Sting at his peak!

Incredible show, one of the best by maybe his best band ever directed by Sting who has clearly honed his craft in directing, arranging, singing, playing the bass, to the point that he could very well be at his best today post 60. This band kicks a$$! Again, hats off to Howard Page for giving me the best mix I have heard in a Sting concert again, if not for the incredible sound from Howard Page, I would not have flew from Denver to New York, drive 3 hrs to Atlantic City for this show (I flew into LGA so I could visit some family prior to leaving this morning). It was still a trek waking 3:30 AM Denver time yesterday but more than worth it.

I must say, seeing World Trade Center One tower above the New York skyline while driving over the Verrazano bridge brought back many emotions, what a sight, breathtaking just to see it from such a distance.

Onto the show. First off, David Sanscious keyboards made a huge difference, great hearing him in Hung My Head, among many other songs, I just wish Sanscious had more or I should say some solo time. I remember a short beautiful solo from him in Shape of My Heart in a mini tour a few yrs back, instead Tickell took it over. Frankly, Peter Tickell has it all, stage presence, looks, incredible player but is it fair for me to say he had too much spotlight? Could David at least take back over the short Shape of My Heart solo? Do I dare equate him to Sting's new Branford Marsalis? Am I wrong for on the verge of calling it the Peter Tickell show or maybe the Sting featuring Peter Tickell? Maybe as a player, he may not yet be up to Marsalis' talent but he is not far off, the kid really can play, and has incredible energy, good looks and incredible stage presence. Peter Tickell if given the opportunity to be Sting's featured soloist on say a 2 year tour (hopefully accompanying a new album) I think has the potential to surpass the success of a Branford Marsalis or Chris Botti in a solo career.

Dominic sounded great, had some great solos and of course Vinnie, boss drummer, playing slightly more muted than the first leg IMO, that's not a bad thing, it's just cool to see such incredible players like Vinnie and David focus more on the song and not trying to steal the spotlight, you know, how Cope(cough)land does it. Instead, Vinnie waits for the appropriate time to burn, and did so brilliantly when necessary, but his finesse was present throughout even in the soft songs. Jo provided excellent accompaniment to Sting as always. Sting was in brilliant form, vocals and bass.

Set list wise, I missed Ghost Story and Fortress, personally, I think Demolition Man is not working as well as it did at the beginning, maybe the band is getting a bit bored playing it, I was never a big fan of it. How about Nothin Bout Me instead? Dominic rocked the house on Driven to Tears.

Overall, one of the best performances by maybe Sting's best solo band, I can only hope after the summer tour, Stings hits the studio with this band, releases an album after a 10 yr break and tours for two years with them. If it does not happen this yr, and he instead focuses all his energies on the Broadway musical The Last Ship, it may then be true that we have heard the last pop record from Sting, sad to say.

It was indeed a pleasure meeting the Doctor prior to the show, a short but awesome meeting with Baht.