Sting: My Songs Tour

Jun
25
2022
Hamburg, DE
Stadtpark

Sting is playing at the Stadtpark for the first time in 20 years...


Hamburg. The global star brought his son with him – and even before his concert, he caused a pleasant surprise in Hamburg.


Saturday's concert at the Stadtpark was a father-son affair in two respects. Sting's son, Joe Sumner, opened the evening with "Wie geht's Hamburg?" and sang half a dozen songs accompanied by guitar ("if that's okay"). The physical resemblance to his father is limited. However, he has a similarly high-pitched voice. Sumner's invitation to the audience to sing along in the sold-out arena of 4,000 spectators went largely unheard – the songs are too unknown.


That changed abruptly when his father took the stage. The band included not only the Brit's long-time guitarist, Dominic Miller, but also his son, Rufus. Joe Sumner later joined the band as well.


The musicians took the stage right on time at 7:57 p.m. and got going. Sting started off by playing four hits in a row: "Message in a Bottle," "Englishman in New York," "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic," and "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free." After that, he practically had the enthusiastic audience in his pocket.


The former teacher originally planned to perform in Hamburg in March, but coronavirus cases among his team thwarted his plans. The performance at the Barclays Arena was postponed. This time, Sting didn't make a trip to Lübeck before the Hamburg gig – but he did make a trip to the city center: On Saturday, Sting purchased an English-language edition of Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain" at the Felix Jud bookstore.


The audience in the enchanting greenery of the Stadtpark also seemed glad he had come this time and paid the hefty ticket price of 158 euros. The 70-year-old, who doesn't look his age, wore a lemon-yellow blouson over a striped T-shirt and chunky combat boots.


Sting explained that he hadn't played in the city park for 20 years. It was striking how rarely the otherwise eloquent musician verbally communicated with his audience. The majority of the listeners were in their 50s and older, and there were a noticeably large number of women among them. One of the younger visitors, perhaps in her 20s, looked around the stage in amazement and said to her older companion, "I think this is pretty cool."


The band played several tracks from last year's album "The Bridge," which was recorded during the lockdown at the singer's English home. "It was more like a fortress back then," he explained. The musicians performed "If It's Love," the ballad "For Her Love," and "Rushing Water." But what the crowd preferred were hits like "Fields of Gold." During this track, Sting pushed Rufus Miller to the front of the stage for a short solo. His father, who has played with the bassist for 32 years, laughed. Everything is relaxed in this musical family. Right down to the outfit: Anyone who's been in a band with Mr. Sumner for so long is allowed to wear a Deep Purple T-shirt to a concert. But when Miller Sr. started flirting with a female audience member from the side of the stage, he was called back by the band's boss. Harmonica player Shane Sager, by the way, repeatedly added strong musical accents.


And the hit-express continued. "Brand New Day," "Shape of My Heart." Up-tempo numbers like the Police classic "So Lonely" were particularly well-received, but the oriental-inspired "Desert Rose" was also well-received. After "Every Breath You Take," the stroll through rock history ended with Sting asking the audience, "What do you want?" He must have guessed: "Roxanne." As a nice surprise, he incorporated German lines from "The Ballad of Mackie Messer" into the Police song.


In an interview with the Abendblatt, the Brit once said: "I control my songs with my voice from above and with my bass playing from below." A beautiful image! The audience loved what he found in the city park between these two poles. After a good hour and a half, the musician picked up his acoustic guitar for the first and only time that evening and played his thoughtful ballad "Fragile."


It was a worthy conclusion to a beautiful concert.


(c) Hamburger Abendblatt by Alexander Josefowicz

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