Arts reporters don't usually get to cover "Police" stories. But last night at the Bryce Jordan Center, there was a "Sting" operation.
Bad puns aside, the singer/bassist and ex-Police chief belted out over 90 minutes of hits and obscure relics from his multi-decade career for a moderate, noticeably older State College crowd. Even though most of Sting's expected singles made their predictable appearances, the Broken Music Tour brought some unexpectedly high energy and unpredictable twists to the BJC stage, as promised.
Warm-up band Phantom Planet wasted no time demonstrating why someone, possibly Sting himself, decided it would be a good opening act.
The group's got the whole "opening" thing down perfectly, whether it's providing opening music for a major rock show or for a major network television program.
The open air of the arena emphasized the group's open sound and open chords during songs such as "Making a Killing" and the semi-hit "Lonely Day." Phantom Planet even opened itself up to some crowd participation during the latter tune, allowing one lucky female fan to play the tambourine for half of it.
"This next song you may or may not have heard on the TV," lead singer Alexander Greenwald said before closing the set with "California." The crowd reaction was surprisingly indifferent, however; this was more of a Dallas crowd than an OC one.
Somewhere backstage, others were wondering where the excitement was, as well. After a short break, the lights went down on the bare-bones stage setup, and a familiar voice filled the Center with its own take on the audience response.
"You're very quiet out there," Sting said, before drummer Josh Freese shattered the tension with eight snare drum hits that made up the introduction to "Message In a Bottle." Along with other Police classics such as "Demolition Man" and "Synchronicity II," the song proved early in the set that the "raw energy" hype was to be believed.
Gordon, as his close acquaintances might refer to him, was in top form, his still pleasant-sounding voice turned up loud and clear in the mix. He looked classy and professional, but was not afraid to jump around a bit at the end of some songs. This is a man that is not past his prime and not faking it.
When Sting brought things down a bit with some of his solo compositions, starting with the early '90s adult contemporary classic, "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You," there was an obvious difference in the show's liveliness. Nevertheless, the slower songs, most notably the absolutely beautiful "Fields of Gold," provided some peaceful moments, at which point several audience members probably gazed wistfully into the eyes of their nearby loved ones.
But like all good cops, Sting and his bandmates exercised an expertise in crowd control, and it wasn't too long before they had the audience up again for a dead-on Police impersonation with the semi-obscure "Driven to Tears." Now, this wasn't really The Police (though it's probably the closest we'll ever get), so the group provided some creative arrangements with "Invisible Sun," "King of Pain" and an extended, reggae-heavy middle section to the crowd favorite, "Roxanne."
After 80 solid minutes of music, Sting's voice was still functioning well for the show's first encore, which began with "Next To You," the first song from Sting's first album with The Police and the energetic high point of the night.
And just as he had probably picked the opener, Sting also picked the most appropriate closer. Even though the band came back out for a short, fun second encore after it, "Every Breath You Take" will always be the perfect ending to a Sting concert -- or the semester, or the school year, or the entire college career or anything.
