11,000 fans cheer global star Sting and his band at the Wiley Sportpark in Neu-Ulm...

Global star Sting thrilled around 11,000 listeners at the Wiley Sportpark in Neu-Ulm on Sunday evening with his best-of program "My Songs" as part of his extensive European tour – presented by Donau 3FM.

Blessed is the artist who can open a concert with his greatest hits. Those who can do this also have several other greatest hits in their repertoire. Like British superstar Sting, who began his concert at Neu-Ulm's Wiley Sportpark with the Police classic "Message in the Bottle," followed by "Englishman in New York" and "Every Little Thing Does Its Magic" – all multi-million-selling global hits – and thus roused the 4,000 listeners from their expensive seats in front of the stage. As a result, they cheered the nearly two-hour concert mostly on their feet, as did the fans in the standing area, who were quite a distance from the stage due to the rows of chairs. While the sound was excellent in the front, the back rows occasionally lacked a few decibels and punch.

Nevertheless, 11,000 people celebrated an outstanding concert by the global star, who didn't need confetti cannons or pyrotechnic effects to make a statement. Sting's music, his songs, and his outstanding band, led by guitarist Dominic Miller, are enough. He has played with Sting for 40 years, supported many stars in the studio and live, and has released numerous outstanding jazz albums as a solo artist, most recently "Absinthe" and "Silent Light" on ECM. Sting's son, Rufus Miller, has also been in Sting's band for several years, as has Joe Sumner, the 44-year-old son of Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, who opened the concert in Neu-Ulm, performing the Police song "King of Pain" in a duet with his father.

The 70-year-old Sting sang his way through his rich and diverse program, which was planned three years ago as a best-of show, "My Songs," with a routine but visibly joyful strumming, wearing a bright yellow jacket, wearing a headset, and playing bass at the same time. The program, which was planned three years ago as a best-of show, "My Songs," was now supplemented with songs like "Rushing Water" from his current album, "The Bridge," released in 2021. Sting played eight Police songs alone and sang gems of his own, such as "Fields of Gold," "Shape of My Heart," "Walking on the Moon," and the magnificent "Desert Rose." A dull oldies show was avoided by slightly rearranging many of the classics or slightly altering the instrumentation. This gave the program, some of which were 40 years old, a fresh feel. 

Sting and his band left the stage with "Every Breath You Take." But shortly afterward, the global star asked the audience in German: "What do you want?" He immediately launched into a powerful long version of the Police hit "Roxanne." With the calm, touching "Fragile," Sting closed a magnificent concert in Neu-Ulm at the Wiley Sportpark, a venue ideal for open-air concerts, and sent the 11,000 satisfied fans away happy and contented into the balmy summer night.

From Neu-Ulm, the 70-year-old global star continued on to France, where he will play his next show on Tuesday – and then around 80 more concerts across Europe until November.  

(c) Ulm News by Ralf Grimminger