Sting countdown reaches fever pitch

MANILA, Philippines - The countdown to what has been touted as one of the biggest musical extravaganzas in this year’s concert season featuring foreign acts reaches fever pitch. It’s just two days away from the highly-anticipated concert of Sting on Dec. 9 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. 

The musical presentation from Ovation Productions, billed as Sting: Back to Bass Tour, is expected to attract another sell-out crowd of Pinoy rock fanatics who have been stirred into frenzy by the British rock sensation’s return performance in Manila after 18 years.

A celebration of Sting’s 25 years in music, the one-night-only gig will take the audience on a retrospective journey through the singer’s string of musical achievements as part of the legendary rock band The Police and as a solo artist.

It is part of the singer-songwriter’s latest headlining tour dubbed Back to Bass Tour, which also covers Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore and Jakarta and supports his recently-released three CD-DVD box set collection titled Sting 25 Years and the 12-track CD retrospective, Sting: The Best of 25 Years.

The show reunites Sting with a solid fan base of millions that he has established following his smash debut concert here in 1994, when he performed to a sold-out crowd of more than 30,000 at the Ultra outdoor football stadium in Pasig City, also under the auspices of Ovation Productions.

Sting’s Dec. 9 show will showcase his outstanding talents as musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist through a rich catalogue of his chart-topping songs.

The concert will also feature Sting playing his main instrument — the bass guitar — as he delivers choice cuts from his body of work, including Roxanne, Can’t Stand Losing You, Every Breath You Take, If Ever I Lose My Faith In You, Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic, Driven To Tears, Demolition Man, Message In A Bottle, All This Time, Seven Days, Fortress Around Your Heart, Fields Of Gold, Heavy Cloud, No Rain and many more.

Joining Sting on stage are Dominic Miller (guitar), David Saucious (keyboards), Peter Tickell (electric fiddle) and Vinnie Colauita (drums). Miller and Saucious also performed with Sting during his 1994 concert here.

It has been an amazing journey, indeed, for the man born Gordon Matthew Summer in Newcastle, England and who rocketed to fame as principal songwriter, lead singer and bass guitarist of the New Wave trio The Police in the ’70s and ’80s before becoming successful as a solo act.

As a member of The Police, which he formed in London in 1977 together with Stewart Copeland and Henry Padovani (who was soon replaced by Andy Summers), Sting and his group released between 1978 and 1983 five chart-topping albums and won six Grammy Awards. Their last album Synchronicity (1983) included their most successful song Every Breath You Take, which is officially listed as the most requested radio song of all time.

The Police received a total of 16 Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards, a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award and several Oscar nominations for Best Original Song.

In August of 1983, Sting left The Police and went on to record several solo albums.

He made his debut solo appearance in September of 1984, performing solo versions of Roxanne and Message In A Bottle on all four nights of the fourth Amnesty International benefit, The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball. His first solo album The Dreams Of The Blue Turtles, on the other hand, was released in 1985 and nominated Album of the Year at the Grammys that year.

His 1991 album The Soul Cages, which was dedicated to the memory of his recently-deceased father, featured the Top 10 song, All This Time (No. 5 on the US pop chart) and the Grammy-winning single, The Soul Cages.

His 1993 album Ten Summoner’s Tales, which peaked at No. 2 in the UK and US charts, went Platinum in just one year and earned a nomination for the Mercury Prize in 1993 and for the Grammy Album of the Year in 1994.

One of the singles in the album, If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, won for Sting his second Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, following his first Grammy under the same category in 1987 for Bring On The Night.

Two more Grammy Awards followed, while his 1999 album Brand New Day, which included the Top 40 hits, Brand New Day and Desert Rose, won at the 2000 Grammys for Album of the Year and Song of the Year.

In 2001, he garnered anew the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for She Walks This Earth (Soberana Rose) in A Love Affair: The Music Of Ivan Lins.

On Feb. 11, 2007, Sting reunited with other members of The Police and performed at the 2007 Grammy Awards, setting the stage for The Police Reunion Tour that started on May 28, 2007 in Vancouver, Canada before 22,000 fans.

Sting took the time-off from his ongoing world tour and joined a slew of other A-listers like Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera and Mary J. Blige in a benefit concert organized by NBC Universal on Nov. 2 for the victims of the Hurricane Sandy in the US.

(Sting: Back To Bass Tour is produced by Ovation Productions in association with Live Nation and RZO Entertainment, Inc. It is presented by Smart in cooperation with AyosDito.ph, BPI-Ayala Malls Amore Visa Card, Mercedes-Benz and Makati Shangri-La Manila and with the support of Jack City, ETC, 2nd Avenue, Jack TV, The Philippine STAR, Manila Bulletin and BusinessWorld. Tickets are priced at P15,840 [VIP-reserved seating], P10,560 [patron-reserved seating], P7,920 [lower box-reserved seating], P5,810 [upper box A-reserved seating], P3,700 [upper box B-reserved seating] and P1,030 [general admission-free seating]. Tickets are on sale at all Ticketnet outlets or may be purchased online at www.ticketnet.com.ph. For details, call Ticketnet at 911-5555.)