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Dear Concert patron at tonight's performance by STING with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra,
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What popular music style hasn't Sting dabbled in, and why is it perfectly logical for him to be touring with a symphony orchestra in tow?
Well, remember '70s supergroup The Police?
It was Sting's launching pad, and he was singing, rocking, punking and playing with reggae beats in the company of Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers.
What about Sting's jazz phase in the '80s?
He teamed up with the stellar young lions of the time and shared the stage with Branford Marsalis, Omar Hakim and the late Kenny Kirkland. In that company, Sting could do no wrong.
What else?
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Sting has embraced, played or toyed with everything from country ballads to Memphis-soul to world-beat. And, yeah, there's even a flamenco-tinged tune thrown in there somewhere.
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Like Bowie or Madonna, Sting needed to reinvent himself once again. This time around, it was in a symphonic context. Of course, it's not a complete re-invention. It's really more like a case of old wine in new bottles.
Tonight almost 12,000 people at Sandalford Estate, Swan Valley were treated to a two-set smorgasbord of Sting's signature songs lavishly and lushly accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (under the direction of Steven Mercurio) and a quartet of longtime Sting band members, including exquisite guitarist Dominic Miller.
Fans heard all the biggest songs made famous by Sting and The Police. Selections, created especially for this tour, included fan-favorites such as The Police hits "Roxanne", "Next To You" and "Every Breath You Take," as well as those made famous by Sting as a solo artist - "Englishman In New York," "Fragile," "Russians," "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You," "Fields Of Gold," and "Desert Rose."
Sting explored the richness of his catalog with an entertaining and satisfying collection of 26 songs that had been rearranged to make great use of the orchestra, and to show off Sting's voice. At 59, he may not be able to sustain the high notes, but he hit all the right ones.
The packed crowd at Sandalford Estate ate it up when he said he was playing with "the biggest band I ever had in my life."
With rocking hits like the crowd-pleasing "Every Little She Does is Magic" early in the show, it seemed as if the band would upstage the orchestra.
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But the concert deepened as it progressed with "Russians" inspired by the realities of the Cold War. With a chorus already inspired by Prokofiev's "Lieutenant Kije," the song allowed the orchestra to show off its dexterity with a brash, discordant and tense introduction that sounded like a conflict with a heavy-footed Soviet marching band. It was a thrilling musical moment, and the orchestra referenced it with various instruments throughout the song.
The orchestra injected a new energy into the 1999 song "Tomorrow We'll See," an already moody piece about understanding a transsexual's point of view, allowing the lush orchestration to allude to a 1960s Burt Bacharach beat.
"Moon Over Bourbon Street" — Sting's homage to the New Orleans in Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire"– displayed the orchestra's ability to show a range of moods and emotions from ominous to playful. "End of the Game," which opens as with gentle, pastoral strings, featured the interplay of strings and horns the built toward a rocking beat that brought the audience to its feet.
The true surprise was the sad and beautiful "All Would Envy," a song written in 1999 that didn't make it onto the album "Brand New Day," but with its steady beat recalling a samba and Sting's quiet singing, it allowed a strong trumpet solo to lead the audience's attention and let the orchestra's rich, resonant sound come forward.
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Sting wisely placed hits at the beginning and ends of sets.
The orchestra went punk, with violinsts' bows jumping to the staccato beat of 1977's "Next to You." And when Sting went from "King of Pain" to "Every Breath You Take" (both from 1983, and when is the last time you listened to those two former radio staples?), the audience let out a collective gasp of surprise, as if just remembering how enjoyable those songs are.
Clearly, Sting has been entertaining for a long time, and his concert showed he has plenty more tricks up his sleeve as he reinvents himself — and his music.
While certainly not the first rock musician to collaborate with an orchestra – heck, everybody from the Moody Blues to Metallica has done it – Sting's melding of rock and classical came off better than most, as he cherry-picked selections from throughout his Police and solos career. Symphonicity, indeed.
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So, how was the generous, three-hour performance? In one word – Priceless!!!!
