Sting – The Brand New Day Tour (DVD, 2000)

Description

Sting is the kind of performer that is hard to categorise. His songs vary from reggae to rock, jazz to pop and even country. It was a little easier to pigeonhole Sting when he was simply the bass player/singer with The Police – white reggae – but since then he has evolved into an accomplished all-round musician proficient on guitar, piano, mandolin, harmonica and saxophone. While we do not get to see him play most of these on The Brand New Day Tour, what we do get is a wonderfully relaxed Sting sounding as good as ever, playing effortless bass and some fine acoustic guitar during the encore.

Sting is supported by a talented group of musicians and backing singers, most of who have only been playing with him for a short time. These same musicians can be heard on Sting’s most recent studio album Brand New Dayand consequently it is the songs from that album that are the most faithful to the originals. That is not to say the other songs are radically different, but different musicians will naturally have different playing styles and songs will often ‘mature’ as is the case with some of the songs here. This is most evident on The Police songs and those from Sting’s first solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles, but they are still instantly recognisable and I frequently found myself singing along with gusto. It is a welcome change to see an artist acknowledging his entire career.

There are several standout tracks including Desert Rose featuring Arabian singer Cheb Mami, the title track Brand New Day which includes a surprise appearance by Stevie Wonder and the first song in the encore Message In A Bottle with Sting playing unaccompanied acoustic guitar. Magic!