Summoner's Tales: 1993/95

Sting puts on a honey of a show - Greek Theater performance best ever in Bay Area...

If Friday's concert is any indication, fans lucky enough to have tickets to Sting's Greek Theater concert on Saturday will hear (and see) the best musical show he's ever presented in the Bay Area.

Admittedly, the Greek's mellow ambiance on a balmy, clear moonlit night enhances any performance as does an upbeat, euphoric capacity crowd.

Sting's smart he loves the spotlight and the crowds; and he's a remarkable musician and composer.

Beginning a long North American tour on Friday, he had the ideal setting for a triumphant debut show and he made the most of it.

Most of the concert's two hours is drawn from 'Ten Summoner's Tales', Sting's 11-song current hot-selling CD.

But he also includes a few of his own earlier numbers ('Englishman In New York', 'Fragile', 'Straight To My Heart'), two Beatles songs ('A Day In The Life,' 'Penny Lane') and some still-rousing selections from his years with Police. Such as 'King of Pain', 'Every Breath You Take', 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', and two of the evening's most uproarious numbers, 'Roxanne' and 'Synchronicity II'.

A young Sting superfan nearby commented, "It must be frustrating to never be able to live down the Police. Will he ever just be Sting?"

It seems to me that Sting has already transcended his Police era. In fact it was his voice, his manner and his songs that made the group.

As is his wont, Sting began the show on Friday with his current hit, 'If Ever I Lose My Faith', and the audience joined in almost immediately. It's a superbly structured song and has a gorgeous melody. He followed with 'Heavy Cloud No Rain' which also became a sing-along.

Sting's good looks, his quick stage moves, his easy microphone manner and his excellent, if not great, tenor make him a dominant figure, but it is the songs and the audience participation that make his concerts magnificent experiences.

He first appeared wearing a loose, thigh-length black coat and tight, black leather pants with some lacy frills.

He soon doffed the coat, revealing a ruffled white shirt with prominent cuffs - which he emphasises in occasional flourishing gestures.

For 'Fragile', his final encore, of three, Sting came on stage wearing a lime green and gold vest.

Sting's trio, backing both his vocals and his bass-playing, has come a long way in the past couple of years.

Guitarist Dominic Miller, keyboardist David Sancious and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta have learned the fine art of accompanying (and backing $ting can be most trying, I'm sure) as well as mastering the tight solo segments which Sting frequently includes.

On a lengthy arrangement of 'It's Probably Me'(with its significantly modest lyrics) Sancious gets in lots of jazzy solo piano lines, and when Sting switches to 'Lethal Weapon', along with some frisky lyrics and remarks, he and Sancious have an "instrumental duel" of sorts.

The production is beautifully mounted, making use of all manner of innovative lighting techniques (including "black light") and constantly changing panel displays that surround the stage.

(c) San Francisco Examiner by Philip Elwood

Alert the happy police - Sting makes -Sting makes impressive turnaround...

Did I miss out on some big news recently? Like maybe the world started spinning in a different direction, or trees everywhere suddenly sprouted legs and starting doing the fox trot?

Frankly, I would have been more prepared for either of those events than I was for what happened at Sting's performance Friday in Berkeley, the first of two weekend shows at the Greek Theater and the opening night of his nationwide tour.

The singer-bassist, who until now has seemed to be on a campaign to establish himself as the most gloomy, miserably self-important bore in pop music, smiled and cracked jokes throughout the show.

Instead of painfully dull art-rock mush, he dished up two hours of sprightly jazz-tinged pop, mostly culled from his catchy new album 'Ten Summoner's Tales'. He even threw in a few Beatles covers instead past, previous solo efforts were virtually of the usual Kurt Weill tribute.

Coming on the heels of 1991's numbingly morose 'The Soul Cages', which Sting supported with one of the most insufferable performances I've ever tried to stay awake through, this has to rank as one of the greatest turnarounds in pop music.

Der Stingle's new user-friendly attitude was evident from the moment he stepped on stage and started crooning his current single 'If I Ever Lose My Faith In You', a compelling testament of romantic devotion buoyed by a soaring chorus.

Other new tunes fared even better. 'Fields of Gold' was an achingly lovely portrait of nostalgia and regret, while 'She's Too Good For Me' was a playful pop ditty clearly reminiscent of the performer's Police days.

As if to banish the gloomy ghosts of the past, previous solo efforts were virtually ignored to focus on the new material and a half-dozen Police gems, including the supremely catchy "Every Breath You Take" and "King of Pain." After years of trying to distance himself from the Police, it seems Sting has finally decided to enjoy his pop past and please his 30-something fans in the bargain.

And in case there was any doubt that pure-pop enjoyment at the top of Sting's agenda now, his faithful rendition of The Beatles' 'Penny Lane' cleared up the point.

Instrumentally, Sting showed he's finally gotten a grip on his jazz fixation. Instead of wandering off into feeble jazz-fusion experiments, the bassist and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta kept up a tight, steady beat all night, giving guitarist Dominic Miller and keyboardist David Sancious a solid framework to spin some magic. Miller's acoustic guitar interlude on 'It's Probably Me' was particularly delectable.

(c) The Oakland Tribune by Dave Becker

Every breath he took and every move he made was dull...

Even Sting isn't perfect.

Yes, he's written some of the finer songs to roll down the rock pike in the past decade; he truly has a voice for all time; and his performances are usually a cut or two or three above those of most of his contemporaries.

