by Jon Bauer
Tonight was special.
This photographer has seen Sting perform many times over the years. With many different bands. Supporting many different albums. But tonight – on Valentines Day, with wife Trudie Styler in the audience, Sting and The San Francisco Symphony took the audience on a grand tour of a legendary career that was truly special.
It was special because the music was re-imagined and re-composed for the wonderful San Francisco Symphony, which elevated Sting’s familiar and unique voice to new highs with all of the grandeur that a great symphony can. It was special because the audience was treated with new insights into Sting’s life, the songs, and his views. It was special because it was cold, rainy, and gloomy outside – but in Davies Symphony Hall, it was warm and cozy.
Sting hit the stage with conductor Edwin Outwater to the applause of a loving crowd of fans, welcomed everyone to the show, and started telling stories about the early days of The Police and the genesis of his first song – Roxanne. He then went on to play hits like Englishman In New York, Fields Of Glory, and Why Should I Cry For You?
Before playing When We Dance, he talked about his song creation process. How themes like “I love you, and you love me” are virtual dead-ends, whereas “I love you and you love someone else” – now “that gets interesting.” At the end, Sting held the notes for “I had a dream last night…” for 30 seconds while the symphony played soaring notes that heightened the intensity of his falsetto tone.
He next discussed his two childhood dreams – one was to be a musician, the other was to be a cowboy – inspired by TV shows Rawhide, Maverick, and Bonanza. He played I Hung My Head which took on new meaning with that backdrop.
He talked about the relationship of fathers to sons and how his own father gave him one piece of advice – go to sea, see the world, and make something of yourself. He joked that of course, he disappointed him on that last point. This story helped bring new meaning to Why Should I Cry For You?
Sting talked about his distain of the sport of fox hunting, until he had the unfortunate experience of a fox killing all of his chickens, after which he decided to re-evaluate his view on this sport. He played his wife Trudie’s favorite song, which he dedicated to her – The End Of the Game.
After a brief intermission, he discussed the theme of The Shape Of My Heart being about a gambler who is also a philosopher (aren’t they all at some point? he joked.)
He then played 3 songs from his play “The Last Ship” that was cancelled in San Francisco at the beginning of COVID. The Last Ship (sung in his natural dialect – a strong British accent – with Sting on acoustic guitar), a song about an older suitor in the play (he mentioned that his age was like Joe Biden’s) Practical Arrangement, and a song about the younger, more virile suitor, What Say You, Meg?
He revealed some of his political leanings and mentioned “I would vote for Joe Biden’s Alsatian over Donald Trump” which the San Francisco audience, of course, thunderously agreed.
Next, What Could Have Been, a song that was played tonight for the 1st time ever was accompanied by a beautiful violin solo by Wyatt Underhill.
He followed with Russians, King Of Pain, and Every Breath You Take.
For encores, he played Desert Rose – which was particularly beautiful with the symphony, and for is final song, Fragile – he described the film his wife is making about Naples, Italy, where a local priest featured in the film – Don Antonio – asked Sting to perform at the local prison with a guitar made from colorful blue and red wood recovered from fishing boats and refugee boats that washed ashore.
What a special night indeed.
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