Music > Live Reviews

Sting

23/06/24

Summer certainly came to High Lodge in Thetford Forest last night, in the shape and sound of Gordon Sumner (better known to most as Sting, former frontman of late 70s / early 80's rock trio The Police), headlining the second of five concerts being put on this month as part of the Forestry Commission's 2024 'Summer Nights' programme. Bryan Adams kicked things off on Thursday, still to come are Paloma Faith (June 27th), Tom Jones (June 28th), and Olly Murs (June 30th).

But it was a capacity crowd at High Lodge that welcomed Sting to the stage, performing as part of a tight power-trio alongside Dominic Miller (guitar) and Chris Maas (drums) - a nod, if you like, to the classic line-up of The Police that dominated the singles and album charts more than forty years ago. And, with ten classic Police tracks, and nine of his own solo hits, it was a spectacular 90 minute set that had us all entranced, and singing along to classic pop anthems like 'Walking On The Moon', 'Message In A Bottle', and 'Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic'.

Sting still looks great (all that yoga and meditation has clearly worked for him), and his voice is still absolutely amazing. During a brilliantly curated nineteen-song set, we got to hear no less than ten classic Police hits, carefully interwoven with nine songs taken from six of his solo albums, providing with a mix of moods and styles to make this an unforgettable night for everyone in the audience.

Everybody is going to have their favourite song from the evening – mine was the soulful 'Englishman In New York', others around me were welling up as he sang 'Fields of Gold' and the classic 'Every Breath You Take'. But it was some of the lesser-known tracks that really got to me – personal songs like 'Why Should I Cry For You?' (written about his father); 'Mad About You' (about being infatuated with a beautiful woman); and the Arabic influenced love song, 'Desert Rose'. 'Never Coming Home' is powerful and poignant, and 'Driven to Tears' is filled with a rage and anger that still haunts us today.

The encore, when it came, saved the very best to last with an uproariously splendid rendition of 'Roxanne' followed by the beautiful, quiet and thoughtful 'Fragile', taken from 1987's 'Nothing Like The Sun'.

Support came from impressive Nottingham trio 'Girlband!', and from Australian sibling pop trio 'Germein'. And it was good to see that a BSL translator was on hand throughout all three sets. Well done High Lodge. That sure was a cracker of a 'Summer Night', in the beautiful heart of Thetford Forest. 

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