Sting placed hits from The Police and his solo career on his latest tour
International superstar Sting brought his new trio to the DC area for two shows this week. TMU was on hand for the second performance at MGM National Harbor on Wednesday (Oct 16th).
Sting is very familiar with trios. His first, The Police, achieved massive global stardom with hits like “Message in a Bottle” and “ Roxanne.” The former opened the night, and the latter came in the encore. The show teetered between Police hits and Sting’s solo career.
Sting took the stage wearing his bass and a headset. He moved about the stage deliberately, making eye contact with individuals as often as the bright lights would allow. He even (jokingly) invited a lucky front-row concertgoer to his “modest house in the English countryside.” Another joke. It’s a literal castle.
Sting’s voice still has its distinctive English wail. It’s pensive by nature, perfect to deliver genre-bending numbers like “Never Coming Home” and the quiet “Shape of My Heart.” Sting is also unafraid to talk at you, musically. Take “Mad About You,” which is a hypnotic take on a biblical tale. Sting paints his picture in prose, letting the music evoke a feeling rather than a melody.
Along the way, Sting told stories about his music and life. Whether talking about living near Stonehenge, or explaining pop music time signatures, he had the audience rapt with attention.
Sting is perhaps one of the most intelligent composers of pop music to have ever toiled in the genre. He knows the Police catalog is more commercial than his solo work—the loudest reactions of the night were to that music—but he’s just as proud of his more artistic, jazzy, world-music-flavored writings that feed the songwriter in him. And he’s equally pleased to share both sides of his creative self with his audience. “Every Breath You Take” is as much a part of Sting’s musical being as “Fragile.” It’s not Sting 3.0.
It’s Sting as he’s always been, and will hopefully remain for many “Breaths” more.
The Englishman can be seen with Sting 3.0 and Billy Joel on select dates in 2025. Currently announced co-headlining One Night Only shows with Joel are February 8th in Indianapolis, April 11th in Syracuse, May 10th in Charlotte, and May 23rd in Salt Lake City.