But none of that seemed to work for him at his show Friday at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley. There's just no other way to say it - Sting had a bad night.

Nothing seemed to go right at this show. Sting's voice seemed strangled by the cold night air; his high notes didn't put in an appearance. His group did appear, but might as well not have bothered, given a miserable sound mix that obscured everything but Sting's bass and Vinnie Colaiuta's bass drum.

And most of Sting's finer songs were also there, but mostly in sound, not in spirit. He opened with the lovely ballad, 'If I Ever Lose My Faith in You', from his recent hit album 'Ten Summoner's Tales' and it soon became apparent that things were going awry. The crystalline layers of sound of the recorded version were not to be heard and the song moved at an almost glacial rate, as if Sting and his group were sleepwalking their way through it.

As the set went on - and on, and on - the feeling of ennui intensified. On 'Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)' pianist David Sancious tried to perk things up with a jumping solo. But it didn't jump as much as stumble. And when Sting and the boys tried their hand at a version of the Beatles' masterpiece 'A Day in the Life' they performed the song with a blandness that was mystifying. If they had nothing new to bring to it, why did they bother?

At that point, the capacity crowd had responded politely but with subdued enthusiasm. But when Sting burst into the Police's 'Synchronicity II' the crowd came to its sneakers and went bonkers as he made his way into 'Roxanne' and 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic'.

But the crowd seemed to have more energy than Sting and his group. The fans danced and shouted. Sting simply played it all very straight, as if these old songs were merely some sort of exercise in nostalgia. The rest of the two-hour show was much the same. There were more Police songs - like 'King of Pain' - and more songs from the new album and others from Sting's solo career.

The exquisite 'Englishman In New York' had its moments, with Sting's vocals nimbly negotiating the song's intricate turns of phrase. But on most of the songs he recited the words and melodies as if from a script.

The group didn't help matters (guitarist Dominic Miller was particularly subdued). These guys were obviously there to back Sting and that's about all they did. Not that Sting added that much more of his own.

At this show every little thing he did wasn't magic.

(c) The San Jose Mercury News by Harry Sumrall

Sting, where is thy musical zing? Oldies please more than new...

Come on, Sting, the tour's just starting. Can you maybe spare us some enthusiasm? Perhaps he was just conserving his energy Friday night, the first of two sell-out shows at the Greek Theatre. Maybe's it's the new music, not particularly exciting in concert or otherwise.

Blame the time change even. "It's 5 in the morning for me," Sting told the crowd. "What time is it for you?"

Sting was by no means dull, as the evening wore he drew energy from the appreciative crowd.

The two-hour show highlighted his career, from 'Roxanne' back in 1978, through the early '80s break-throughs 'Ghost in the Machine' and 'Synchronicity'.

Except for his latest 'Ten Summoner's Tales' pedestrian stuff, despite what the critics are saying the concert was remarkably light on solo work from 'Soul Cages', 'Nothing Like the Sun', etc.

It's the same old story, from the Stones and the Who to Bruce Springsteen and REM, the early music is what people prefer. (For good reason usually.)

Springsteen, on his recent tour, at least made you want to like the new stuff.

Anyone who saw The Police on the 'Synchronicity' tour back in 1983 saw Sting in his prime. Electric, charismatic.

Sedate is a better word for Sting, 41, these days, though his voice is as breezy as ever.

The band he's touring with is no help. Guitarist Dominic Miller was dull.

No, he doesn't have to be Andy Summers. (That would have been nice, though.)

Anyone with style and umph would have done nicely.

Wearing a black jacket and white shirt with ruffled sleeves, Sting opened with a tame sampling from 'Ten Summoner's Tales'.

First was his current single, the likeable 'If I Ever Lose My Faith in You', a hopeful ode to love in a crazy world. The jazz-funk backbeat of 'Heavy Cloud No Rain', a song about droughts of both sky and spirit, brought a spirited crowd chant-along.

Inspired by spaghetti Westerns, 'Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven)' seems to poke fun at country music's new popularity but it was largely inconsequential in concert.

The admirable 'It's Probably Me' harkened back a few years to Sting's jazz phase with 'Nothing Like the Sun', his best solo work.

Sting's inexplicable version of the Beatles 'A Day in the Life' was so lacklustre that it recalled a prom band attempting 'Layla' or another classic beyond it means.

'Penny Lane', later in the set, was jolly, but considering how much of his own fine music Sting omitted from the evening, you have to ask yourself "Why?"

Songs from the Police era received the greatest crowd response, and while you might argue that Sting is now more perceptive lyrically, the Police were a frenzy of creative musical style.

'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic' remained irresistible 12 years later, and though Sting is no longer convincing with lines like "I won't share you with another boy," 'Roxanne' was ever the agile pop ditty.

'Synchronicity II' proved that Sting can still lay down a groove that others only dream of.

And if forced to choose the moment of the evening, it would have to be 'King of Pain'. Sting retains a passionate attachment to the haunting song.

Less intimate was 'Every Breath You Take', which as one might expect helped close out the show, but it remains one of the ultimate love songs of the '80s.

Hot young Los Angeles band Dada opened the show, offering a jangly pop-rock sound that drew smiles.

'Dizz Knee Land' and 'Dim' aren't classics but they do deserve their minor hit status on alternative stations like Live 105.

(c) The Press Democrat by Tim Fish