I finally got the chance to see Sting in concert. I've been a fan of his since I was a little kid. He's up there with the likes of Phil Collins and U2 for me with his solo songs and his songs with The Police. And one thing that makes him stand out even more for me is the fact that he's a bassist. It's a rarity for a bass player to be a frontman and singer and bass is my favorite instrument. Sting is probably my second favorite bassist after Duran Duran's John Taylor. He's also probably the one who got me into reggae bass lines, as he plays that style quite a bit.
Right now he's doing his "3.0" tour which is just him, guitarist Dominic Miller who was awesome, and drummer Chris Maas who was formerly with Mumford & Sons. Ironically I was also trying to see Mumford & Sons this summer but not sure if it will pan out. But this 3-man band had the stage presence and sound of any larger lineup. The Police was only a 3-piece band too.
As for Sting himself, first of all, that man has got some strong lungs. He blasted out some long notes several times that were impressive enough to get cheers from the crowd and I of course admired his bass skills as well. Also I assumed he was in his 60s like my other fave English blokes in Duran Duran, but afterwards I found out he is 74! I remember hearing about him being into yoga back in the day (along with that taboo scandalous claim haha). But apparently he eats super healthy too. Whatever he's doing it's working.
He played 3 sold out nights at Wolftrap. He's played multiple times there in recent years because I had tried to go before. He even made a comment at the beginning of the show about him playing there so often it was becoming almost like home.
This is only my third time seeing a show there and I will say they have some of the best lighting of any venue I've been to. Also the wooden Filene Center is prettier than most outdoor venues. It's much smaller capacity so it can be pricier and harder to get tickets but you also get closer seats to the stage than the larger venues. And side note, they have a good Maryland Crab Cake sandwich at the concession stand. Just make sure they include the remoulade and arugula haha, cuz I luckily checked it before walking away and they fixed it for me. It was on a really good brioche bun too. They boast a lot of locally sourced food there. Also per Google: "Wolftrap is the only national park dedicated to the performing arts. It was established from a donation of farmland by Catherine Filene Shouse, who envisioned a cultural haven combining nature and the arts."
It was raining and unusually chilly for the end of May and we had to park in the grass, plus deal with holiday weekend traffic, but it all worked out. You can actually hear the rain in the background of some of the videos. Sting gave a shout out to the people who still braved the lawn seats in the weather. It looked like most of them brought chairs though. And everyone was decked out in rain gear and ponchos and such, including myself.
As far as the songs, they played my favorite, "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic." And there were a few songs I liked that I had forgotten about despite brushing up a little on their catalog a few days beforehand. "Roxanne" was the encore and then Sting surprised me by closing with a softer song, "Fragile." That was one of the ones I had forgotten about that I liked. He made a comment about ending with it so everyone could leave quietly. That was a nice touch. It seemed that they kept a little flexibility in their setlist for the mood because once I heard him ask the guitarist what song they should play next.
Oh and a funny moment was when Sting sang "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" and he got to the lyrics, "You could say I've lost my faith in the politicians, they all seem like game show hosts to me." The audience reaction was great! 😆 Who knew Sting was ahead of his time?
I got most of the songs except for maybe 2 or 3 that I wasn't familiar with. The songs I got were: Message in a Bottle, If I Ever Lose My Faith in You, Englishman in New York, Every Little Thing She Does is Magic, Fields of Gold, Never Coming Home, Wrapped Around Your Finger, Driven to Tears, Can't Stand Losing You, Shape of My Heart, Walking on the Moon & So Lonely, Desert Rose, King of Pain & Every Breath You Take, Roxanne, Fragile.
Footnote: I've been slacking on my blog posts again so you can always watch my videos on my YouTube channel
mewzak from concerts during the gap. Since my last blog post I had the pleasure of seeing Janet Jackson, Santana, Marley Brothers and a few others in concert.
Vid links below:
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