Friday night marked my fifth Sting concert, and this one was at a bit of a different venue. The Ravinia Festival (in Highland Park, IL) is like a concert in the park on a much bigger scale, as concertgoers (at least the ones on the massive lawn) are also picnic-goers. Showtime was 8pm, but gates opened at 5 (4:30 for Ravinia members). For us non-members, 5 o'clock was a rush, as the gates opened and we looked for that ideal spot.
Turns out any ol' spot would do, as very few of the lawn seats have a close-up view of the pavilion, so we set up shop near one of the many speakers and began to relax. Our fellow concert-goers were very friendly, which was a good thing since we wound up pretty tightly packed. Some of our neighbors brought games, and some even burrowed into sleeping bags as the chill in the air intensified as the sun made its way down.
Thinking back on it, it's hard to imagine a more perfect headliner for Ravinia than Sting. Since his days fronting The Police, Sting's tunes have likely wound up as the background music for many a shindig, and they seemed to serve the same function even with him present, at least for many on the lawn. Sting's music is pretty mellow, and the most raucous song of the night was "Demolition Man", which livelied up what had been a pretty sedate start. He opened with two hits, "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". For me, it was good to hear Sting's playfulness within these songs (and all his songs, really), but the night really brought out to me what a tremendous songwriter Sting really is. As much as I prefer his work with the Police, his solo work really blends well in concert, especially with a tight band behind him. As earlier stated, I've seen Sting five times, and for three of those shows, Vinnie Colauita was the drummer and really seems to bring the best out in Sting. Dominic Miller has long been Sting's voice on the guitar, and it's a distinct voice, even on Police songs. David Sancious provides a jazzy feel on keyboards, David Tickell had a couple of rousing violin solos, and backup singer Jo Lawry complements Sting very well (and he let her howl on "Hounds of Winter).
Sting himself is in incredible shape. He hasn't lost anything vocally, and was very laid-back and comfortable on stage, as he seems to have found a good groove with his band. Overall, they put on a solid show with distinctly different takes on the hits and good choices on the more obscure material.
Setlist:
If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
Every Little Thing She Does
Englishman In New York
All This Time (introduced as a song about Newcastle, his home town)
Seven Days
Demolition Man (liked a lot with the guitar work at the end)
I Hung My Head (introduced as Sting's attempt at a country song)
Fields of Gold
Driven To Tears
Heavy Cloud No Rain
Message In A Bottle
Hounds of Winter (howling vocals at the end by Lawry and Sting)
Wrapped Around Your Finger
Band solos
Roxanne
Encore:
Desert Rose
King Of Pain
Every Breath You Take
Next To You
Fragile
Turns out any ol' spot would do, as very few of the lawn seats have a close-up view of the pavilion, so we set up shop near one of the many speakers and began to relax. Our fellow concert-goers were very friendly, which was a good thing since we wound up pretty tightly packed. Some of our neighbors brought games, and some even burrowed into sleeping bags as the chill in the air intensified as the sun made its way down.
Thinking back on it, it's hard to imagine a more perfect headliner for Ravinia than Sting. Since his days fronting The Police, Sting's tunes have likely wound up as the background music for many a shindig, and they seemed to serve the same function even with him present, at least for many on the lawn. Sting's music is pretty mellow, and the most raucous song of the night was "Demolition Man", which livelied up what had been a pretty sedate start. He opened with two hits, "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You" and "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". For me, it was good to hear Sting's playfulness within these songs (and all his songs, really), but the night really brought out to me what a tremendous songwriter Sting really is. As much as I prefer his work with the Police, his solo work really blends well in concert, especially with a tight band behind him. As earlier stated, I've seen Sting five times, and for three of those shows, Vinnie Colauita was the drummer and really seems to bring the best out in Sting. Dominic Miller has long been Sting's voice on the guitar, and it's a distinct voice, even on Police songs. David Sancious provides a jazzy feel on keyboards, David Tickell had a couple of rousing violin solos, and backup singer Jo Lawry complements Sting very well (and he let her howl on "Hounds of Winter).
Sting himself is in incredible shape. He hasn't lost anything vocally, and was very laid-back and comfortable on stage, as he seems to have found a good groove with his band. Overall, they put on a solid show with distinctly different takes on the hits and good choices on the more obscure material.
Setlist:
If I Ever Lose My Faith In You
Every Little Thing She Does
Englishman In New York
All This Time (introduced as a song about Newcastle, his home town)
Seven Days
Demolition Man (liked a lot with the guitar work at the end)
I Hung My Head (introduced as Sting's attempt at a country song)
Fields of Gold
Driven To Tears
Heavy Cloud No Rain
Message In A Bottle
Hounds of Winter (howling vocals at the end by Lawry and Sting)
Wrapped Around Your Finger
Band solos
Roxanne
Encore:
Desert Rose
King Of Pain
Every Breath You Take
Next To You
Fragile
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