My God it's incredbile!
Santa Maria delle Grazie is the wonderful church in Milan which features the famous Last Supper by Leonardo (not in the same building, but in the friars' refectory).

It's going to be a wild mess! People are gonna queue up so much earlier?? And i'm working....
Sometimes I curse free gigs...

Sorry it was not meant to be a question, but it was "People are gonna queue up sooo much earlier!!"

yeah, I hate these events too ssolli, expecially here in Italy... and you know, only 700 seats and half will be just taken by authorities and VIPs.... Franco Battiato did a similar thing in Florence for 25th April (our Liberation Day Feast) and the seats were 1000 in total. Only 300 was distribuited for free and they went out in 30 min. I could went to the concert thanks to a firend wop works in Regione Toscana (sponsor of the concert) that gather some "invitation" from her collegue who were not interested in it. But it's highly unfair.....

Milan municipality already stated that they are setting some giant screens outside the church so that everybody will be able to see the show.
BTW how do you know that there will be only 700 seats? I was expecting maybe some more, not many, but around 900-950.
We'll see, but it's gonna be a mad thing for sure.

I've read it on Ansa, maybe... don't remember. I think the giant screens are really a silly thing, it's not a rock concert, I mean, in all other cities the concert was a very intimate event, just it should be. In Italy we always do these kind of things wrong. Very SAD...........

in milan??? perhaps Florence

I don't understand your comment, spagho.... sorry, can you explain better your mind?

Is this a real event? Sting.com doesnt have anything on it?

Is this really part of a Christmas celebration like they said??? I would be happy to be there and view it on the big screens any reason to get a look at Sting is a good excuse to me.

May I ask you, I supposed that you´re Italienne. I´m from Czech Republic and maybe I want to come to concert. Is there any tickets for free, which you will get sometime or you will only come very soon and wait in a gueue? Because if I will take such a long trip to see Sting from Prague, that´s not enough for me to see Sting just on screen.
So do you have any more information abou it? Because time is running... :-)
Help me!

Dcerka: I'm sorry, I have no other informations... I live in Florence, and I don't dare to go to Milan, surely I wouldn't gain my seat... I really advice you not to try, surely seats are unreachable for the not Milanesi....

jjs: Italian newspaper give the concert for sure.

Dcerka: on this site you can find more informations (obviously in italian language...). It confirms there are 700 tickets to "sell" in a still unknown date at the Urban Center in Milano's Gallery... so I really think that only Milan citiezen could grab them. However on the active link of the Urban Center there is the mail bar, so you can ask them directly.

http://www.02blog.it/post/657/natale-sta-arrivando-con-musica-ed-eventi-gratis

Thank you a lot Micra, I´ll try it but unfortunately none of our group can´t go with me. :-( Well, I´ll try it, because I really want to see it!
BTW: My father could speak Italian, so I try to write them...

And may I have next one question? Could somone here take me a ticket if I´ll be able to go there? Maybe sombody from Milan. Just take it to me and I´ll take it after I´ll arrive there.
Only if somenone will be so kind and do it... :-)

The concert is free but you have to get hold of a free ticket/invitation. Such tickets will be distributed at a municipality office in Milan but the date of distribution is not yet known. I'll keep you posted. Milan municipality confirms that only 700 tickets will be available to the public.
What a mess!

I actually fear that anybody lucky enough will have to queue twice. Once to get the ticket/invitation and once again to get into the church. I'm pretty sure that the invitation will be general admission only, and so people will be allowed in on a first come first served basis.
So this sucks twice hehe!!
BTW, no paper ever made the slightest mention of it, but shall we take for granted that it will be a lute concert? So is Edin going to be there as well?
I'm quite sure of it, but no details on the concert itself have yet been disclosed here.
Maybe they'll do some xmas stuff as well, i'd die for Gabriel's message hehe!


The idea of the giant screens is understandable. Milan municipality organizes the show (and surely pays for it) and wants as many people as possibile to benefit from it, especially considering that the church has very limited capacity. This has been done in the past also for many literature readings which took place in the same church. The square outside the church is not so big after all, so it will be kinda intimate anyway.

Sting.com comfirm the Sting & Edin concert. They have 50 tickets... read how to get them, if you are a member, of course!

http://www.sting.com/news/news.php?uid=4735

this is getting messier hour by hour.
I talked to the "famed" urban center today. They confirmed the gig but they knew nothing of tickets/invitations to be distributed and they just said you need to queue up directly at the church.
They also said that as far as they know, the church can only accomodate 250 people.

So, as of now, nobody agrees on the ways of admittance and the church capacity.
Could the press be wrong?? How can Sting.com claim to have tickets when it appears that tickets are not needed??
Would Sting.com be so powerful as to allocate to its members 20% of the whole availability??
Nothing makes sense in all this thing....

