Sting sings, Springsteen doesn't...

After Ricky Martin's surprise appearance at the concert that opened Sting's Italian tour in Palmanova on Thursday, the 11,000 people at the Olimpico stadium waited in vain for Bruce Springsteen, announced as the evening's surprise guest. Some, however, hoped for an impromptu performance by Mark Knopfler, the Dire Straits frontman with whom Sting penned one of the band's iconic songs, "Money For Nothing," who will perform tomorrow night at the Foro Italico. But after the opening act, performed by Max Gazzè and Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck, there wasn't much more to come in the way of a happening and improvisation.

The long-running "Brand New Day Tour," which began after the release of the album of the same name in 1999, has recently visited three Italian cities. It will return on July 19th for another concert in Cagliari. For those awaiting a new album, Sting announced that it will be released in November, but it will be a live performance, recorded right here in Italy, at his Tuscan retreat in Figline Valdarno. Surrounded by a mystical, Eastern aura and his trademark narcissism, Sting opened his concert with "A Thousand Years," the first track from his latest album. His desert-blonde look, the Arabian atmosphere of the new songs, the strings, the choirs, Jeff Young's echoing voice, and the effective trumpet of Chris Botti, another star of the evening, all played a part.

The former Police bassist was also joined by Dominic Miller on guitar, Jason Rebello and Mark Eldridge on keyboards, and Manu Katche on drums. This is immediately followed by a historic hit, "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," written in 1985, the debut year of his solo career, with the collaboration of four great jazz musicians (Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Omar Hakim, Darryl Jones).

Sting performs eight songs from "Brand New Day" in a crescendo of sounds, echoes, and oriental sounds, from "Fill Her Up," which begins as country and ends as gospel, to the rousing "Desert Rose," as if to say, "This is my Africa." He blends styles from the different albums, already a synthesis of the diverse influences found in his production, although Algerian pop prevails here. "The privilege of pop, that of ranging across genres and allowing itself to be contaminated," is something Sting has been repeating for years. Almost all the representative songs from the seven albums Sting recorded after the breakup of the Police are included. From "Mad About You," which many remember and allude to in unison in the Italian version written by Zucchero (Io muoio per te), to the dreamy ballad "Fields of Gold." And then comes the seductive, sophisticated (so much so that it was used as a commercial for a luxury car) "Englishman in New York."

Not an overtly autobiographical song, as many believe, but inspired by and dedicated to Quentin Crisp, a gay English writer who passed away two years ago. Great enthusiasm over the simple yet fitting chords of "Roxanne," the song that launched Sting's successful career. A melodic texture and rhythmic division that are one with the voice of Gordon Matthew Sumner, the English artist's real name, and which no cover, not even George Michael's latest, has captured in better form.

And finally, "Every Breath You Take," the famous hit from The Police's 1983 album "Synchronicity." The song that Sting and Springsteen would undoubtedly have performed together. The two artists, among the most active in rock, charity, and human rights, have duetted several times in the world's most important venues, from Madison Square Garden to the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. It was during the Argentina leg of the 1988 Amnesty International tour that a limited edition recording of the only existing bootleg of this song in the duo's version was recorded; collectors are on the hunt, but it's really little consolation.

(c) L'Union Sarde