Summer: 2012

Ziggo Dome feasts on Sting...

Sting is celebrating 25 years of solo career. After performing at the Heineken Music Hall on this festival tour in February, he performed tonight in a sold-out Ziggo Dome. The 60-year-old Brit effortlessly captivated the 17,000 people in the pop venue.

Sting didn't seem to have to try particularly hard to make it a success. Seemingly at his own leisure, he skilfully delivered his set, which included the biggest hits from both his Police years and his solo career. The British veteran didn't bring a stage set. His rock-solid, seamlessly harmonized five-piece band barely moved. The focus was on the music.

Sting, with his boyishly short hair and sharply dressed, opened with the cheerful "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," followed by "Englishman in New York." His generally more male Police fans were treated to a rollicking version of 'Demolition Man' and the violin solo of the year in 'Driven to Tears'.

As the evening progressed, the number of hits only increased. "Fields of Gold," "Message in a Bottle," "Roxanne," and "Every Breath You Take" all made their rounds in the Ziggo Dome, which at times had a massive crowd singing along.

After his February performance, tonight offered little that was new, but Sting isn't the man to back down. In fact, the apparent nonchalance with which he pulls off such an evening is arguably a rare level of professionalism. And at sixty, he looks enviably good and still hits surprisingly high notes.

(c) De Telegraaf by Bart Wijlaars