Sting 3.0

Sting - and The Police songs - never get old. His Phoenix concert proved it...

Sting has always been a charismatic presence whose distinctive upper register and innate musicality have allowed him to explore a wide variety of settings through the years.  

But there’s an extra bit of “every little thing he does is magic” in the air when he straps on a bass at the helm of a rock ‘n’ roll trio, as he did in downtown Phoenix on Sunday, June 1, 2025, affording fans who came of age with the Police a healthy sense of déjà vu in the course of a nearly two-hour performance at Arizona Financial Theatre.

(The concert was a rescheduled date. Sting had to cancel a Jan. 24 Phoenix concert due to illness.)

I can’t imagine there’s much hope of reuniting the Police at this point. It’s been 17 years since that reunion tour hit Phoenix for a second time.

But the Sting 3.0 Tour allows him to channel the musical essence of that legendary trio while also filtering his solo music through a similar approach.

And there’s no need to play “Which Trio Did It Better?”

Sting has always been a brilliant bassist while guitarist Ben Butler and drummer Chris Maas are both perfectly suited to bringing their bandleader's wide-ranging musical vision to life, a point made abundantly clear by the time they’d finished stretching out on “Message in a Bottle,” the first of 12 Police songs in the set.

Most arrangements were rooted in stretching things out, from the solo classic “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” through such expansive highlights of his days in the Police as the dynamically invigorating “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” “Driven to Tears” and “Walking on the Moon.”

There was a looseness at times to the playing that made it feel more like a conversation between the three musicians while also allowing the music to breathe.

And they could rock with real authority when called upon to do so, from early Police songs as breathless as “Can't Stand Losing You” (done as a medley with “Reggatta de Blanc”) and “So Lonely” to the Bo Diddley-esque garage-rock swagger of 2024's “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart)."

Sting was in excellent voice throughout, clearly taking great pleasure in leading the crowd in a seemingly endless supply of call-and-response scenarios and engaging in at least a couple awe-inspiring shows of vocal force before the night was through. And he looked as impossibly young for his age as he sounded at 73, retaining enough of his boyish good looks to be a proper leading man while clearly working on his upper body strength.

He was also endearingly chatty.

After leading the band in “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic,” he acknowledged the suitably English weather dampening Phoenix on Sunday night.

“The fluke is, the last time I came here, it rained as well,” he said. “I don’t what’s going on. Maybe you just make me want to feel at home. Which reminds me. I want to sing a song about my house. I have a little house in the English countryside.”

With flawless comic timing, he then added, “It’s more of a castle, really, right near Stonehenge,” which led to him asking a woman in the front row if she’d ever been to Stonehenge.

“If you ever go back, just go down the hill a mile south, knock on my door and I’ll make you a cup of tea,” he continued, slyly adding a very Sting-like, “Just you, by the way. Not your husband.”

The man is clearly enjoying himself and that enthusiasm is contagious.

Sting signed off with two classics: 'Roxanne' and 'Fragile'

After bringing the set to a rousing conclusion with “Every Breath You Take,” Sting returned for the encore and joked “The only problem is I have no idea what song you want to hear right now” before leading his bandmates in an epic version of “Roxanne.”

It would have been a perfect way to end the night, but Sting had better plans.

“It is my custom,” he said, “to always finish an evening with something quiet and thoughtful so you can go home quiet and thoughtful.”

And with that, the stage was set for a suitably fragile rendition of “Fragile,” Sting trading his bass for a guitar, which he played beautifully.

(c) Arizona Republic by Ed Masley