Sting & Shaggy: The 44/876 Tour

Sting and Shaggy fill Cap Roig with Jamaican rhythms and The Police hits...

British singer-songwriter Sting and Jamaican singer Shaggy presented their fusion album, titled "44/876," in Cap Roig, in a concert filled with reggae rhythms and The Police hits.

The more than 2,000 people who filled the stands at this festival danced to the sounds of the latest songs released by both artists, as well as classics from Sting's career such as "Every Breath You Take," "Englishman in New York," and "Roxanne."

Singer-songwriter Sting and Jamaican singer Shaggy demonstrated on stage why theirs is a unique and explosive combination.

Supported by the band, the two musicians performed the greatest hits of their respective careers, as well as the songs they created together on the album they released together, "44/876," a title inspired by the telephone codes of the United Kingdom and Jamaica, respectively, their respective countries of origin.

An album born by chance. Initially, the two singers were going to collaborate on a single song, "Don't Make Me Wait," but the chemistry that emerged in the recording studio encouraged them to create an album.

In an interview with Efe news agency, Sting acknowledged that the combination causes "a lot of surprise around the world, and that's the most important thing in music: to surprise."

According to the British musician, when you see them performing together, "everyone understands the decision to create this album together."

A friendship and artistic relationship that they demonstrated on stage with their first song, "Englishman in New York," a version with Jamaican rhythms that had the audience on their feet and singing along.

They then performed the title track from their album, "44/876," followed by "Morning is Coming," also from this joint effort.

Sting and Shaggy, Shaggy and Sting. They alternated throughout the concert, mixing songs from their joint album with the British singer's hits from his time with The Police and with classics from the Jamaican singer's discography.

Thus, Shaggy's "Oh, Carolina" was mixed with "We'll be together" to then return to the current album with "If you can't find love" and return to Sting's past with "Every little thing she does is magic" or "Fields of gold", in which Shaggy asked the audience to light up the stage with their mobile phone flashlights.

During the nearly two-hour concert, Sting remained in the background, while Shaggy, with a Jamaican flag hanging from his pocket, was the one who most animated the audience. He moved around constantly, asking the audience to dance, clap, and sing along.

He even addressed the audience in the Cap Roig auditorium with a "good night, everyone" in Catalan, which was very well received.

One of the funniest moments was when Sting and Shaggy pretended to be both prisoner and judge while performing "Crooked Tree," from their joint album.

Before singing it, the Jamaican singer asked the audience where they were from and gave a speech in favour of love: "We are all brothers and sisters, it doesn't matter if you're Indian or Asian, if you're Christian or Muslim, we are all people and we only believe in love."

However, the songs that most excited the audience were The Police's greatest anthems, such as "Message in a Bottle," "Every Breath You Take," and "Roxanne," the latter blended with the Caribbean rhythm of "Boombastic." And let's not forget "So Lonely," which the audience sang along to at the top of their lungs while jumping and dancing.

Classics from the British artist's early discography were also interspersed with hits from his solo career, such as "Desert Rose" and "Fragile," which was chosen to close out the Cap Roig Festival in Calella de Palafrugell.

This landmark summer musical event in Southern Europe, sponsored by the "La Caixa" Banking Foundation, will continue until August 22nd with performances by major national and international artists such as Antonio Orozco, Maná, Damien Rice, Juanes, Joan Dausà, Sergio Dalma, Macaco, and Andrea Bocelli, who will be the closing act for this edition.

(c) El Diario