War," and "Fragile," performed over acoustic guitar arpeggios and laden with a melody so typical of a musician who, when he puts his heart into it, can still deliver a thrill.

His rendition of "Fields of Gold" was excellent.

Balancing between electric and acoustic, Sting sang of love, friendship, the city and its contradictions, and modern life. He incorporated reggatta (as he defined the Police's white reggae) into his expressive form, throwing it at the audience first with "Englishman in New York" and then with "Roxanne."

(c) La Stampa

Sting revives the Circus Maximus...

Just as "General Winter" defeated Napoleon's armies, so "Generals Torrid Heat & Heat" defeated, almost melting it, the Cornetto Free Music Festival that should have ignited the age-old entertainment center of the Circus Maximus yesterday afternoon and evening. Music is fine, but, faced with the African heat that has descended on the capital, the call of the Ninth Muse - represented by, in order of appearance on the oven, sorry, scorching stage, Rufus Wainwright, Zen, Suzanne Vega, Le Vibrazioni, Biagio Antonacci, Sting, and The Veils - brought just over 100,000-150,000 spectators by the end of the evening. If we want to be blunt, let's say 200,000, a far cry from the 300,000 declared by the loquacious, clairvoyant authorities.

Inviting an intense and intimate singer-songwriter like Wainwright and having him take the stage at 4:30 PM before Zen is a ridiculous decision; they might as well have left him alone. Just as, immediately afterward, throwing Suzanne Vega and Le Vibrazioni on stage: it would have been better to have fewer irons in the fire, it's true to say given the temperatures. Focusing on two or three sure-fire, high-profile names and concentrating them during the cooler hours would have served the music and the audience better. Among them were Mayor Veltroni, Councilor Borgna, actors Caterina Vertova - how lovely - and Silvio Muccino, actor and director Carlo Verdone, Mimmo Locasciulli, and the band Velvet.

Vega confirmed her status, despite the heatwave, as an inspired and confident folk singer, but for very few. The same fate befell Milanese artists Le Vibrazioni, Ambra Angiolini, and Roberto Angiolini (at a certain point he couldn't resist and, rightly, started playing) fulfilled their thankless role of presenting for much of the show without an audience. Just as Biagio Antonacci was brilliant, it was thanks to him that the audience really began to warm up, artistically speaking, of course. Non è mai subito, Quanto tempo è ancora, Angela, bella, Non parli mai, combined with Mi fai star bene, Quell'uomo lì, Se io se lei, Le cose che hai fatto, Ritorno ad amare, Non ci fanno compagnia, Convivendo, the title of her most recent album, Iris, up until Liberatemi, where she achieved a deserved triumph.

Sting, stung by the criticism heaped upon him after Wednesday night's concert at the Verona Arena, was expected to redeem himself, but no. Given that his latest output is not remotely comparable to that of the Police or his first solo album, and that he's about to embark on a long US tour with Annie Lennox, who must have weakened considerably between fabled tantric love, writing his autobiography, and Tuscan vineyards, with him the band is at its lowest point, it's natural to wonder where the energetic Sting of old has gone, the bassist who shook you up, the singer who captivated you.

So much so that to sting, he has to resort to the past, as "Sacred Love," his latest, is absolutely boring except for "Whenever I Say Your Name," a super-luxurious duet with the excellent backing vocalist Joy Rose, honoured at the end with a kiss from the hand of the much-admired Sting himself. 'Send Your Love', 'Synchronicity II', 'Inside', 'Dead Man's Rope', 'We'll Be Together', 'I Was Brought To Senses', 'This War', 'Fragile', the ever-so-immense hymn to freedom against all forms of oppression, 'Fields of Gold', 'Sacred Love', 'Englishman in New York', about Quintin Crisp, English and gay, persecuted in his homeland for his sexual choices, sung loudly by those in attendance and the show's zenith.

Naturally with 'Roxanne', the sweetest rock prostitute and one of The Police's anthems, clamoured for by the multitudes in love (with her and Sting) but irremediably slowed down, distorted for the worse. It closes, jokingly, with 'Never Coming Home'. To reappear and redeem himself with the Arabian-esque, aggressive "Desert Rose," "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You," and "Every Breath You Take," fast-paced, beautifully constructed and executed encores that increase the regret for how many breaths, shivers, and jolts Sting didn't give us. He knows it. He's back. It's "A Thousand Years," with which he closes.

A summary of the concert and the day? The idea of the show was good, but the execution was terrible. Like last year, the cast was assembled with the cry of "there's room ahead," and their exit humiliated Wainwright and Vega, not to mention the Veils, who were on stage around midnight to play while the crowd swarmed, Sting too listless. At this point, wouldn't it be time to offer fewer panem et circenses events, perhaps charging a fair price for them while simultaneously raising the quality? Thus, truly creating unique events, like our Rome, not gorging, gratuitous heaps but frayed, sleepy, superfluous.

(c) Il Messaggero by Paulo Zaccagnini