Playing in a trio is not without precedent for Sting. after all he was in this little complex called the Police.
But the Sting 3.0 tour — which kicked off the summer in Europe and opened its North American leg Tuesday night (September 17) with the first of two shows at the Fillmore Detroit — was a welcome return to form after 16 years of touring with different and much larger configurations.
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“My inclination is always to try to surprise people in the songs I write or in the form I present the song,” he said. Bulletin board via Zoom from New York, between legs of the 3.0 tour. “I don't think anyone expected a trio. “I've worked with these big seven, eight bands and it's a bit like driving a Bentley. It kind of drives itself and is comfortable. So I decided I would put myself outside of my comfort zone to get something on the back end that wasn't guaranteed – a risk, if you will.
“I enjoy the challenge, and it's also fun to watch, seeing the audience go, 'Wow, there's only three people up there. We expected a bigger band” and then enjoyed the sonic clarity.”
Sting's effort features longtime guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas, a Luxembourger who has previously worked with Mumford & Sons, Maggie Rodgers and the Pierces. And while Sting fancied he was “kind of nervous leading up to the first show” in Europe, he quickly dismissed any doubts he had — or, perhaps, any lingering PTSD from the police's legendary militancy.
“Halfway through the first gig I realized this is exactly what I want to do,” he said, explaining that, “There's a space where you were instruments—the clarity, the mutual listening between the band members, the risk factor, stripping the songs down to their core substance and putting them to work. You get all the fat, but the basic structure of the song is very satisfying.
“We had a blast. There is no resignation here. You can't cruise. You have to be right on the money all the time. But the songs endure. The singer endures…” And so, he added, is the player. “I started noticing how good I am at singing and playing bass, actually,” he said with a laugh. “I've forgotten how well I did.
“Nothing is impossible with a trio, I realize that,” he added. “And it's not like I'm completely new to the format. But I'm amazed at how adaptable the songs and arrangements are. It was so enjoyable.”
The two thousand or so fans in Detroit on Tuesday certainly shared Sting's exuberance, creating a give-and-take energy that was sustained throughout the 20-song, hour-and-45-minute performance, and these are the undoubted highlights of it.
Nice balance
Not uncharacteristically, Sting and company did a good job of blending The Police and his solo work, with eight of the former's best-known songs in the setlist — including a wild rendition of the topical “Driven to Tears” flashed on the video screen . “protest” and “reaction”. Sting's 'Desert Rose', meanwhile, was sandwiched in the middle of a non-stop, set-closing mainstay that opened with The Police's 'Walking on the Moon' and 'So Lonely' and ended with muscular covers of his hits Synchronicity. King of Pain' and 'Every Breath You Take'.
A boatload of hits
Sting doesn't have to work hard to keep them coming, of course. Using a headset microphone and playing a few songs while sitting down, he also delivered Police favorites like “Message in a Bottle” and “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” an extended “Can't Stand Losing You” and a long, rhythmically changing version of “Roxanne”. From the solo front, meanwhile, came 'If I Ever Lose My Faith in You', 'Shape of My Heart', 'All This Time' and 'Englishman in New York'. Meanwhile, for the closing track 'Fragile', he laid aside the bass and played acoustic guitar to send the crowd home 'quiet and thoughtful'.
Deep cuts we love
Sting was mined in 1991 The cages of the soul for “Made About You” and “Why Should I Cry For You?”, both singles but not quite A list status. Since 2003 Holy Lovemeanwhile, he plucked the solemn “Never Coming Home,” which he introduced as a musical note left by a woman as she left her husband. The latter was also one of the night's highlights, as Sting and Miller closed with a rousing, jammy outro.
It's Miller time
“Dominic loves the harmonic freedom he has and the colors he creates are great,” Sting said, and this proved long overdue as Miller, using a number of tasteful effects, used the space between Sting's bass and Maas' . drums to paint a series of rich chords and instrumentals that elevated nearly every song. His deft but subtle plucking was done for the piano from the recorded version of 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic' and he created his own interpretation of the Arabic interlude from 'Desert Rose'. And his solos during “Driven to Tears” and “So Lonely” were nothing short of heroic.
Some fresh fare
Sting, Miller and Maas recorded a new single, “I Wrote Your Name”, which was played throughout the tour and was officially released on September 6. “It's a romantic song,” he told the Detroit audience. “It's also very noisy.” And with its high energy and raspy vocals (from “being in the middle of a tour and being tired”) it's definitely reminiscent of the Police's early release.
“It's a surprise record from me — very, very basic, like maybe four and a half chords,” Sting said, adding that, “I'd love to do (an album) with that trio. I clearly have the bones for a few things. Playing every night, it's still very experimental, so a lot of things happen that weren't planned and that's the field I'm going to draw from to make a new album. It's very exciting.”
Who needs words?
Sting remained one of rock's kings of call-and-response, leading several singalongs throughout Tuesday's concerts. He gave fans an opening during “Every Little Thing…” and then said he had invented the unconditional “little improvisation” at the end of “Can't Stand Losing You” when The Police played the now-defunct Detroit club Bookie's during November 1978. There was another extended give-and-take towards the end of 'Walking on the Moon' and, of course, during the jazz in 'Roxanne'.
And lest we forget, he IS Sting
After recalling some of his history playing Detroit, Sting told the crowd, “I'm going to sing a song about my house now,” explaining with a smile that, “I've got a little house in the English countryside — it's more of a castle. , really', about two miles 'down the hill' from Stonehenge. He said that when the Englishman is in England, “if you knock on the door, I'll make you a cup of tea”, indicating that he had accepted this offer before. He went on to say that “the other nice thing about my house is that it's surrounded by fields of barley and at harvest time — see where I'm going with this? — surrounded by what looks like a sea of gold.' This, of course, led to a performance of “Fields of Gold.”
The trio plays Detroit again on Wednesday and will be in North America through mid-November, including shows at the Bourbon & Beyond festival on Thursday in Louisville and the Ohana Festival on September 28 in California. The full itinerary can be found at sting.com/tour.
Opening night for Sting 3.0 in Detroit included:
Message in a bottle
If I ever lose my faith in you
Englishman in New York
Every little thing he does is magical
Gold fields
I'm Never Going Home
Crazy for you
Why should I cry for you?
All this time
Driven to tears
I can't bear to lose you
I wrote your name
Shape of My Heart
Walking on the Moon
So alone
Desert Rose
King of Pain
Every breath you take
Encore:
Roxane
Fragile
