Sting Live in Mantua - A Set List Everyone in the Music World Would Love to Have...

Simplicity, combined with professionalism and a clean sound. An extremely concise, yet not incomplete, summary of Sting's show on Tuesday, July 11th in Piazza Sordello, the first event of the Mantua Summer Festival. A concert of 19 songs, all perfect. A set list everyone in the music world would love to have, yet few can afford. Let me explain. Not that others lack songs, mind you. However, managing to put together 19 songs, all well-known hits, or singles, in a chronological setlist, giving the concert everyone would love to hear, is truly something for very few.

Sting doesn't want to overdo it; he doesn't need to spend hours on stage. Unlike Springsteen, he knows he has 19 perfect songs to offer. There's no need to stuff them with lesser-known pieces. Not even wandering through the dark forest and delving into his early works, like an old Indiana Jones searching for ancient magical machines, will take his fans back in time.

Still, he simply performs the great classics for an hour and a half, with a minimalist band that plays divinely (guitar, harmonica, drums, keyboards, and vocals, while the bass, of course, is handled by the lead singer himself). We could even end it here, because the only addition would be to invite you to go and hear him on this long European tour, which only stops in Italy for two more dates. But this concert deserves something more. While Sting, alas, also invites his son Joe Sumner to make a cameo appearance at the opening, who proves to be a good clone of his father, he then earns his due with a masterly show, but one that doesn't hide a few gems here and there. In short, if a live album were to be released, it would be worth picking up to hear what we're about to tell again.

First and foremost, of course, the opening with the great classic "Message in a Bottle," which immediately sends the crowd into a roar of joy and reminds everyone, as a friend of mine puts it, how wonderful it was to be 15 and listen to the Police. True. The version is the classic one, with Sting's bass towering over the band's entire wall of sound. The bass, then, is truly the one from the '80s. I mean, the instrument Sting carries on his shoulder. You can see it, beautifully worn, and it exerts a powerful fascination.

Knowing, in fact, that those four strings are the very ones they played on all the Police and Sting albums is, for anyone who loves music, something magical. A bit like when you walk into Contempo Records in Florence and see "Attilio," Gianni Maroccolo's bass, which was discontinued a few years ago. Sting won't let go of his bass for even a second, as if it were a true second skin, and perhaps that's really the case.

The entire show, as mentioned, flows by the book, with a simple choice: to perform "My Songs," the title of Sting's latest album, in strict chronological order, with the exception of the Police songs, which are used as a wildcard. From the '80s, we move back through tropical heat, amidst swarms of mosquitoes and midges, with Sting repeatedly reiterating that it's really very hot. Halfway through the concert comes another key moment, the duo of "Fields of Gold" and "Brand New Day," two truly powerful numbers, as they would say in the Briscola dialect.

The first, "Fields of Gold," is a song that turns 30 this year. Sting plays it almost more acoustically than the acoustic version on the original album. The result is a stylistic choice in which the bass almost disappears (but doesn't let go, never leaves his shoulder for even a second), and the acoustic guitar emerges. The result is splendid. All of this, then, with a light touch of magic on the console, on the volume. Indeed, the real miracle lies in the perfection of this song which, as always happens with songs of this magnitude, once stripped of everything, still remains a perfection of magical harmony.

Honestly, the price of the ticket is worth this performance. And the one that follows, "Brand New Day," a song from 1999, which Sting recalls performing with Stevie Wonder. Stevie isn't here, but he is with his harmonica. He's referring to Shane Sager, who, indeed, will not make us miss Wonder, nor the original version of the song. Here in Mantua, but I think this applies to this entire tour, the song is slowed down slightly, losing its pop vibe, and becomes almost a blues song, a product of the American South. It's at least leaning towards it; it's certainly not the devil's music, but not from commercial paradise either. A truly beautiful performance.

From here on, Sting slows the pace. Whether it's the heat or the show's economy, the fact remains that for three songs it feels like an old unplugged show from the '90s. This is perhaps the least intense moment of the concert, but it immediately picks up again with a steady flow of intense rhythm: "All This Time" gets the crowd going, with "Mad About You," continuing until the enthusiastic cry of "Walking on the Moon." At that point, the only thing left to do is go up, and that's how it will be. The Police are still alive, and they're battling it out with Piazza Sordello, with "So Lonely," which, at the end, becomes a reggae version and flows into "No Woman, No Cry." Allow me a joke. Bob Marley's song is a good match for everything, from "Io vagabondo" by the Nomadi to the Guns N' Roses version of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door," and now even "So Lonely." I don't know, but it has the same effect on me as certain bands or solo artists who, when they don't know what to do, turn to Battisti. It's just a feeling, because the mix works well, but it's already tired and hackneyed, and that wonderful song is losing all its power.