OMG, tipical italian mess. Why, oh why, aren't we able to do things right AND clear?

Oh no, I´m so sad... That seemed that we from different country have no chance. :-( Well, that´s sure. Now I´ll have to wait for Sting coming to Prague. Such an old city and he won´t come! So enjoy the concert you luck ones! And thank you for help. :-)

Hehe not sooo lucky, I live close to the gig venue and yet I don't know what to do to get in LOL....sounds funny but it is not....I guess I'll despeately end up asking the friars, but the poor guys said in an interview that such big events only cause troubles to their everyday life...

ah yes, surely ssolli! the poor friars will be scared by all the mess.... their life must be regular, and a concert in your house.... mmmh... but, having L'Ultima Cena in the refectory they sould be used to such madness... the more after Da Vinci Code. Have you noticed what kind of ads are up this thread? Just say Last Supper and... ta-da! Da Vinci Code!

There may be a special section for Sting.com members at this concert so that's why they'll need a ticket to assure they get in the church. Unfortunately there are not transferable for me to apply and give it away or I would do that.
What's sadder is only 1 ticket per person. So you have to go it alone.

Talk about spyware. But where did Justin Timberlake come from????
I mean The Da Vinci Code maybe but JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. No just No.

Thanks fmcc49 anyway! I mailed the Sting.com but they said they have no details yet concerning admittance of non-members or general audience. Nobody knows anything hehe, that's scarier...

Another email from Sting.com today: "Everything is being dealt with by the local authorities"....uhm...encouraging LOL

davvero incoraggiante, ssolli! poveri noi!

lunedì 11 dicembre, dalle 16 alle 19, quando verranno distribuiti i biglietti gratuiti per il concerto-evento di Sting in programma mercoledì 13 dicembre alle 21 nella chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie. Dove? All'Assessorato allo sport del Comune, in via Marconi 2, Attenzione, però: non saranno consegnati più due tagliandi a persona. E bisogna presentarsi con un documento d'identità.

Tickets for the event in Milan will be distribuited monday 11th dec. from 4 to 7 pm. c/o Assessorato allo Sport of Milan council, Marconi street, n.2.
Pay attention: you can only get 2 tickets for person and you must have an ID document!

Oh Good micra get one for me too. LOL LOL I'll be right over.

Sadly I won't be there... no chance to get a ticket! Maybe ssolli would be there and write a good report for us. But I promise you to post every pic I'll find in our newspapers!

I'll try to queue up there this afternoon....keep your fingers crossed

funny (and scary) that they don't say how many tickets will be available.....

really scary! I read on a newspaper online (Il Giornale for us italian people) that the concert will be broadcasted online.... I'll believe it when I see it! However in the same article the organization blame Sting for him pretending a little venue... but what did they expect? A lute concert at the Meazza Stadium?

I forgot: Good Luck ssolli!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-))))

wel...maybe the duomo would have been a better choice. It can host about 1000 people. It would have been initimate enough anyway...

off to queue now !!

and do you think they would have give the Duomo to Sting? mmmh, dunno, maybe yes, who knows! But it would be a little pretentious, don't you think so?

Ssoli: I´m bringing you all my fingers! Good luck!

short briefing: the concert will be broadcasted online by Telecom and RossoAlice, and there will be screens on the Church square.

Wooooww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This SFTL it doesn't belong in a BIG stadium. The sound wouldn't work for a big stadium. He must really be popular there for people to be upset.

Ehi ssolli, ce l'hai fatta? Spero proprio di si.....

I GOT THEM!!!!!
That's what matters most!!
It was a long but well organized queue. No time to complain now, considering i got the tickets eventually. Consider that ONLY 180 tickets were apparently available to the general audience, out of a total of nearly 600. The large majority of tickets were given to sponsors...
And we were not even reserved the best seats, of course. All of the tickets are "standing tickets - side aisle entry" so i don't know what we will be able to see...but hey, i will be there so i guess nothing else matters. Even though every ticket is general admission, each ticket is numbered and strictly personal. So the organization knows exactly who got which ticket and, in the event any ticket is illegaly sold on the net, they can identify who did it and then prosecute him...
BTW, the vouchers are also very nice as well, as soon as i get my scanner working again, i should post some scans of it.

PS: yep, they could have easily given the duomo to sting, even less famous singers performed there...but if he really asked for an intimate venue, S.Maria delle Grazie is a perfect location.

Congratulations ssolli, I'm glad for you! So it will be in 2 days... it approaches quickly! Have a good show.

Great ssolli!!!! As I suspected, themajor part of tickets where NOT for fans... but you got them, and that's great! enjoy the concert and report us as soon s you can, thank you!

I sure will!!

Happy Christmas Ssolli!

hehe thanks in advance

Just remember Sting probably has nothing to do with who gets the tickets. But maybe he should be informed. That was too many tickets to give away to
sponsers and the like. Even the fanclub only had 50 tickets. Wouldn't it be interesting to hear what Sting would think of that one.

