It’s nice to see Sting rock after he’s spent much of his solo career mired in strains of smooth jazz and contemporary pop. On Live At The Olympia Paris, available on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, we get a solid rock show from the man who was at the top of rock and roll heap as the frontman for the Police. Rolling through plenty of material from his 2016 57th & 9th album (this show was from that tour supporting the record), Sting also offers up Police favorites and tunes from his solo back catalog.
Opening with “Synchronicity II,” the crowd is pretty much jumping along from the get-go. Sting follows with a second Police song, “Sprits In The Material World,” and gets all funky with his beat-up bass before moving onto “Englishman in New York.” The Parisian audience really gets into the call-and-response on this tune. We get “I Hung My Head,” from 1996’s Mercury Falling, and one the best tunes of the night, “Fields of Gold,” from 1993’s Ten Summoner’s Tales.
Things get rockin’ again with “Message In A Bottle” before Joe Sumner takes the lead through a steady take of David Bowie’s “Ashes to Ashes.” The band jams across elongated versions of “So Lonely” and a rousing “Roxanne,” with Sting breaking into “Ain’t No Sunshine” midway. Accompanied by longtime guitarist Dominic Miller, Josh Freese (drums), Rufus Miller (guitar) and Percy Cardona (accordion), with backing vocals from Joe Sumner (Sting’s son) plus Diego Navaira and Jerry Fuentes of The Last Bandoleros, Sting is still at the top of his game on Live At The Olympia Paris.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
