Summoner's Tales: 1993/95

No frills from a lean, spare Sting...

Sting almost pulled it off.

For the second number in his two-hour set at The Woodlands Pavilion, the ex-Policeman called on 'Heavy Cloud No Rain', from his new album.

Instead, Monday night, there was a heavy cloud and a moderate drizzle, sprayed by a breeze that forced soundmen to cover their consoles located under the roof. The rain eventually subsided. But the skies wouldn't part, and this would be no magical evening conducted by a pop shaman.

Instead, it was an appealingly mortal, songworthy concert by a man often portrayed as smug and aloof. Umbrellas popped up among the ever-ready lawn crowd, and Sting responded with a lean backup band, no-frills production and businesslike set that focused on lyrical and melodic content.

New LA trio dada opened with selections from its lilting debut album 'Puzzle', concluding on the record's two best songs, 'Dizz Knee Land' and 'Dorina'. But if they plan on being taken as seriously as their music suggests, bassist Joie Calio had best ditch the shirtless, baggy shorts and flailing-hair routine that every thrashmeister-wannabe garage band affects.

Sting was touring in support of his new 'Ten Summoner's Tales', perhaps the best album of his solo career since leaving The Police. In contrast to the album's slick production and complex instrumentation that features multiple horns and strings, the touring band is a no-nonsense, rock-like machine: Sting on vocals and bass, Dominic Miller (ex-World Party sessionman) on guitar, Vinnie Colaiuta (Frank Zappa, Michael Jackson, Madonna) on drums, and David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen's first three albums) on keyboards.

This distilled Sting 's music from the wayward jazz-rock-worldbeat fusion - often too sophisticated or cumbersome for a pop format - that marked his earlier tours into spacious, agreeable arrangements that allowed his considerable melodies room to breathe. Sting's bass work was elastic enough to rock, stretch out or vibrate with heavy bottom action.

Sancious was especially nimble as the band opened on the album's first cut, 'If I Ever Lose My Faith in You', and proceeded into 'Heavy Cloud No Rain', the gorgeous 'Love Is Stronger Than Justice', 'Seven Days', a literal translation of the Beatles' 'A Day in The Life', 'Fields of Gold' and the lovely 'Shape of My Heart'.

Through it all, Sting , dressed in white blouse and dark pants, distanced his persona from the music, as if his considerable reputation would only get in the way. Enigmatic throughout, his sense of humour and playfulness were kept behind a serious, low-key facade. He resorted to no showmanship and kept his stage patter to a perfunctory, ''It's good to be back in Houston.''

Toward the end of the set, he dipped into the past for 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', 'King of Pain' and the Police classic, 'Roxanne'. Surprisingly, the latter evinced the same energy and passion as Sting's new material, no small feat for a song that is no doubt a trap after thousands of renderings.

The near-sellout crowd called Sting back for two encores.

(c) The Houston Chronicle by Marty Racine

Sting gives respectable show despite ghosts in machines...

Image, in most pop stars within a remote control's length of MTV, is everything. So it's quite refreshing to leave a concert having experienced just a fraction of a performer's complex person- 

Sting's performance Monday night at the jam-packed Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion was the perfect example: The show was a little tight around the collar, often lacking in spontaneity, but extremely well-crafted and occasionally even ambitious and playful. Taken as a whole, this 105-minute showcase was - like Sting himself - ultimately sincere and likable.

Of course, if anyone would have approached Sting after the show and made such a bombastic statement, he would probably have laughed one of those uncomfortable Sting laughs and smacked you right in the chops. This concert ended up being an unplanned test of Sting's patience and musicianship.

The problem came a few minutes after Sting attempted perhaps the most ambitious cover in the history of pop music - a stripped-down interpretation of the Beatles' 'A Day in the Life', which was as awkward and pointless as it sounds. Maybe as a result of such pretentious overextension, David Sancious' electronic keyboard gave up the ghost.

Fortunately for everyone involved, Sancious was mostly out of commission during a three-song set of Police tunes, leaving Sting with only a trio.

Which shouldn't have been too scary for the Sting-man, since, at last check, the Police was a trio as well. Not surprising, tunes like 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic' and 'Roxanne', with its funky reggae coda, didn't really miss Sancious' typically amusing and intelligent fills.

But Sancious' paid vacation was painfully obvious on Sting's more intricate solo material. In particular, 'Straight to My Heart', minus the keyboardist's harmonic layers, had enough awkward empty space to drive an 18-wheeler through it. Good thing the sound engineers replaced Sancious' keyboard before the tune was over. Sting, along with guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, were struggling without him.

Sting may be more afraid of improvisation than he lets on. Far too many tunes, particularly the songs from his latest disc, 'Ten Summoner's Tales', were dispatched with little deviation from the recorded arrangements. Sting did, however, win good-humour bonus points for his soulful, sympathetic rendition of 'Heavy Clouds No Rain', just minutes after the sky ripped open at The Woodlands.

The best moments, though, came when Sting and company allowed themselves a little compositional space to play with. 'Englishman in New York', with Sancious' short jazzy solo that coyly quoted Billy Strayhorn's 'Take the A Train', was a major hoot.

Likewise, 'King of Pain', with Miller's fiery solo work, and 'When the World Is Running Down', featuring Sancious' tension-building two-fisted barrelhouse blues solo, were absolute delights.

(c) The Houston Post by Tim Carman