The complete Set List for tonight's performance by Sting was as follows:
Part 1
FAITH
MAGIC
ENGLISHMAN IN NY
ROXANNE
STRAIGHT TO MY HEART
WHEN WE DANCE
RUSSIANS
HUNG MY HEAD
SHAPE OF MY HEART
WHY SHOULD I CRY
WHENEVER I SAY YOUR NAME
FIELDS OF GOLD
NEXT TO YOU
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Part 2
1000 YEARS
THIS COWBOY SONG
TOMORROW WE'LL SEE
BOURBON STREET
END OF THE GAME
MY AIN TRUE LOVE
ALL WOULD ENVY
MAD ABOUT YOU
KING OF PAIN
EVERY BREATH
DESERT ROSE
SHE'S TOO GOOD FOR ME
FRAGILE
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No doubt for you and everybody else who attended, tonight's performance will long be remembered as another one of the GREAT shows to take place at Sandalford Estate, Swan Valley in the 10 years since the first concert was held.
And of course in that time there has been many great acts perform here including most recently Simply Red, Robin Gibb, Bonnie Tyler, Crowded House, Spandau Ballet, Tears for Fears, Lionel Richie, Leonard Cohen, Alicia Keys, John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, Ronan Keating, Tom Jones, Carole King, Missy Higgins, Jimmy Barnes, The 52's and many, many more.
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The Sandalford team really hope you had a fantastic time tonight and are extremely interested to know just what you and your party who attended thought about the total concert experience (the good and any not so aspects if there were any).
We therefore URGE you to click through to our bloggers comments page at the following link:
http://www.sandalford.com/sting_comments
Please share with us (and the world via the bloggers wall on Sandalford's website) your thoughts and comments generally about the show, the musicians, the event organisation, the parking and traffic management arrangements, the performance of our security team, whether you liked our F&B offerings including the wine, your opinion on how efficiently the bar's operated (eg were there long queues, were the bar staff friendly?), the cleanliness of the bathrooms, the overall ambience of the event and the quality of your experience, and just how this show and your overall experience tonight compared with previous events you have might have attended at Sandalford before (or other venues for that matter), along with any and all other comments and feedback that you want to share with us (or think what you think we should know about).
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Share your concert photos
Please also take advantage of our brand new feature – a photo gallery for concert attendees at Sandalford Estate. This feature allows you share your favorite photos that you took of the venue, your friends or anything else whilst attending the concert and post them on out website for all the world to see. Please click here to upload your photos from your camera or phone (please note a limit of 3 photos per person can be uploaded).
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PLEASE COME BACK IN MARCH AND THEN APRIL FOR MORE WORLD CLASS PERFORMERS!!!!!
What do STING, Michael Buble, SANTANA, Barry Manilow and a further yet to be announced artist all have in common?
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TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON - Expect an announcement some time in the next month or two about a true music ICON that will perform at Sandalford Estate prior to the end of the 2010/11 Concert Series
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- they will all be performing at Sandalford Estate in the January - April 2011 period
(go to the following for more information www.sandalford.com/Upcoming-Events)
The first four shows of the 2010/2011 Sandalford Concert Series (Simply Red, Robin Gibb/Bonnie Tyler, Crowded House and then Sting this evening) have all been incredibly impressive concerts and if they are anything to be, this season will be one that is the very best yet.
We look forward to receiving your feedback about tonight's show via the relevent link as mentioned above http://www.sandalford.com/Upcoming-Events/sting.html#write_comment_title and beyond that will keep you informed of all exciting developments at Sandalford Wines.
In the meantime thankyou again and best wishes.
Warm regards
Grant Brinklow
Chief Executive Officer
grantb@sandalford.com
Ps – if you would like to purchase some super value Sandalford wine specials please click the following link http://www.sandalford.com/newsletter/January_2011/ PPs – Don't forget to check out the upcoming concerts at Sandalford's sister property – 'Hotel Rottnest'. See below for some details:
HOTEL ROTTNEST PRESENTS
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