“I love it here,” Sting told the audience about his three-night residency at the new Brooklyn Paramount on his Sting 3.0 Tour.
On the second night of the residency, the Sting 3.0 concert proved to be almost an otherworld Police 2.0 concert. Half of the concert featured reworked versions of songs made famous by the Police from 1977 until the band’s breakup in 1986. After playing mostly in larger bands since he launched a solo career in 1985 (except for the Police reunion tour in 2007, Sting’s new band also paralleled the Police’s lineup with guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas instead of guitarist Andy Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland).
Granted, the British rocker intentionally did not cover the older versions of the Police songs note for note. Instead, he and his two musicians reimagined new arrangements that kept the songs familiar yet refreshed. Still, with his iconic voice still strong and the nearness of the melodies to the original versions, listeners could not help but revisit memories of the Police.
Curiously, the 17-time Grammy Awards-winner remained in the 20th century for almost his entire set. Sting has released 15 solo studio albums, yet the solo songs he performed live on this night were almost all from his earlier albums. The exceptions were “Never Going Home” from 2003’s Sacred Love album and a new song he released last month, “I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart).” The concert selections totally dismissed not only his most recent album, 2021’s The Bridge, but the entirety of his eight most-recent albums.
The audience rejoiced to hear the 11 Police songs, all of which rose the fans from their seats. The new arrangements subtly dove deeper than the original radio versions, however. The musicians gently sprinkled them with jazz interludes and extended solos. Sting is 73 years old, and the slightly reworked versions reflected his growing maturity and sophistication.
Sting began the encore with “Roxanne,” played the vintage way, then led the audience in a call and response with a chant of “Roxanne-o.” He then announced, “same song, different melody.” Without a pause, he and his musicians changed the song into a slower jazz-kissed torch song that included a verse of “Be Still My Beating Heart” from his solo …Nothing Like the Sun album. Sting concluded by returning the song to the original melody.
Sting ended the night by saying that he wanted to end the concert not by signing t-shirts but by leaving the audience with “something quiet and thoughtful.” While he had played bass for almost two hours, he switched to acoustic guitar and, sitting on a stool, he played the tender “Fragile.” For the first time that evening, he demonstrated what an accomplished guitarist he is, playing sweet and delicate leads on the nylon strings. Dominic Miller switched to bass and sang harmony vocals on the chorus.
Sting remains a class act. Hopefully the new song he released last month is an introduction to a larger body of work. His classic catalog was fulfilling, but one can only hope that with new songs he will continue to able to add to his legacy.
Setlist
- Message in a Bottle (The Police song)
- 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
- Seven Days
- Why Should I Cry for You?
- All This Time
- I Burn for You
- Driven to Tears (The Police song)
- Tea in the Sahara (The Police song)
- Can’t Stand Losing You (The Police song)
- Shape of My Heart
- I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart)
- Desert Rose
- Regatta De Blanc (The Police song)
- King of Pain (The Police song)
- Walking on the Moon (The Police song)
- So Lonely (The Police song)
- Every Breath You Take (The Police song)
Encore
- Roxanne (The Police song)
- Fragile
