That Sting concert from back in January...

Well, I promised to write of the Sting concert. It's been a while--sorry! I've been very busy...

Anyway, the concert was GREAT! From the first song, we were on our feet, yelling and screaming. Well, at least I was yelling. I think the people around me were somewhat surprised. It didn't take long for everyone to follow suit, though.

We stayed on our feet for the entire concert. Fortunately, I was in the second-to-last row on the floor, so I didn't block too many people from seeing. Even though it was near the back of the hall, it was still a great seat -- I don't think that this place held more than 9000 people. . .

I have this interesting habit lately of buying Sting's latest studio album, then not really listening to it all that much, until I see Sting perform it live on tour. It's kind of an expensive way of getting into a CD, but it's certainly a HELL of a lot of fun.

Anyway, Sting performed a wide range of his stuff, and I sang along to a lot of it. So did a lot of people. The first thing we heard was an instrumental from the song "A Thousand Years." Then the lights kicked up, the video screens flashed the word "love" in various languages, the band swung into "Send Your Love," and we all jumped to our feet.

This time around, it seemed that they did a lot more with synchronized video stuff than I've seen at Sting concerts previously. (I've seen three, now: The Mercury Falling tour, the Brand New Day tour, and this latest "Sacred Love" tour.) Several songs had videos in time with the music. For example, the song "Never Coming Home" had a video of a room empty of everything but a chair, and a woman sitting in it; as the song progressed, the woman started dancing. "Sacred Love" had a couple of women doing a sexy dance in time with the song.

One 90-minute set, two half-hour encores, and MAN did my feet hurt. Worth it, though. I picked up a tour t-shirt and program, in the hope that I would have souvenirs that showed that I saw Sting in Japan. Alas, the only shirts that were in my size were printed with the American tour itinerary, and the programs were all in English. Oh, well.

Standout memories:
"Roxanne" segueing into "Wrapped Around Your Finger" for a verse. (Been a while since I heard that one)
Sting doing his usual "Roxanne" singalong bit, and me seeming to be the only one singing along
Me totally confusing the Amnesty International volunteers -- westerners, all of them -- by speaking to them in English
Everybody singing along to "Englishman in New York"