Old Sting re-emerges...
Aha! We knew it all along.
For the past half decade or so, the visage of Sting has stared earnestly at us from the covers of a series of ever more serious solo albums.
Behind that arched, earnest stare, however, you just knew there was a playful ex-Cop lurking somewhere.
And we're happy to report that the old Sting re-emerged at the Winnipeg Arena last night, a man who for the time being at least - has managed to reconcile his primal pop/rock instincts with his cerebral, highbrow yearnings.
A far cry from his last appearance in Winnipeg (a colourful but arch foray into big-band jazz-fusion featuring the likes of Branford Marsalis) the Sting that 8,000 locals enjoyed last night is not quite so monochrome serious.
Although his latest album, 'The Soul Cages', is a sombre, brooding work inspired by the death of his father, it seems to have been something of a catharsis for young Gordon Sumner.
Having exorcised his personal demons, the Newcastle-born bassist has moved on, and his sleek new show heartily embraces his entire body of work.
Much of this has to do with the format in which the Sting-meister (sorry, couldn't resist) has chosen to play. His latest touring band is essentially a Police-type trio, featuring its leader on bass, guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Vinnie Colauita, augmented by the stellar keyboards of David Sancious. Re-working old Police songs with playful vigour (inserting a snippet of 'Bring On The Night' into a segue between 'Roxanne' and 'When The World Is Running Down', for example), the new band also gives his newest songs a breadth and openness they lack in recorded form.
'All This Time', for instance, brimmed with new found energy, while 'Mad About You' (a tune he says was inspired by the biblical tale of David and Bathsheba) was given the lusty treatment it deserves.
For more than 90 minutes before encores, the concert was a showcase for a leaner, meaner Sting - he even treated the crowd to spirited versions of Jimi Hendrix's 'Purple Haze' and Bill Withers' 'Ain't No Sunshine' - and it left this observer, at least, waiting anxiously for the man's next recording.
A songwriter who can say something meaningful in such a joyous context should surely be encouraged.
Winnipeg's Crash Test Dummies - whose debut album, 'The Ghosts That Haunt Me', went platinum two weeks ago - opened the show with a brisk 40-minute set was unfortunately marred by typical opening act arena sound (humongous low-end buzzing, inconsequential mid-range response and squawking on-stage feedback).
By the time hit single 'Superman's Song' rolled around, however, the sound had been patched up and the band managed to elicit a hearty, well-deserved ovation, due in no small part to singer Brad Roberts newly relaxed banter and mandolinist Ben Darvill's exuberant presence.
Percussionist Vinx followed the Dummies for 10 minutes or so, but it seems that inventive drummer's oeuvre has been corrupted somewhat by a need to appeal to such a large audience. His reworking of 'The Banana Boat Song' along sexual lines got the crowd singing along, but he could have done it solely on the basis of his soulful voice and hypnotic rhythm.
(c) Wisconsin Sun by John Kendle
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