Sting with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra...'Symphonicity'

[Chrisedge]

I saw Sting last night with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in Irvine, CA...Wow. I have seen The Police and Sting every single tour since 1981, and this was one of the best shows I've seen with him solo...It helped that we were 13th row dead center, and the sound was fantastic! If he is coming to your area, I highly recommend attending. Tickets aren't cheap, but I managed to get some less than face on ebay. Sales are probably soft, since it's a high priced show, plus most folks aren't thinking "Orchestra" as a fun time...

I didn't audio tape, but got most of it in HD.

YouTube - HD - Sting - Desert Rose - 2010-06-16 - Irvine, CA

 

[corianderstem]

Cool! I know Sting gets a lot of knocks, but I really love a lot of his solo stuff. The musicians he works with are amazing, and he makes great, musically interesting records (save for a couple bland adult contemporary pop songs here and there ).

I saw him live a handful of times back in the 90s, and enjoyed it each time.

 

[phanan]

His earlier solo stuff is quite good. I saw him on the Soul Cages tour way back when.

 

[corianderstem]

I love the stuff he does in the funky time signatures, like 7/4 and whatnot. Seven Days is great for that, as is I Hung My Head.

/music

I even kind of liked that CD of the rennaissance stuff he did. The only one of his I haven't bought was the solo CD that came out after Brand New Day - the lead single off it was a duet with Mary J Blige, and I just didn't like the CD at all.

All his other solo albums at least have a few songs that I love, although Nothing Like the Sun and Soul Cages are the most consistently excellent.

 

[phanan]

The first four albums are very consistent. After that, he seemed to lose a bit of steam. There would still be some good songs (like I Hung My Head, one of his best), but as a whole the albums weren't as strong, bottoming out with the one you alluded to, Sacred Love. God, that album sucked. No wonder he hasn't done another one since (apart from the classical and Christmas ones).

 

[Chrisedge]

Sacred Love was a crap album, although he did a decent version of "Whenever I Say Your Name" that was better than the album.

I actually like his flute album better than Sacred Love.

He did talk about his "country roots" before doing "I Hung My Head" and mentioned that two country artists have had better success covering his songs than he did. (Toby Keith doing "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" and Johnny Cash doing "I Hung My Head")...

 

[Chrisedge]

The first four albums are very consistent. After that, he seemed to lose a bit of steam.

I actually think his first five are great and the last two regular ones are pretty crap to shit...

1985 The Dream of the Blue Turtles
1987 ...Nothing Like the Sun
1991 The Soul Cages
1993 Ten Summoner's Tales
1996 Mercury Falling

Then Brand New Day, which was fair, then Sacred Love which is shit.

 

[corianderstem]

Brand New Day has some songs that I really love:

Fill Her Up (it's kind of cheesy, but I love when the song shifts into something completely different)
A Thousand Years
Desert Rose

But yeah, other than those, it's more or less meh.

 

[Chrisedge]

Brand New Day has some songs that I really love:

Fill Her Up (it's kind of cheesy, but I love when the song shifts into something completely different)
A Thousand Years
Desert Rose

But yeah, other than those, it's more or less meh.

My same three favorites. I love "Fill Her Up" and "Desert Rose"...too bad the rest of the album didn't get close to those two.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Future icon/legend/bad ass. Here, aged 18, nervous as hell singing "Fields of Gold." And killing it.

 

[Chrisedge]

YouTube - HD - Sting - Fragile - 2010-06-16 - Irvine, CA - Dedicated to Gulf Area

 

[corianderstem]

The studio version of Fragile is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever. It's stunning.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

I have always been fan of Sting. I am disappointed that I will not be able to catch both of his shows here. I will be buying this CD and DVD when it is released.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i know i'm in the minority, but i hate desert rose. now that i don't hear it every five seconds, it's not so bad, but ugh.

anyway, i like all his solo albums, though sacred love is very eh. i've not had a chance to buy anything since, though.

 

[phanan]

There hasn't really been anything since. Just a classical album and that release from a year or so ago that was closer to being a Christmas album more than anything else.

I actually think his first five are great and the last two regular ones are pretty crap to shit...

1985 The Dream of the Blue Turtles
1987 ...Nothing Like the Sun
1991 The Soul Cages
1993 Ten Summoner's Tales
1996 Mercury Falling

Then Brand New Day, which was fair, then Sacred Love which is shit.

Mercury Falling is certainly better than anything that came after, but it's not as good as its predecessors. I would say about half that album is very good, but that's it. As for Brand New Day, I'll take the songs previously mentioned along with the title track. And that's pretty much it.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

yeah i was gonna say, i don't really count christmas albums as an album per se, as it's basically a covers album and unless you're u2, it's highly unlikely most of those songs will ever be performed live or anything. i'll probably buy it in a few months as it gets closer to christmas.

if anyone does have it though, is gabriel's message re-recorded? i know he did that ages ago for the first a very special christmas.

 

[corianderstem]

Yeah, it's a new version.

The one on Very Special Christmas is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamazing. I'd never heard the song prior to that, and I was obsessed with it.

I'm a big fan of a good holiday album, but the Sting one was just eh. Big disappointment.

 

[Chrisedge]

I like the Winter Album!

Two more HD videos from Irvine, CA

"King Of Pain"
YouTube - HD - Sting Live! - King Of Pain - 2010-06-16 - Irvine, CA

And my FAVORITE song of the night, "End Of The Game" (Which I had never heard before)
YouTube - HD - Sting Live! - End Of The Game - 2010-06-16 - Irvine, CA - RARE

 

[corianderstem]

I heard the new Symphonicities album and will definitely be buying it. It's nifty.

 

[powerhour24]

I'm so pumped to see this show when they come to MA later this month. I saw him play with The Police on their reunion tour, but I've never seen him solo, this still won't be quite like seeing him in a regular performance, but I'm sure it is something special to behold.

 

[Chrisedge]

I uploaded a DVD of the show on Dime if anyone was interested...