Soul Cages: 1991/92

Sting stung by full-throttle approach...

As a fan of Sting's musically and verbally literate pop, I was looking forward to his concert Sunday night at Star Lake Amphitheatre. But I came away disappointed.

Sounding uncomfortably similar from one song to the next, Sting and his three bandmates stripped away much of the variety, subtlety and intimacy of his songs.

The careful arrangements of his solo recordings - from elaborate vocal harmonies to snake charmer soprano saxophone - gave way to an overly loud, constant pounding that sometimes offered only the tunes' skeletons.

The set began auspiciously enough with a tight, fast version of 'All This Time', one of the best tunes from Sting's strong new album, 'The Soul Cages'. But something odd was happening (or not happening) already - no one sang harmony. All night, catchy choruses and refrains suffered without vocal backup.

Sting's pleasing, distinctive tenor sounded just a little hoarse. He played bass, with guitarist Dominic Miller, keyboardist David Sancious and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta joining him. None of these guys (including Sting) is a slouch on their instruments. In fact, Sancious is a monster. But they all seemed unwilling to vary their full-throttle approach. Miller, especially, indulged in unnecessary glitz.

The pyrotechnics worked best on new uptempo material like 'Jeremiah Blues (Part 1)' and old Police rave-ups like 'Roxanne', which elicited the loudest response from the crowd of 9,720.

Actually, all the old Police tunes sounded good. Perhaps the small band was closer in spirit to vintage Police than to other, larger Sting solo tours.

Most of the more delicate tunes from 'The Soul Cages' didn't connect so well at volume levels that buried Sting's vocals. Besides, there was often something perfunctory about his singing.

Exceptions were 'Why Should I Cry for You?', a song Sting dedicated to his father, and the show-closing 'Fragile', from '...Nothing Like the Sun', which featured Sting on acoustic guitar.

Also perfunctory were Sting's remarks. He mentioned halfheartedly that the Steelers won. He said that Newcastle, the English city where he was born, was like Pittsburgh - but he didn't say why.

It wasn't until near the end of the show, when the evening's opening acts joined Sting, that his songs gained sorely needed textural variety. Special Beat added backup vocals on 'Every Breath You Take' and 'Message in a Bottle'. A performer named Vinx played cuica, an odd-sounding Brazilian percussion instrument, on 'Walking on the Moon'. It's the kind of special touch the whole set cried for.

Special Beat consists of members of the Specials and English Beat, both heroes of England's ''two tone'' ska revival in the late '70s.

In its opening set, the nine-member group tore through rock and ska that ranged from politics to partying, including 'Message to You, Rudy', 'Nite Klub' and 'Doesn't Make It Alright'.

Vinx is an unusual performer who sings in a rich, soulful tenor and accompanies himself only with hand-hit drums. He played only 20 minutes, time taken largely by his formidable wit. But the two full songs he did sounded good, especially 'Temporary Love'.

(c) The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Peter B. King

Inspired Sting gives show to behold...

Every once in a while, a pop artist comes along whose work is so unique, so completely different from everything else on the radio, that he almost constitutes a genre of one. Sting, with his jazzy arrangements and pop sensibilities, is the kind of singular sensation who seems to pick up musical inspiration like a magnet picks up steel.

His long-awaited return to Pittsburgh Sunday night was probably the best show to hit Star Lake this year. In a perfect world, every musician would be as gifted as the members of Sting's band, every singer would tell his stories with such emotion, every performance would be as profession- al as the Pittsburgh date of the 'Soul Cages 'Tour.

Imagine soft, pastel lighting that matched the fuzzy colours created by the band. Imagine Sting's distinctive voice used like the group's fifth instrument. Imagine aggressive covers of diverse songs 'Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone' and 'Purple Haze'- stripped down, rebuilt and given the Sting trademark.

Guitarist Dominic Miller and keyboardist David Sancious, alumni of 'The Soul Cages' sessions, put their personal stamps on familiar Sting and Police tunes. 'Roxanne' became a vigorous rock and roll romp with a psychedelic fusion interlude; 'King of Pain' a lengthy sing-along.

Since his days with the Police, Sting has had a kind of aura around him that commands attention. His comfortable rapport with the audience was evident while he squeezed precision basslines from fretted and fretless basses. The bare stage cantered the attention on the star of the show, but Sting directed it toward the music.

The only aspect of the show that didn't meet expectations was the attendance. Despite the powerful Sting drawing card, concert organizers said they were disappointed with the figures of less than 10,000.

Special Beat opened the show with ideas borrowed from Third World dance rhythms and a social consciousness straight from the modern rock charts. The band tucked in all the edges of its sprite, bouncy songs with the kind of deliberate forethought you might expect from a well-groomed jazz ensemble. But there was nothing tame about Special Beat's hip dance tunes.

Sting protégé Vinx worked the crowd with little more than his drums, rich voice, clever songs and sense of humour. His 20-minute middle set was the freshest thing to hit Burgettstown since Bela Fleck brought his banjo to town last year.

(c) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by John Hayes