Review: Sting’s simply stunning show in Adelaide
Wowing the crowd, Sting showed why he still has it at his big gig at Adelaide Entertainment Centre.
Entertainment
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Sting knew he’d made it – way back in the late 1970s – when he heard a window cleaner whistling Roxanne.
And, judging by the crowd at his Adelaide Entertainment Centre, he still has it – and some.
From the get-go – another of his hits with The Police, Message In A Bottle – they know not only the melody but all the lyrics.
He sees that and invites everyone to join in and we’re all “sending out an SOS”.
Still chuffed about that window cleaner, following Englishman In New York and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Sting tells that story to introduce a newer song – If It’s Love.
Written as an homage to that worker, it opens with whistling and is a catchy, poppy, feel-good number.
It’s followed by another newer song, the darker, moody Loving You, which Sting describes as the sort of “I love you but you love someone else” love song that he loves to write.
We love it – and him – back.
Next comes another newbie, Rushing Water, which, like the other two is from Sting’s 2021 solo album, The Bridge, but has a Police sound.
While we might not know the words, we’re bopping along and swaying to all three.
We are also up on our feet the moment Sting invites us to early on.
At 71 years young, Sting’s voice is as good as ever and he’s a generous showman – engaging and endearing us with his local knowledge of Henley Beach and the River Torrens and performing for close to two hours.
He never leaves the stage, showcasing 45 years of songs.
Sting is also joined by son and support act, Joe Sumner.
They duet on King Of Pain and Joe joins the backing vocalists for one of The Police’s most iconic hits, Every Breath You Take.
As one of the crowd noted, its stalker lyrics mean it’s now pretty much regarded as a “spooky” song, but everyone appeared more than OK with that.
Like Joe – who was jumping up and down with enthusiasm as he sang – we were loving every minute of what was a big gig.
Standout moments, in what was a haunting show by a superb musician and showman, included the sublimely beautiful Fields Of Gold and the off the charts So Lonely and Roxanne.
The closer, Fragile – simply stunning on acoustic guitar – was dedicated to Ukrainians, Russians objecting to the war, women in Iran and the people of Turkey.
While it would be an overstatement to say you could have heard a pin drop – people sing along to him, after all – Sting held the audience in the palm of his hand.
It was the perfect end to a brilliant night.
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