Perhaps still recovering from one of the hottest summers in recent years in Japan – the trio’s previous stop before coming to our shores – there was minimal banter from the usually chatty frontman.
No matter because the setlist was enough, featuring hits from The Police era such as Every Breath You Take, Wrapped Around Your Finger, Driven To Tears, and Walking On The Moon, as well as from his solo career including Englishman In New York, Mad About You, Why Should I Cry For You?, and Shape Of My Heart, as well as the fairly new I Wrote Your Name (Upon My Heart).
Despite straining to hit those high notes on If I Ever Lose My Faith In You, the fans didn’t lose faith in him at all, singing and clapping along.
Speaking of the fans, don’t let the forehead-perched progressive glasses in the audience fool you. This was a crowd that was there to party and they’d fight you with every breath they take if you so much as ask them to return to their seats. Such was their enthusiasm you’d think they’d purposely over-caffeinated to stay up beyond their usual bedtime.
By the time your ears picked up the strains of Algerian folk music and Cheb Mami’s haunting vocals in Desert Rose, and the relatable King Of Pain, people were up on their feet and swaying along.
The trio topped off the night with The Police hit Roxanne, with Sting instigating a “Roxanne, Roxanne, oh” singalong, which the audience gladly obliged.
With a switch of bass for an acoustic guitar for the encore, Sting wound down the crowd with the tender Fragile – re-popularised recently by the Emmy-winning TV series Adolescence – and ended the concert nary past 10pm.
A perfectly good night for all ages.
