Sting

Jason Landry, contributor

I never got to see The Police perform live. I have however, seen their guitarist, Andy Summers perform in Montreal fairly recently and since the band isn’t getting back together, at least to my knowledge, I jumped at the opportunity to see Sting in London.

 

The English voice behind such hits as “Roxanne”, “King Of Pain”, “So Lonely”, and countless others was in peak form for tonight’s show. It’s sad that he’s not with the original lineup, but honestly, his current band mates on the Sting 3.0 tour that includes Dominic Miller on guitar and Chris Maas on drums sounded terrific!

 

They kicked off the night with “Message in a Bottle” and then bounced back and forth between Sting solo artist tracks and The Police hits. Sting talked to the crowd numerous times, most notably reminiscing about when he was younger, he always dreamt about playing this specific venue (formally called the Hammersmith Apollo). 

 

When it came to the set list, he gave us a little bit of everything. If it was a fast, sing-a-long type song, the crowd was up on their feet. If it was more of a ballad, the whole room sat down. The predominantly middle-aged crowd was so polite, and at often times quiet—but not me, I didn’t wanna sit down. I wanted to dance and sing and groove along to the music and thankfully, so did the people in my row. The older gentleman that sat beside me even got emotional halfway during the show as it was his first time seeing Sting as well. I’m sure his music does that to many people. Nevertheless, this crowd had a great time.

 

SETLIST

 

Message in a Bottle (The Police song)

I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart)

If I Ever Lose My Faith in You

Englishman in New York

Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (The Police song)

Fields of Gold

Never Coming Home

Mad About You

Wrapped Around Your Finger (The Police song)

Driven to Tears (The Police song)

When We Dance

A Thousand Years

Can't Stand Losing You / Reggatta de Blanc (The Police song)

Shape of My Heart

Walking on the Moon (The Police song)

So Lonely (The Police song)

Desert Rose

King of Pain (The Police song)

Every Breath You Take (The Police song)

 

Encore:

Roxanne (The Police song)

Fragile