10,000 fans celebrate Sting's first-class pop-rock...

The sky over Mönchengladbach was overcast on Saturday, but a fiery red sunset was all that around 10,000 Sting fans had to miss at the former The Police frontman's open-air concert. Not, however, the first-class pop music that created a truly wonderful atmosphere for two hours.

Stormy cheers erupt as Sting appears on stage in Mönchengladbach's Sparkassenpark, which has established itself as a first-class open-air stage for pop concerts for several summers. Mathew Gordon Sumner, now 65, retired as a "policeman" many years ago; as a solo artist, he remains one of those musicians who have continually reinvented themselves during their now 40-year career, thus remaining artistically youthful.

Starting with "Synchronicity II," fans of Sting and his band, including son Joe Sumner, are literally rocked and overwhelmed. The following "If I Ever Lose My Faith in You" leaves the already cheering audience firmly convinced that they're in for a truly special evening.
 

The original "Englishman in New York", which had a rather relaxed jazzy feel, now has a crisp, dry funk rhythm. While Sting consistently succeeds in breathing new dynamic life into his classics, his current songs from the "57th & 9th" album, such as "I Can't Stop Thinking About You" or "Petrol Heart," sound more like forgotten relics from the Police archives, proving at best that Sting hasn't lost his musical joy.

On the other hand, his actual older songs sound fresher than ever, refined with Tex-Mex-style accordion, featuring soulful and funky rhythmic elements, or rocking out almost dirty, as if they were written in the past few months by 18-year-old indie rockers rather than some 30 years ago.

"Feel so low, feel so low, feel so lonely" - the enthusiastically singing along fans particularly reinforce classics like "So Lonely," "Roxanne," "Next To You," and "Every Breath You Take," which some in the audience even break into ecstatic dance moves. Animate. A contemplative "Fragile" finally marks the frenetically celebrated finale of a concert whose timeless music is rightly celebrated.

(c) Halterner Zeitung by Bernd Schuknecht