Sting and Argentina, and endless romance....

The British musician gave another show for the books, with a very tuned band and a repertoire that wisely combined his story, both solo and with The Police. Against all predictions, the Madres the Plaza de Mayo didn't get on stage with him.

With a lot of talent and with an imposing physical presence, Sting gave a show that honored his Argentinian series.

In a new episode of his long history of mutual affection with the Argentinian fans, Sting gathered last night 30 thousand people in Velez Sarsfield's Stadium, who gave all their heat to a night that had all the necessary elements to make them scream in ecstasy. Near the end, when everybody expected the ''Madres de la Plaza de Mayo'' to get on stage to make their round in 'They Dance Alone', Sting decided to cut that song off: the musician was satisfied with the previous encounter that took place that afternoon in the stadium, so everything was kept to that private encounter. After the meeting everybody had taken for granted an encounter on stage although there was never an official confirmation.

Anyway, the warm relation between the British musician and the ''Madres de la Plaza de Mayo'' was just one of the elements of the spotless show of the former The Police. Barely ten minutes after the scheduled hour, Matthew Gordon Summer took the stage with a physical presence that seems to deny his age: just a lyric stand gave away the passage of time. There were girls screaming their love to the giant athletic blonde, but the greatest ovations came with the music. And if the beginning of 'One Thousand Years' didn't seem to correspond with such heat, it was for the fans to hear the start of 'The Dream of the Blue Turtle's' hit 'If You Love Somebody Set Them Free' to set the pace once and for all. Supported by a very well tuned band (Dominic Miller, ''argentinian y a River supporter'', on guitar; Manu Katche on the drums, Russ David Irwin on percussion, trumpeter Chris Botti and with Mark Eldridge y Jason Rebello on keyboards, who proudly wore a Madres' blue t-shirt), Sting dedicated himself to set the night's pace at his own wish.

To do that he counted with the invaluable help of a solid enough playlist. 'After The Rain' gave a different sonic touch, being supported in drums. 'Perfect Love' was mutating from a jazzy song to end in a demolishing rap in Katche's french. 'Seven Days', one of 'Ten Summoner's Tales' best songs allowed Botti to shine meanwhile 'Fill Her Up' was Miller's time with a remarkable work with the slide.

That ''after'' started with 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic', a classic from The Police that was a turning point on the show. If 'Moon over Bourbon Street' (in version a-la Tom Waits) and 'Englishman in New York' gave some sort of a ''climatic pause'', the strange remix of 'Roxanne' (another of the most loved pages from the 80's trio) combined the original sound with glimpses of jamaican dub to introduce everyone to the final part. He closed the main show with a combination of Bring On The Night and 'When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around'. The Police back-to-back 'Every Breath You Take' and a 'Message in a Bottle' with the bass player alone on stage gave the last touch, and 'They Dance Alone' and 'Fragile' finished a show as unarguably as the song and the band that played them.

Meanwhile, in the warm-up, the other bands made their work without major trouble. Local band ''La Portuaria'' made a right mix from their brand new album ''Me mata la vida'' and old titles like ''El bar de la calle Rodney'' and ''Nada es igual''. Afterwards, Sheryl Crow had to deal with a stadium that was almost full, but didn't show a lot of interest in anything that wasn't Sting. Using alternatively the acoustic guitar and the bass, expressing herself in a rusty spanish, the former Michael Jackson corist knew anyway how to win a crowd. Starting with ''If it make you happy'' and a very good version of Guns and Roses' 'Sweet child O'mine' things started going the right way: near the end the hit ''All I wanna do'' and ''Strong enough'' allowed Crow to get off the stage with a warm ovation on her ears. After that, of course, was all Sting.

(c) Página by Roque Casciero/translated by Sebastián Kessel