This week was a big week in my ongoing mission to see all
the best musicians before they retire. Tuesday night was a double header of old
guy rock and roll: Sting and Paul Simon on stage together!
I’ll admit I’ve never been a huge Sting fan. I mean, I don’t necessarily change the radio station when a Police song comes on but I also don’t own any Sting albums. Paul Simon however, I love! Several months back I heard that the pair were going on tour together and I figured that cheap nosebleed tickets would be worth it just to see Paul Simon. Long story short, I still love Paul Simon plus I think I’ve become a Sting convert. Read on for the long version!
After some very last minute ticket swapping necessitated by my mom’s head cold and Sarah’s well timed proclamation of her love for Sting, we were taking our seats in the rafters of the arena (note to self: row 6 is the first row of the top section so no one can sit in front of you. Score!) surrounded mainly by women twice our age and their husbands. This being just the 3rd date of the tour, I hadn’t read any reviews yet and didn’t know what to expect. I had heard some speculation about the amount of collaboration they’d be doing before the tour started, the general consensus said that there would definitely be some duets but no one knew what they’d be or how much of the show they’d make up. With no time left to wonder, at about seven minutes after 8:00, out walk Sting and Paul Simon, no hype no fuss, and they launch into their first collaboration. They opened sharing the mic on “Brand New Day”, “Boy in a Bubble”, and “Fields of gold”. Their sensitive harmonies on “Fields of Gold” gave the audience their first taste of the powerful duets to come and indeed a first glimpse of that this tour is all about.
Following this opening set, the duo welcomed the audience to their “experiment” before Paul Simon turned the stage over to Sting and his stand in Police. I was happy to find that Sting’s first installment to the concert was largely hit Police songs like “Every Little Thing She Does” and “An Englishman in New York” that I knew from pop culture and my Dad’s CD collection. It was right around this point that the coolness that Sting is always exuding must have hit the back of the house. Sting is 62 now but the way he moves on the stage, the way he gets into his music, even the way he dresses, everything about him is just really cool. While I enjoyed this set, I was really looking forward to hearing what Paul Simon would contribute. Paul reappeared to sing “Love is the Seventh Wave” and “Mother and Child Reunion” with Sting before heading into his own set including “50 Ways to Leave your Lover” and, one of my favorites, “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” which, inexplicably but excitingly, melded into an old Bo Diddly tune. Paul Simon in 72 years old and his voice sounds just as beautiful as it did when he was singing with Art Garfunkel. For a performer with such a celebrated singing voice to give a live concert with exactly that voice, no hint of aging or fatigue, was a real treat!
The rest of the concert went on along these lines with each artist swapping stage time to play hits and favorites interspersed with duets that just got stronger and stronger. The real turning point for me came at the beginning of Sting’s second set. He shooed Paul Simon off the stage telling him he’d be embarrassed if he stayed before divulging to the audience how highly he thinks of him as a songwriter. He spoke of how Paul Simon’s songs have the ability to perfectly capture and encapsulate some of life’s most profound moments and the emotions that accompany them. He said this was especially true of Simon’s “America” which will always remind him of the excitement, anticipation, and apprehension he and his band felt when they first toured the US in a rented station wagon playing sleazy clubs night after night. He went on to perform an amazingly genuine and gentle cover of the song that perfectly made his point about its ability to capture even the most complex emotions. That was the moment that I stopped seeing Sting as just a cheesy 80s pop star but a truly talented musician… who was also a cheesy 80s pop star.Not wanting to leave that nerve exposed for too long, he then tore off into another succession of hits including “Roxanne” on a stage bathed in red lighting and “Desert Rose” much to the rosy-cheecked delight of every woman in the audience. Like Paul Simon, Sting can still belt out a tune in great voice.
After another installment of beautiful harmonies on “The Boxer”, Paul Simon took over the stage for his turn at the hit parade. Simon’s voice may not have changed since the 70s but his musicianship certainly has not stagnated. Every song he played was more lively and joyful than any recorded version. Moreover, he and the band kept even the oldest classics feeling fresh changing up a few little rhythms, pick-ups, chords, solo lines, or harmonies slightly every here and again. The soul of the songs was still there, they were still the tunes you know and love, but this performance made them feel new again. I loved this approach, not only did it exemplify Simon’s ability and willingness to grow and change as a musician but it kept the performance from feeling like listening to the album with the volume way up. The only drawback here was that many audience members were so determined to sing and hum along with the melodies they knew, and who can blame them, that their “contribution” sometimes muddled the perception of the updated music. I loved the live, reworked rendition of “Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes” which Paul Simon opened a cappella with 3 members of this band. He closed out the set with a performance of “You Can Call Me Al” (my personal favorite song of his expansive catalogue) so fun, joyful, and full of life the entire audience was on its feet.
When Sting came back to the stage to close the show with
Simon the audience had long since been convinced of the powerhouse level of
merit this unique duo had created together. “Love is a Seventh Wave” and “Late
in the Evening” were a victory lap more than anything. The last song of the
program was a version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” that was so emotionally
earnest and so musically masterful that the same audience who had been cheering
wildly moments before went still to take it all in. There is a palpable feeling
of appreciation created when each member of an audience tens of thousands
strong really stops and listens.
In the end this unlikely team had done it all,
presented dazzling solo performances and exciting duets, and it was precisely their
profound differences, musically and stylistically, that made it work so well.
Sting is every bit as effortlessly cool as he ever was, when his guitar
amplification isn’t up he just gives a sly half smile that makes women swoon
and roadies come running. Paul Simon, on the other hand, dances around to his
own band like a dorky Dad and gestures wildly at his bass player to stand in
his spotlight during his solo, clearly embarrassing him. Where Sting is edgy,
Simon is endearing. Where Paul Simon’s songs are lively and organic, Sting’s
are strong and dynamic. It is a testament to both artists’ talent, skill, and
musicianship that they were able to blend these two opposite affects into such
a successful sound and
show. This kind of performance doesn’t come around very
oftenI am so glad I was there to see it!
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| Together, these may be the best and most accurate tour shirts ever made. |
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