Not only Sting has nothing to do, but he probably doesn't give a damn anyway. He wanted an intimate venue, he got it. That's enough i think

600 people is not exactly intimate though. I just don't think this kind of music would work in anything larger. But it is too bad that more tickets were not made available to the general public. Hopefully the sponsers will give some tickets away. Depending on what they sponser. But don't hold your breath.

I knew it was going this way.... when you have a free event, sponsors are all there to take seats. As I told you it happened to me for Battiato 25th April concert, it was sponsored by Regione Toscana and tickets (1000 places) were distribuited to various personalities of that organization. I was just lucky to have a friend who collected tickets from collegues not interested in the event. I find this kind of thing highly unfair and silly.

It appears it was free for a reason... oh wait nothing ever is free...

Congratulation Ssoli! That´s really perfect, at least some of us will be there. Happy Christmas and say hello to Sting from us. :-D

Ok, only for Italian people here (San Marino and Città del Vaticano too):

sembra che dal giorno 20 potremo vedere (pagando su bolletta o con carta di credito o su carta PagoRossoAlice, venduta nei negozi 187) il concerto di Sting & Edin a Milano su

http://hp.rossoalice.alice.it/

bisogna registrarsi e fare un pò di anticamera burocratica... la notizia proviene dal Giornale online, quindi, va verificata.

Sting in Milan outside a Restaurant:

OMG I've just come back from the gig!
One of the most amazing things i've ever been to. The music, the atmosphere, the venue, the setting...everything was just perfect.
I'll try to write a better review tomorrow. No news in the setlist which was more or less the same as the previous gigs.
A night to remember!

I'm happy it pleased you so much ssolli ! So have a good night and you 'll tell us more tomorrow...

I'm glad for you ssolli! Today's newspaper agree with you. We wait for YOUR review, that will surely be more intereSting that the ones gave us by the newspapers!

WOW everyone can see the Milan Concert for FREE starting from 20th December on:

http://speciali.rossoalice.alice.it/speciali/sting/index.html

This is a great Christmas Present!!!!!! Thank you Sting, Telecom and Rossoalice!

Thank you Micra for the information and for these nice pics. With the big cross behind Sting, it gives a special sensation (I don't know how to express that, even in French, I can't find the right word!!!)

These pics are scanned from some Italian newspapers, therefore the images quality isn't great:

those were probably taken during th afternoon rehersals

Wow beautiful pictures Micra, thanks!! :) Yeah looks like an amazing venue!

Glad you enjoyed the concert Ssolli!! Sting still looks as cute as ever!! :D Looking forward to your review! And watching the broadcast on that website, maybe we will see you ssolli!! ;)

yeah ssolli, you're right, I forgot to write that the pics where taken in the afternoon....
And I'm happy to tell all Sting's fan that he and his staff were praised by the religious ones that made them visit The Last Supper. Apparently Sting and staff were educated and quiet, gaining respect from friaries....

hey my review is up in the review thread

Great review ssolli, Thank you!!!! e beato te!!!!

When I go to the link for the free concert I get:

"Sorry, your IP address is not connected within Italy, the system cannot process your request."

So, by "everyone" can see the concert for free, they mean "everyone in Italy?"

Can anyone get this onto YouTube?

Thanks.

I get the same message.

The great news is that I CAN'T see it the same. I am Italian, I have Alice as ADSL provider, I am registered to Alice.it but I still can't see it!
Probably it's my pc. My hope is in GhoSting...... and in my sister pc!

I can see it! I downloaded it but for some license reason i cannot make it work on other computers...it's only 40min long so they must have edited something out. For sure they cut the first performance of Can she excuse my wrongs, and they only let the finale encore version. I shall watch it completely so i'll realize what's missing

They surely edited out also Clear or Cloudy...

HOW did you do it ssolli! It doesn't work for me.....

I just opened the page and the movie automatically started. It takes Windows Media Player 9 or upper i guess.

I have it, but nothing happens.... it's strange, because performing the test to verify pc configuration all is ok, I can see a stupid football match... but when I try to watch Sting's Concert.... nada! can't understand :-(((

ssolli, what version of Media Player do you have? I'm in Italy, Alice is my provider, I logged into RossoAlice, even turned off my Norton security programs and STILL...nothing! Maybe I should back up into an earlier version of Windows Media Player (I have version 11)? Thanks for your help!

dear sweetwine, I'm in the same condition of you! All tests are ok, I also download that stupid ATA (Alice ti Aiuta... e come no?!) and all tests were again ok. I can see the football match in the test, but I still can't see Sting's concert. I lost my hope....

I may help you (including non italian fans) on this. Please send me an email if you're interested.

Grazie!!!!!! :-))

Thanks so much!!!