A feisty Sting fires up the crowd as he recalls old haunts and revisits classic hits...

There are many Stings, but his determination to keep his music driving forwards means audiences haven’t seen much of the pugilistic garage rocker who forced himself into the big league. Until now.

As a trio, his current “Sting 3.0” band naturally recalls The Police. And there are plenty of moments in a near two-hour show when guitarist Dominic Miller and drummer Chris Maas recall Sting’s start.

It’s made explicit early on, as Sting reminisces about The Police playing nearby pub venues The Red Cow and The Greyhound, thinking they might just be good enough to play Hammersmith Apollo one day. “This is now my 16th time up here,” he smiles, before joking “It’s actually more of a castle” about his countryside home that inspired Fields Of Gold.

That hit is played with the delicacy it needs, also present in a beautiful Shape Of My Heart which waltzes elegantly around the stage. It’s a contrast to Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic and So Lonely, where the 3.0 tear into those early classics by ignoring restraint and nuance in favour of returning Sting to the days when he still had it all to prove.

At the start of the gig, Sting had played a similarly prowling Message In A Bottle, gesturing impatiently at a section of the crowd who had the temerity to still be seated. With Sting in this mood, they didn’t stay sat for long.

If Englishman In New York and even Every Breath You Take are played with more aggression than you’d expect, Miller and Maas are adept enough to rein it in when needed. A Thousand Tears is both moving and magisterial, while Wrapped Around Your Finger sums up the trio’s talents, stately at first until showing its teeth to remind the audience not to get too relaxed.

Only in a meandering When We Dance does musicianship arrive at the expense of the song, the jamming self-indulgent, even if Sting hitting a high note and staying there is a reminder his vocals are in pretty good nick for someone whose vocals should be wracked by now.

After a rowdy Roxanne Sting announces: “We should leave you with something quiet and thoughtful,” as Fragile ends the night on a contemplative moment. It’s a touching finale. Yet it’s the explosiveness and tautness of the power trio which lingers. If Sting returns to the feisty The Red Cow mood for his next music, it could be one of his most exciting and unexpected moves yet.

(c) Classic Pop Mag by John Earls