A Sober Sting with a Balanced Program...

Last Tuesday, English pop singer Sting kicked off his first of five sold-out performances at The Hague's Statenhal. Less musically exuberant than in the past, he impressed with a balanced set that alternated the personally charged songs from his recent CD, "The Soul Cages," with less weighty songs from his past.

More than three years after "Nothing Like The Sun," Sting made his return to the CD scene earlier this year with "The Soul Cages." A striking feature of that album was its strong autobiographical aspect. Gone were the critical yet uplifting lyrics about human rights and Brazilian Anatolian Indians.

"The Soul Cages" primarily features songs about the sea, unknown islands, drowned and lost souls. Sting uses them as symbols and metaphors for death, for parting with his father, for the fear of the unknown, and for an atmosphere of melancholy and longing.

For Sting, composing "The Soul Cages" was therapy to cope with the death of his parents. Well, the singer, born Gordon Sumner, is the last to hide his emotions from the world. Sometimes it's embarrassing, and sometimes, as last Tuesday, the new material is so melancholic that it sounds out of place in a venue packed with exuberant fans. But Sting managed to alternate introverted songs like "When The Angels Fall" with covers like the jazzy "Ain't No Sunshine." He also occasionally went wrong with covers, such as with Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze," which was too much for guitarist Dominic Miller.

The concert had a sober feel. Sting had thinned out and changed his band. This time, there were no star soloists like Branford Marsalis or Kenny Kirkland, and no blood-curdling, soulful vocals.

Accompanying himself on bass—both electric and acoustic—Sting was supported by a trio of introverted musicians, with only veteran David Sancious occasionally indulging in adventurous, though not always successful, solos. However, the emphasis was more than ever on the content of the songs, and therefore also on Sting's voice. In solemn and balanced pieces like "Island Of Souls" and "Mad About You," Sting impressed as a vocalist with a melancholic timbre that had replaced his characteristically whiny and plaintive delivery. The material from "The Soul Cages" took centre stage, but the nearly two-hour program also included a series of greatest hits, the most notable of which was the Police classic "Roxanne."

Fans seeing Sting tonight will witness guest appearances by Sinead O'Connor and Peter Gabriel. Television footage of that performance will be filmed for the satellite benefit for Kurdish refugees, 'The Simple Truth', which will be broadcast on Sunday, May 12.

(c) Unknown newspaper by Erik Quint

Sting scores with Police work...

Sting, it must be said, continues to amaze. Anyone who expected him to perform exclusively solo work, primarily from his latest LP, "The Soul Cages," during his first of four concerts last Tuesday evening at The Hague's Statenhal, was disappointed. The show consisted of only two covers of Police work, supplemented with a few Soul Cages songs.

Fortunately, on "The Soul Cages," Sting further cemented his soft image of recent years, which would certainly have resulted in a dull and lifeless evening. After all, Sting is an "old rocker" who, with The Police, reached the top of the charts. That group was a joy to watch: boundless energy in a powerful package. Until Sting aspired to a solo career and, with each LP, sank deeper into lounge-pit music. The former Police bassist was too preoccupied with (commendable) political and social campaigns, but forgot to make good music. His schoolmaster's heart pounded too hard...

Until Tuesday evening, that is. Sting presented himself with an extremely sober accompaniment. The bassist is in the position to surround himself with the cream of the crop of musicians, so musically, things were going well. Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, guitarist Dominic Miller, and keyboardist David Sancious did a fine job on Police pieces "Roxanne," "Bring On The Night," "When The World...", "King Of Pain," "Tea In The Sahara," "Walking On The Moon," "Every Breath You Take," "Message In A Bottle," and covers "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Purple Haze."

The Police repertoire still proves to be a crowd-pleaser, because as soon as Sting played solo pieces like 'Fragile,' 'Mad About You,' 'Jeremiah Blues,' 'Soul Cages,' 'When The Angels Fall,' or 'The Wild Wild Sea,' the buffets became suspiciously crowded. Moreover, he extended many of these numbers with endless solos from the musicians.

All in all, not a bad concert, which must have reached its climax last night when Sting, as part of the TV recordings for the pop festival benefiting the Kurds, which aired on Sunday, was accompanied by Sinead O'Connor and Peter Gabriel for a few songs.

(c) Telegraf by Ron Peereboom Voller