Anyway, the medley lasts just long enough to play "No Woman, No Cry" twice in one go, and we're back to jumping on the hot stones of Piazza Sordello with the finale of "So Lonely." "Desert Rose," one of Sting's richest solo compositions, finally enjoys some scenery on the screen. Up until that point, there had been very little behind it, except for a few changes in the lighting. The former Police man is also minimal in this regard.

"Every Breath You Take" and "Roxane," songs that don't even need to be introduced, and which Sting performs to perfection, without distorting anything, greet the Mantua audience, before the finale with "Fragile," a song from 1988.

All that remains is to draw conclusions. If only we had musicians this talented today, capable of making people dream both with the band's repertoire and with his solo work. If only we had 19 songs, all singles of such magnitude, in the drawer. Perhaps one could argue that Sting did his homework well, and nothing more. It can be quite a read, true. However, how many Candlewicks do we have who, instead of doing their homework, are having fun in Toyland? So, welcome, in this era, even those who do their homework well.

(c) Rock Nation by Luca Cremonesi

Sting – Mantova Summer Music 2023...

The Mantova Summer Festival kicks off with a banger! In the splendid setting of Piazza Sordello, legendary multi-instrumentalist Sting opens the Mantua concerts with his "My Songs 2023."

Everything is ready for the large Mantua square for a concert with a strong international appeal, organized in collaboration between Shining Production and the Municipality of Mantua.

The Mantua date will be the first of three live performances in Italy for Sting, who sold out all three dates and is ready to electrify Italian audiences.

Last night, July 11, 2023, on a warm summer evening, spectators filled Piazza Sordello to watch a concert by an international music icon. The multi-instrumentalist brought his show "My Songs" to a complete sellout.

The concert opened with English singer and bassist Joe Sumner, who warmed up the audience before Sting's arrival. Sumner, a member of the band Fiction Plane, proved to be an excellent opening act, entertaining the audience with his pop-rock sound.

During the concert, Sting spanned his entire discography, performing classic songs from both his solo career and that of The Police. Sting was accompanied on stage by his band, consisting of a drummer, keyboardist, guitarist, two backing vocalists, and a harmonica player.

Needless to say, these classic hits were applauded, hummed, and sung over and over again by the enthusiastic audience.

Musically, there's little more to say. It was incredible, a beautiful concert to watch, to experience.

The concert was also satisfying in terms of spectacular lighting and scenography. The monitors at the side of the stage allowed everyone to follow the show well, and at the back of the stage, a video wall projected colourful geometric images, reminiscent of video art.

In conclusion, the first day of the Mantova Summer Festival got off to a flying start with a beautiful concert by Sting. A fantastic live performance that delighted the large crowd in Piazza Sordello.

(c) The Soundcheck by Daniele Marazzani

Sting captivates the 6,000-strong crowd in Piazza Sordello with the energy of his greatest hits...

Six thousand fans in Piazza Sordello welcomed Sting last night, at the first date of the Mantua Summer Festival, and he repaid the Mantua crowd's enthusiasm and affection with a thrilling concert that spanned many stages of his long career. The British singer and multi-instrumentalist brought "My Songs" to the stage, a dynamic and exciting show focusing on his most beloved songs from his successful and award-winning career as a solo artist and frontman of The Police. Sting, accompanied as always by his band, was preceded on stage by a performance by his son Joe Sumner, the English singer and bassist of the rock band Fiction Plane.

Another highlight of this incredible live performance in the Gonzaga square, where Sting returned six years after his memorable concert on July 28, 2017.

The former Police leader offered a musical journey of a thousand emotions, with hits such as "Fields of Gold," "Shape of My Heart," "Roxanne," "Demolition Man," "Englishman in New York," "Walking on the Moon," and "Fields of Gold." The singer, one of the great and undisputed protagonists of international music in recent decades, greeted Mantua and its audience in Italian, then introduced the members of the band. His band: Dominic and Rufus Miller on guitars, the young Shane Sager on harmonica, Kevon Webster on keyboards, Josh Freese on drums, and vocalists Gene Noble and Melissa Musique, the latter of whom performed a stunning duet with Sting on "Haevy Cloud No Rain."

With a lean build, light-colored, tight-fitting pants and T-shirt, tennis shoes, and a commanding stage presence, Sting kicked off the concert with the reggae and post-punk-tinged "Message in a Bottle," The Police's 1979 single that topped the charts across Europe, immediately getting the crowd dancing and singing. The set continued with the other eighteen songs, with Sting again on bass, and a steady pace despite the scorching evening. The songs cover Sting's entire pop-rock repertoire, with plenty of Police and solo material. The songs are updated but still true to themselves, for a night that kicks off the concert season in the capital with a bang. Tonight it will be Baustelle's turn, who will bring their musical journey "Elvis tour" to the stage.

(c) Mantovauno