Monday, January 24, 2005

Sting: Now I'm Not So Sure

Well, the curious case of Sting just keeps getting curiouser. Here's Reuters with the news:

Sting is going back to school. The one-time school teacher has ditched his large back-up band and will launch a no-frills rock 'n' roll tour at San Jose State University in California on April 1. The Broken Music Tour, named after his memoir published in 2003, is scheduled to reach a dozen college campuses and seven other venues by the end of the month. Sting, who also plays bass, will be backed by two guitarists and a drummer, a configuration reminiscent of his days with the Police, the rock trio that he led to worldwide fame and fortune during the 1970s and '80s.

This is a big change from last year's Sacred Love tour, which featured Annie Lennox (news) as the opening act, a flotilla of musicians, giant video screens and interactive lighting. "I was ready for a change," Sting, 53, told Reuters in response to questions submitted by e-mail. "The idea of going out and playing guitar-driven music coupled with performing at colleges, something I haven't done since the Police days, was extremely exciting."

Sting, who has sold more than 95 million records during his 28-year career with The Police and as a solo artist, has yet to decide what songs he will play on this tour. "Certainly there will be songs that are guitar-driven," Sting said. "It will be pretty raw and stripped down, different from anything I've done in a long, long time."

Since the Police broke up in 1984, Sting has strayed far into the pop, jazz and world music fields, almost erasing his glorious past as an angry young punk who wrote such Police hits as "Roxanne" and "Don't Stand So Close To Me." His choice of drummer indicates he is serious about returning to his roots: Josh Freese, a session player best known for his work with hard rockers A Perfect Circle (news) and punk veterans The Vandals.
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Sting is making me rethink my universe--or at least his place in it. Could he in fact be ultra-Advanced as I originally suspected? Damn you, Sting!

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