Nice to have Sting back for more

A lot of things come to my mind at mention of the name Sting. Foremost among these, because of recent events, was how he moved the local gig of his Back To Bass Tour from the SM Mall of Asia Arena to the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

I believe that all of us should be there to applaud Sting on Dec. 9 and to once more enjoy his music in the Back To Bass Tour, brought to the Philippines by Ovation Productions.

I guess this means that Sting is playing bass again. He plays lots of other instruments but he is really great with the guitar and excellent with the bass. That was what impressed me most when I first heard his group, The Police, that and the fact that he was a former primary school teacher. Can you imagine sitting in class and listening to somebody as sexy as Sting? Mind blowing. Must be why he decided to become a musician, instead of moving up to high school and meeting those bigger girls.

Which reminds me, since this concert is in support of his latest albums, Sting 25 Years, a three CD-DVD boxed set collection and Sting: The Best Of 25 Years, fans are assured that he will perform his big hits. Best of 25 Years includes If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, We’ll Be Together, Fragile, All This Time, If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, Fields Of Gold, Desert Rose, Whenever I Say Your Name, Never Coming Home, Message In A Bottle, Demolition Man and Heavy Cloud No Rain.

It is not in the album, I hope he has also included, An Englishman In New York in his song line-up. I do not think there will be anybody in the audience who will allow him to leave the stage without singing that one. Also Brand New Day and other big favorites by Sting out here.

But what about his songs with The Police? Wouldn’t it be awesome if he can also do Every Breath You Take, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Roxanne, De Do Do Do De Da Da Da, Walking On The Moon, Seven Days, Can’t Stand Losing You and others from the early days. After all, this is the Back To Bass show and he played bass in all of them.

Since it is December and winter has come to many parts of the world, I also think of Sting at Christmastime. Now one of my favorite Christmas albums is Sting’s If On A Winter’s Night. It is not really about Christmas, although there are songs like The Burning Babe, Christmas At Sea and Gabriel’s Message. It is more about winter, the mystical, spiritual side of the season, The Hounds Of Winter, Cold Song and Hurdy Gurdy Man.

What I like most about the CD is how Sting made it sound so old. In this case, when I say old, I really mean ancient, as something from the 17th century. Each time I listen to it, I picture Sting, clad in a heavy cloak and carrying a lute, an itinerant minstrel moving from castle to castle amidst the snow. Given how this is a greatest hits tour, I do not think there is any possibility that Sting will perform one of his winter songs. But who’s to stop me from doing a Sting kind of Christmas dreaming?