Sting enthralls Bangalore fans...

Bangalore: British rock star Sting enthralled more than 10,000 Indian fans in Bangalore on Friday in a concert to raise money for tsunami relief.

Fans in Sting-autographed T-shirts packed into the grounds of Bangalore Palace to hear the 54-year-old musician belt out hits, including 'Message in Bottle', 'Roxanne' and 'Desert Rose'.

Copies of Sting's autobiography 'Broken Music' and other memorabilia were almost sold out at the concert, a spokeswoman for organisers DNA Networks said.

''The T-shirts and memorabilia, including posters were lapped up. 'Broken Music' received an overwhelming response. It was almost sold out,'' spokeswoman Sandhya Mendonca said.

Sting is also to perform in New Delhi on Sunday. DNA Networks says part of the funds raised from the concerts will go to assist tsunami victims in India where more than 16,000 people died in the December 26 tragedy.

The performer has a legion of fans here. ''He has the ability to make one laugh and cry,'' said K. Karthik, 26, a software professional with an IT services firm. ''He is a favourite for all seasons.''

Another fan, K. Neeraj (38) said he has been influenced by Sting for the past 20 years. ''I have been listening to him for long and this is the first opportunity where I see the man perform live,'' said Neeraj, a research and development manager.

''As he gets older his music is getting more and more spiritual and interesting to me,'' he said.

(c) SIFY.news

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Bangalore dances to Sting's tunes...

Bangalore, February 5: He is an Indophile, but his fans crooned ecstatically along when he sang ''I am an English man.''

Thousands of fans swayed to 52-year old Gordon Sumner, idolised as 'Sting', as he held his audience captive with his enchanting voice and masterful playing of the guitar.

The versatile song writer, who loves Indian music, treated his fans, who included hundreds of people originating from Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkatta, to all time hits like 'Message in a Bottle,' 'Desert Rose', 'Every Breath You Take', 'If I ever have faith in you' and 'Fields of Gold.'

Sting, fascinated by Indian culture, history, spiritualism and above all, the people, was loudly cheered when he started his two-hour musical extravaganza with ''Namaste India and Namaskara Bangalore''.

The yoga practitioner, who loves to explore the other realms of music, was impressive with 'Desert Rose' and young techies, joined by the middle aged crowd at the sprawling palace grounds, wanted more of the Arabia-influenced tunes.

Inspired by the pleasant evening, Sting sang a duet with a co-singer, tapping and dancing as the excited crowd followed his footsteps on the grounds.

Sting, who writes his own lyrics, combines elements of jazz, classical and world music in his compositions that were a hit with the Bangalore audience, assembled for the first pop event of the year. The British pop icon will perform another show in New Delhi next week.

(c) Chennai Online

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Sting sways Bangalore to his beat...

Music icon Sting Friday rocked the city as never before during a two-hour concert at the Palace grounds on a cool night.

About 30,000 frenzied fans of all ages descended at the venue to sing their heart out and dance to the tunes of Sting that electrified the atmosphere.

Though the show got off to a late start, the crowd with a sprinkling of foreigners began trooping into the grounds from dusk.

Clad in black pants and a navy blue overcoat, 53-year-old Sting strode on the massive stage with the song 'Send Your Love Into The Future' and went on to belt out over 15 of his hits, much to the delight of fans.

Apart from playing some songs from his erstwhile band The Police, Sting got the huge crowd swaying to solo hits, backed by voaclists Joy Rose and Donna Gardier, guitarist Dominic Miller, keyboardist Kipper, Jason Rebello on piano, percussionist Rhain Krija and drummer Keith Carlock.

Staging his first concert in this hi-tech city, Sting greeted his boisterous fans with ''Namaste'' in Hindi and ''Namaskara'' in Kannada, the local language, drawing loud applause.

Sting's latest hits from his 'Sacred Love' album too featured in the show that turned out to be worth the money fans splurged for a ''Friday Night Fever''.

''It's fantastic. Though I have been a great listener and fan of Sting, this is the first time I am getting to see him in the flesh. He may be older, but his music and songs are still young,'' said Michael James, a techie in a software firm.

Among the celebrities present at the show were liquor baran and Rajya Sabha member Vijay Mallya, India's biotech queen Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and tennis star Mahesh Bhupati.

(c) New Kerala