Sting & Shaggy: The 44/876 Tour

Sting and Shaggy showcase a colourful mix of styles in Füssen...

The two unlikely stage stars Sting and Shaggy get 8,000 fans in the Füssen Festspielhaus in a celebratory mood. Not every fan is convinced by this colourful mix of styles.

At 9 p.m. sharp, the first offbeats erupt from the speakers. "I don't take coffee, I take tea, my dear," sings Sting to the cheers of 8,000 fans in the Baroque garden at the Festspielhaus in Füssen. No one can stay in their seats. The fans sway to the rhythm, swing their arms, sing along to the chorus of "Englishman in New York," and laugh as Shaggy slurs his way through "I'm a Jamaican in New York." Sting and Shaggy – an odd couple.

Here's the smart, sophisticated Englishman Sting, aka Gordon Matthew Sumner. The pop-rock star, who sometimes performs 400-year-old songs with a delicate tenor voice on the lute. He's committed to saving the rainforest, practices organic farming, and is a declared pacifist and feminist. There's Shaggy, aka Orville Richard Burrell, from Jamaica, who is 17 years younger and has successfully popped reggae with hip-hop-style vocals. He participated in the Second Gulf War as a US soldier. He likes to play the macho on stage, surrounds himself with scantily clad beauties, and sings of the sweet lightness of life in a grumbling, monotone voice.

Do they fit together? The two are like yin and yang, as the nearly two-hour open-air concert opposite Neuschwanstein Castle demonstrates. Die-hard Sting fans will have to be brave this evening, though.

Yes, they do have similarities. Both are millionaires and happily married, live primarily in New York, have children (Sting has six, Shaggy has five), and a distinctive voice. The story behind their friendship: While Shaggy was in the studio working on the single "Don't Make Me Wait," the idea came up to bring Sting in as a counterpart on the chorus. The two musicians liked each other so much that they recorded a joint album within six weeks: "44/876" – named after the telephone codes of Great Britain and Jamaica – stormed the charts here as well. And Sting decided to embark on his next tour with his new friend.

And now they're stopping off in the Allgäu region. The two have fun together, that much is immediately clear and contagious. The atmosphere is relaxed; the sound is amazingly good and transparent; and on video screens, the stars can often be seen in razor-sharp close-ups. 

The only downside to the reggae-pop party: Due to dam renovations, there's no water in Lake Forggensee. Nevertheless, a Caribbean flair prevails. Sting and Shaggy deliver their best. 29 songs (plus a few bars of Bob Marley and Peter Tosh's "Get Up Stand Up" resistance anthem) can be heard within 110 minutes. Sting polishes Police classics (Walking on the Moon, So Lonely, Every Breath You Take), along with hits from his 30-plus-year solo career (Shape of My Heart, If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, Fields of Gold, Desert Rose). Shaggy sprinkles in party hits, including "It Wasn't Me" and "Oh Carolina." Nine (of twelve) songs from their joint album put their stamp on the concert. The smooth beats of "Morning Is Coming" and "To Love and Be Loved" are hard to resist. "Sad Trombone" is missing. Of all things. It contains much of the subtle, melancholic charm that fans appreciate in Sting. But it doesn't fit into the feel-good concept of the open-air concert. 

The roles are clearly defined: Shaggy, who sounds as if he'd swallowed a carnival horn, plays the entertainer and musical clown. As master of ceremonies, the 49-year-old successfully demands a party atmosphere from the fans. Sting is completely different: The 66-year-old appears deeply relaxed like Jogi Löw, casually plucks his old Fender bass, and sings with a strong tenor voice. Take the Police milestone "Message in a Bottle," for example. He also named this a wine that he and his wife Trudy Styler produce on their 350-hectare organic farm in Tuscany according to Rudolf Steiner's principles. The wine – in white and red – is, of course, also served at one of the numerous catering stands.

"Roxanne," the song about a prostitute that appeared 40 years ago on the first Police album, no longer sounds quite as shrill and cutting as it once did. It's still a killer song, sophisticated in its lyrics and rhythm. Sting squeezes it in between Shaggy's party hits "Hey Sexy Lady" and "Boombastic." Despite all the head-shaking from die-hard Sting fans, the whole thing comes across as a cohesive piece thanks to a brilliant line-up. It was assembled from the two stars' live bands. Sting's guitarist Dominic Miller is visibly underwhelmed, only getting two brief appearances on his strings.

At the very end, there is "classic Sting": "Fragile" in a beguiling version with Sting on acoustic guitar and a reserved Shaggy.

(c) Augsberger Allgemeine by Michael Dumler