Sting reinforces why he is widely considered one of the greatest living musicians

Sting could sell out stadiums across the country, but instead the rocker chose the intimate setting of London Palladium for his residency to perform hit songs from his long and illustrious career, writes Adam Davidson.

Born and raised in Newcastle, Sting gained fame as part of The Police in the late 1970s and has endured for more than 40 years as one of the most successful musicians to ever come from England, selling 100 million albums from his combined work with the band and as a solo artist.

As part of The Police, Sting earned six Grammys, two Brits and was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.

As a solo artist, he went on to receive an additional 11 Grammys, two Brits, a Golden Globe, an Emmy and four Oscar nominations.

Sting opened the opening night of his My Songs residency at the London Palladium with Russians, an anti-Cold War song that he admitted rarely performs live as he found it irrelevant.

However, he said he now finds it painfully relevant with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, as he performed with Ukrainian cellist Yaroslava Trofymchuk in a respectful and poignant prelude to the show.

The curtains were raised for the main section of the show as Sting went straight into performing The Police’s 1979 record Message in a Bottle.

The song set the tone for the rest of the night as Sting went on to perform energetic hits from his catalog like Englishman in New York and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic.

Sting is no stranger to a hit record and he told the audience how he defines one with an anecdote dating back to 1978 after The Police had just released Roxanne and were on tour.

He said: “We stayed in a hotel and I slept in until 10pm. It’s very rare I sleep in. The room we were in didn’t have a curtain and there was a bloke cleaning the windows outside. I heard him whistling and I thought I know that song, he’s whistling Roxanne!

“That is a hit, when working people, whether they are on the docks, cleaning windows or delivering milk, whistle when they are happy and whistling your song.”

Sting had an effortless and charming way of interacting with the audience and telling anecdotes and had the mannerisms and timing of a veteran stand-up comedian, a product of both his Geordie upbringing and longevity in the business.

Performing at the Palladium is a risky move for any musician as the seated setting of a theatre could stifle the atmosphere. However, Sting was in complete control and had the audience out of their seats and singing along to the majority of the songs.

There were also interpretations of his most celebrated hits, including Shape of my Heart which included a tribute to the late-rapper Juice Wrld, who sampled the song for his hit Lucid Dreams, sung by James Eugene Roston III.

Sting improvised certain sections of his hit songs like intertwining Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry into So Lonely or freestyle Bebopping the chorus of Roxanne.

It takes the confidence of being a legend in the music scene to play around with your hit songs and know that it is going to work but Sting  encapsulated that confidence with effortless showmanship.

The show was called My Songs and listening to the Geordie legend play through his hit records reinforces why he is widely considered one of the greatest living musicians.

 

Pictured: Sting